As Alaska communities continue to suffer the consequences of declining fisheries, today lifelong Alaskan and former fishing boat captain Mary Peltola announced her plan to restore abundance to Alaska fisheries and protect the fishermen, families, and communities they sustain.
“As someone who grew up salmon fishing on the Kuskokwim River with my father, I know firsthand that fish is more than food – it’s central to our Alaska way of life. But that way of life is under attack and the fish that fill our freezers are becoming harder and harder to find thanks to out-of-state factory trawlers, excessive bycatch, and destruction of our fisheries,” said Mary Peltola. “We don’t need more studies to tell us what’s happening in front of our eyes; Alaska needs bold action now to restore and protect our fish. I will fight for practical, Alaska-first solutions to restore our fisheries, strengthen our communities, and ensure that the next generation can experience the same abundance Alaskans have enjoyed for generations.”
Mary’s plan, “Fighting for Alaska Fisheries” is a bold and actionable path forward to restore our fisheries and protect Alaskans’ way of life, including specific policy planks like:
- Banning Factory Trawling: Ban factory trawling and keep mid-water trawlers off bottom to reduce bycatch, protect fisheries, and restore abundance to Alaska.
- Restoring Our Fisheries: Secure robust fishery disaster funding for Alaska fishermen and communities; fully fund fish stock assessments so fishermen aren’t hit with unnecessary restrictions; crack down on enforcing National Standards 8 and 9 to reduce bycatch.
- Bringing Innovation Into Our Traditions: Expand the use of modern electronic monitoring and technologies to detect bycatch in real time and hold factory trawlers accountable.
- Strengthening Our Alaska Seafood Economy: Invest in Alaska’s fish by-product economy and non-fish mariculture industry to ensure Alaska keeps leading the blue economy; ban the federal government from pushing toward national finfish farm permitting.
- Giving All Alaskans a Seat at the Table: Lock in the makeup of the federal subsistence board; create Tribal seats on the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council so that Alaskans are the ones making critical decisions about our fisheries.
Mary has spent her life fighting for Alaska fishermen, fisheries, and the communities they sustain. As Alaska’s representative, she led the fight for legislation to reduce bycatch and bottom trawling, permanently protect the Bristol Bay fishery, strengthen our seafood supply chain, and improve fishery resilience and management. She worked with colleagues across the aisle to secure more than half a billion dollars in federal funding to support Alaska’s fisheries.
As a lifelong fisherman and a former fishing boat captain, she’s seen firsthand the decline of salmon runs and the devastating impacts out-of-state trawlers are wreaking on our fisheries. She knows the stakes, and she’s running for Senate to fight for bold action to save our fish and restore abundance for Alaskans.
Read Mary’s full plan to fight for our fisheries here.
CONTACT: press@marypeltola.com
