Mid-2026 Bycatch Update
Bycatch Update
Bering Sea commercial groundfish fisheries – including the pollock trawl fishery – began their B season fishery on June 10.
These fisheries are responsible for massive removals of king and chum salmon as bycatch while fishing for their target species. Salmon bycatch cannot be sold; sometimes it can be donated to food banks, but usually it is sent overboard back to the sea. This bycatch goes against our communities' teachings and values to respect our salmon relatives and avoid all waste.
As of June 18, 2026, Bering Sea groundfish fisheries killed:
12,065 Chinook salmon, with 10,114 Chinook salmon (84%) taken by pollock trawlers.
1,911 chum salmon, with 1,171 chum salmon (61%) taken by pollock trawlers.
DETAILS ON CHINOOK SALMON BYCATCH
Typically, most Chinook salmon bycatch happens during the A Season (January to April). Recently published genetic analyses from 2024 and 2025 Chinook salmon bycatch show:
In 2024, 48.7% of the 8,049 Chinook salmon by-caught by pollock trawlers were from Kuskokwim/Bristol Bay stocks. That’s 3,920 fish.
In 2025, 63.7% of the 19,797 Chinook salmon by-caught by pollock trawlers were from Kuskokwim/Bristol Bay stocks. That’s 12,619 fish.
In 2025, nearly 70% of the Chinook salmon caught as bycatch were from Yukon, Kuskokwim, or Bristol Bay stocks.
You can read this genetic report here.
There is a cap on Chinook salmon bycatch in the Bering Sea, based on prior year returns of Chinook salmon to the Kuskokwim, Yukon, and Unalakleet rivers. In 2026, the cap is 45,000 king salmon – the lower cap level because of low returns in 2025.
DETAILS ON CHUM SALMON BYCATCH
Most chum salmon bycatch occurs during the B Season, between June and November, and most Western Alaska chum salmon bycatch occurs between June and August. We expect to see 2026 chum salmon bycatch numbers start rising in the next few weeks as the B Season progresses. On average, about 20% of the annual chum salmon bycatch comes from Western & Interior Alaska rivers, including the Kuskokwim.
The new regulations on Bering Sea chum salmon bycatch in the pollock trawl fishery, recommended by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council in February 2026, are unlikely to be put in place until June 2028 at the earliest.
KRITFC will continue to monitor salmon bycatch in Alaska’s oceans and advocate for stronger protections for our salmon relatives, from rivers to oceans and back.
If you have comments, concerns, or questions – or want to know how you can speak out against bycatch – contact us at 907-545-7388 (call or text) or info@kritfc.org.
Every salmon counts.