Alaskans unite to spotlight the staggering waste caused by out-of-state industrial trawling and lack of action to address its impact.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Alaskans are joining forces to demand that our elected officials stand up to industrial trawl fleets owned by out-of-state corporations. Alaska’s fisheries, fishing families, and coastal communities are paying the price while outsiders make profits.
Led by the Anchorage-based government watchdog the 907 Initiative and supported by Alaskans across our state, Alaskans Against Big Trawl aims to raise awareness about the industry’s influence on federal fisheries policy. We are pushing back, and have the vast majority of Alaskans behind us: Recent polling found nearly 70% of Alaskans are in favor of significant regulatory changes to trawling regulations.
The campaign is centered on a simple fact: The industry is wasting our marine resources to line their pockets, and our representatives aren’t doing enough to stop them. Between 2017 and 2025, more than 3 million salmon, over 9 million crab, and at least 57.5 million pounds of halibut were caught and discarded by industrial trawl fleets. The industry coined this practice as “bycatch” but it’s really just waste. Every fish thrown overboard is a fish that never reaches Alaska rivers or Alaska fishermen. The laws that allow them to indiscriminately scrape the ocean, pick out the fish they want, and waste the rest benefit their bottom line. We need our representatives to stand up for Alaskans and not industry.
“Alaskans are clear: regulating the trawling industry is one of their top priorities, so why is it that our representatives in D.C. continue to side with the deep-pocketed, out-of-state industry over Alaskans?” said 907 Initiative Executive Director Aubrey Wieber. “While out-of-state corporations profit from our public resources, Alaskans are left dealing with declining fisheries, tighter restrictions, and growing economic uncertainty.”
Alaska’s federal delegation plays a significant role in shaping fisheries policy through federal legislation, NOAA Fisheries oversight, bycatch regulations, and enforcement funding. Unfortunately, Sen. Dan Sullivan and Rep. Nick Begich are failing to pursue meaningful reforms to reduce bycatch and protect Alaska’s marine resources. Instead, they continue to propose studies, reports, and other measures that give the trawling industry a pass.
This campaign comes on the heels of a North Pacific Fishery Management Council meeting that called for further study of bycatch — or waste — rather than implementing new restrictions to address the documented levels of bycatch occurring in Alaska’s fisheries. Interviews available upon request.
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Contact: Aubrey Wieber, Executive Director, 907 Initiative —- aubrey@907initiative.org | 907-903-7017 This communication was paid for by the 907 Initiative, with offices at PMB 1082, 645 G St, Suite 100, Anchorage AK 99501
