OPINION: Alaskans Will Become Collateral Damage if Legislature Intervenes in Fisheries Management

As a fishery analyst for the Aleutians East Borough, I am uniquely positioned at the busy intersection where fishermen, fishing communities, processors, managers, researchers and policymakers all meet. Alaska fisheries are complicated and highly nuanced, and most who work in fisheries would agree.

So when I read an opinion recently published by two of our own state legislators, “Trawl bycatch may not be the sole cause of Alaska salmon declines, but it’s one of the few things we can control,” I was disheartened to see yet...

OPINION: Enviro Groups' Excessive Court Challenges Are About Raising Funds, Not Protecting Fisheries

When you think of environmental groups working to protect iconic wildlife the mind's eye often provides a romantic setting with activists defending dolphins on the high seas.

In reality, the bulk of that work is done in places like Charlotte, where millions of dollars are raised in boardrooms with those very images as the centerpiece. The story behind the story is that such campaigns may be much more about money than marine mammals...

Opinion: Alaskans Deserve Facts About the Trawl Fleet’s Impacts on Salmon

Recent anti-trawl op-eds in the ADN used half-truths to mislead Alaskans and influence public opinion about this critical Alaskan fishery. The misinformation and misrepresentation only serve to delay action that can meaningfully protect salmon.

It would be an easy policy solution if the trawl fleet were to blame for Western Alaska’s salmon declines. The numbers tell a very different story, however. Pollock fishery bycatch represents only a tiny fraction of the chinook and chum salmon runs...

OPINION: Florida Officials Must Do More to Ban Offshore Oil Drilling

When Donald Trump released his plan last month to try to expand offshore oil drilling to much of our nation’s coasts, it was refreshing to see Florida’s elected officials stand up and fight back. Even Republicans staunchly loyal to the president spoke out against possible drilling in the eastern Gulf, or at least expressed a need for caution.

“It affects tourism and more importantly, it’s just bad for the environment,” said Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.). And Sen. Ashley Moody (R-Fla.) called the plan...

Opinion: Pro-Business in Bristol Bay Means Salmon, Not Mines

Justin Conrad: Tariff Exemptions for Seafood Make Sense

The famous urban legend of the battleship and the lighthouse finds a Navy ship on a collision course with another vessel on a stormy night. The Navy ship demands that the other vessel change course to prevent what appears to be a looming catastrophe. After radioed insistence from the naval officer and some fairly pointed back-and-forth, the other vessel ends the dialogue and the dispute over who will veer first with a simple statement.

"I'm a lighthouse … it's your call...

OPINION: A Century-Old Law Could Cost These Fishermen Their Livelihoods

For more than four decades, Bob Conrad has made his living fishing the waters of the North Atlantic. He's a Vermonter who knows the rhythms of the ocean as well as most people know their morning commute: the best tides for squid, the subtle signs that butterfish are nearby. Frank Green, a New Yorker with nearly 50 years experience at sea, studies similar patterns to find great northern tilefish. The two commercial fishermen have spent much of their lives working the Georges Bank region, a famously fertile fishing ground...

OPINION: We're Back in Court for Columbia Basin Salmon's Survival

Wild salmon and steelhead define our region. They're woven into our way of life, our economy, our culture and our commitments to our region's tribes. They feed our orcas and support our ecosystems. And they're in trouble.

The Columbia Basin was once one of the largest producers of salmon in the world, with 10 million to 16 million wild salmon returning annually to spawn. Today, many of the basin's salmon populations are hovering on the brink of extinction.

That's why we're returning to court — to fight for the survival...

OPINION: Yes, Kansas Is a Player in the Seafood Industry. Here's How to Get Bigger

While Kansas may be far from our nation's coastlines, the systems we manufacture, and the wheat, soybeans and other crops we grow here are producing the high-quality, plant-based fish feeds being used to sustainably raise seafood across the country and around the world. Raising and harvesting fish using innovative open ocean aquaculture techniques off America's coasts presents an opportunity for Kansas businesses and farmers who will benefit from growth of U.S. seafood production...

OPINION: Embarking on an America-first Seafood Strategy in Alaska

In 1787, Alexander Hamilton stressed the need for a united national effort to protect America’s ocean resources from stagnation and unfair foreign trade practices. Absent vigorous federal action to free our fisheries from barriers to growth and trade, “that unequalled spirit of enterprise, which signalises the genius of the American Merchants and Navigators, and which is in itself an inexhaustible mine of national wealth, would be stifled and lost.”

Since Hamilton wrote those words, Alaska became first a territory, then the 49th state in the Union, cementing itself as...

OPINION: Ruling on Pacific Islands Marine Reserve Must Hold

Honolulu's federal District Court struck a blow for the defense of ocean conservation with a ruling that protects the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument. The opinion effectively blocks an initiative by President Trump to lift the ban on commercial fishing in parts of the national marine preserve.

The decision by U.S. District Court Judge Micah W.J. Smith also defended the process of consulting citizens and crafting rules that resonate with those voices. This is a process that involved many in Hawaii and should be respected...

OPINION: Coastal Counties Must Show Up to Survive

A mantra among politicians is that government goes to those who show up. Never was that more obvious than on June 24-25 when hundreds of commercial fishing families, local elected officials from coastal towns and counties, along with various supporters, gathered for two days at the N.C. Legislature to successfully turn back a proposed ban on shrimp trawling.

But the challenge remains, and Tuesday, representatives of the state's 20 coastal counties will meet at the Crystal Coast Civic Center in Morehead City to discuss how to address...

OPINION: Mount Pleasant's Most Significant Steps to 'Save' Shem Creek

A decade ago, Mount Pleasant politics was roiled by a grassroots group that formed in opposition to a planned parking garage and office building on Shem Creek. The advocacy group took the name "Save Shem Creek," and its seemingly ubiquitous bumper stickers probably weren't as numerous as town voters who heeded its concerns and soon elected a new mayor and Town Council committed to doing more to slow the town's rapid growth.

While they have adopted building moratoriums and limited other zoning changes across the state's fourth-largest...

OPINION: 'Irish Fishermen are Being Treated Like Second Class Citizens - It Has to Stop'

'While our farmers have always been looked after financially by the powers that be in Brussels, our brave fishermen are consistently getting a raw deal'

Irish fishermen are being treated like dirt by the EU -and it has to stop.

While our farmers have always been looked after financially by the powers that be in Brussels, our brave fishermen are consistently getting a raw deal and from what I can see are regarded as second class citizens.

Ireland owes 12pc of all EU waters yet...

OPINION: NC Shrimp Trawl Decision, a Temporary Victory

North Carolina's commercial fishermen can breathe a momentary sigh of relief with Wednesday's decision by the state House to delay any decision on a proposed ban on all shrimp trawling in the state's inland and near shore ocean waters. But the relief is only temporary. The potential of this issue coming up again is very real and very near.

The decision did not come quickly. It required a two-day show of force by hundreds of commercial fishermen, their families, community leaders and industry supporters who stood outside the legislature building Tuesday in...

OPINION: Consumers Hold the Future of North Carolina's Shrimping Industry

Never before have the citizens of North Carolina been treated so shabbily as they were this past Wednesday when the N.C. State Senate voted in a suspicious show of bipartisanship to shut down one of the state's oldest and most prized industries- inland and coastal shrimping. Ignoring the fact that this precipitous, more appropriately described as underhanded, effort will decimate hundreds of small fisher families and their communities, it is the consumer who is the ultimate loser should this decision be endorsed by the...

OPINION: We Know a Bad Oil Plan When We See One

AS Alaskans, we cherish our lands and waters. We appreciate the vast, wild spaces we have here. We are also clear-eyed that our economy and workforce are sustained in part by developing our rich oil and gas resources.

But I am confident we would not sacrifice our precious natural heritage for a plan to pursue fossil fuels that is reckless and unnecessary. That's why, upon reviewing a sweeping new Department of Interior proposal for offshore leasing, I encourage Alaskans to reject this plan...

Opinion: Coverage of Trawling’s Role in Alaska Halibut Decline Was a Public Service

As a longtime halibut charter fisherman and small-business owner, I want to thank the Anchorage Daily News — and reporter Hal Bernton, in partnership with The Seattle Times and Northern Journal — for the recent coverage of record-low halibut numbers and the role trawling plays in these declines. For those of us on the water every day, your reporting reflects what we’ve been seeing firsthand: fewer fish, shrinking opportunities and mounting pressure on small operators who depend on a healthy halibut fishery to make a living...

OPINION: California Salmon Must Return to the Mountains. It's Time to Take a Chance

Late in the 19th century on the McCloud River below Mount Shasta, California's first hatchery began creating thousands of salmon embryos for an audacious plan to establish populations of California salmon throughout the Midwest and the Eastern seaboard of the United States. The effort failed miserably.

Some, however, thrived after their embryos were transported all the way to New Zealand. There and only there did this relocation experiment work. For more than 100 years on South Island rivers like the Waitaki, California salmon, believed...

OPINION: Rebalance the Rules for Commercial Fishing, but Don't Overdo It

The public has until Dec. 15 to comment on implementing "Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness," an executive order issued this spring by President Donald Trump.

There is considerable reason to doubt this administration — or any administration — actually pays much attention to comments. It usually seems like going through the motions.

Even so, in our "fishy" coastal communities, it's worth looking at the Federal Register (tinyurl.com/Fed-fishery-comments) and considering what we would like to see in terms of rules for heavily regulated commercial fisheries, and in what ways...

OPINION: Salmon's Comeback Pits Nature Against Trump Administration

For the first time in more than a century, migrating salmon have climbed close to the headwaters of the Klamath River’s most far-flung tributaries, as much as 360 miles⁠ from the Pacific Ocean in south-central Oregon. The achievement is the clearest indication yet that the world’s largest dam removal project, completed on the river a year ago, will yield major benefits for salmon, the river ecosystem, and the tribes and commercial fishers whose lives revolve around the fish...

Editorial: Right Whales Seem to Be Having a Good Year. They Still Need Help.

The good news is there have been no confirmed reports of North Atlantic right whales killed this year due to vessel strikes or entanglements from fishing gear, but the less-than-good news is that this by no means ensures that this critically endangered species will survive.

The most recent estimate, released last week by the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium, says only about 384 of these whales remain, up from the most recent estimate but still well down from NOAA's estimate of more than 480...

Opinion: California Salmon Runs in Danger of Extinction If Newsom Fails to Act

Last week, California's ocean recreational salmon fishing season closed for 2025. The recreational season lasted six days — after two fully closed seasons. California's commercial fishing fleet has been unable to fish for three years.

Our state's traditional treasured salmon fishing, stretching from Morro Bay to the Oregon border, is in danger as never before. It's time for decisionmakers to change course.

Closed salmon runs mean closed tackle shops, and struggling motels, marinas and marine supply stores. Fishing communities, which should be bustling through a long fishing season...

OPINION: Trump Administration Seafood Policies Will Hurt Alaska

It is unfortunate that our secretaries of Agriculture and Commerce are so out of touch with American seafood production and challenges (“Embarking on an America-first seafood strategy in Alaska” by Brooke L. Rollins and Howard Lutnick).

At the beginning of their piece in the ADN, they correctly point out how important commercial fishing is to Alaska. Fisheries directly employ more Alaskans than any other private sector, and of course, Alaska is the crown jewel of the United States when it comes to all sorts of fishing...

OPINION: Trump Administration's Salmon Funding Cut Threatens Decades of Progress

The Trump administration has abruptly eliminated $1.3 million in federal funding for Washington's Regional Fisheries Enhancement Groups, jeopardizing salmon restoration across the state. The administration should reverse course.

The 14 community-based RFEGs have been a linchpin in the fight to save salmon for three decades. Bringing together volunteers, Native American tribes and experts, they have removed barriers to fish passage, reopened more than 1,500 miles of stream, restored habitat and released hatchery salmon into state waterways. Their efforts have led to healthier and more abundant salmon, but work...

OPINION: We’re Alaska Pollock Fishermen. Here’s the Truth About Our Fishery.

We are Alaska pollock fishermen. We make our living on the water harvesting wild Alaska pollock, America’s largest source of wild-caught seafood. We do this under some of the toughest conditions and strictest management in the world. Our fishery supports roughly 30,000 American jobs and is a cornerstone of Alaska’s economy. In fact, last year Alaska pollock alone made up nearly one-third of the value of Alaska’s entire seafood harvest. This industry matters to us, we are proud of it, and we’re frustrated by the...

OPINION: Why Maine Lobstermen Need an Extended Pause on New Right Whale Rules

I had a few goals when I successfully pushed to get a seat on the House Natural Resources Committee, but chief among them was using the position to advocate for the men and women who work on Maine’s waters.

It was only three years ago that Maine’s lobster industry was on the verge of shutting down because of a regulatory process that was based on flawed interpretation of federal law and biased modeling that relied heavily on hypothetical threats that fisheries posed to the North Atlantic right...

OPINION: Strengthening the Bristol Bay Fisheries Reserve is Key to Protecting Salmon

Subsistence harvesting and commercial fishing season is upon us in Bristol Bay. For the busy weeks ahead this summer and into fall, we’ll spend our days harvesting. This food from the land will feed our families and communities, carrying on timeless traditions, as our ancestors have since time immemorial.

Each season, wild salmon return to our rivers by the millions, unlike anywhere else in the world. We know that salmon returns like this are no longer widespread, as they used to be, and this only reinforces the need...

OPINION: eFishery’s Fraud is a Wake-up Call for Indonesia’s Startup Ecosystem

This scandal underscores that good governance and transparency are essential – not optional – for country’s startup ecosystem, and key reforms are critically needed.

In late 2024, Indonesia’s pride in its first aquaculture unicorn turned to shock when it emerged that eFishery, once valued at US$1.4 billion, was embroiled in a massive fraud.

In April this year, co-founder and former chief executive officer Gibran Huzaifah admitted to systematically manipulating eFishery’s financial reports since 2018 to attract investors and...

OPINION: We’re Still Fighting for Our Lives in King Cove

I'm the mayor of King Cove. If my name sounds familiar, it may be because you heard from me a little over a year ago, in May 2024, when I wrote, “Fighting for our lives in King Cove.” It was an urgent SOS announcing that while our community had absorbed some gut-wrenching blows, hundreds of us were still waking up every morning ready to face our challenges and fight for survival in this remote, beautiful place that has been home to Aleuts for millennia. I repeat my words from...