Alaska trawlers caught 40,000 salmon this year, fueling Senate race

Pollock trawlers in Alaska have caught 40,000 salmon so far this year. The fish are considered bycatch because the industrial nets are designed to harvest pollock, a white fish used in processed foods. The salmon are often discarded or wasted after being scooped up in the process.

This statistic has become the central issue in the tight U.S. Senate race in Alaska. The conflict pits the pollock industry against Indigenous communities in western Alaska who rely on salmon for subsistence. The dispute has moved from local rivers to the center of national political attention.

Evon Waska lives on the Kuskokwim River. His drying racks, which should be full of fish, are currently empty. Government agencies frequently close the river to fishing to conserve stocks, which impacts residents who fish to feed their families. Waska blames the industrial fleet operating miles offshore.

"They don't close the trawlers. They close me and my people first," Waska said.

The pollock industry is valued at approximately $1 billion. Much of the business is based in Seattle. Trawlers use sock-shaped nets that are a quarter mile long. The opening of these nets is as wide as a football field. While the primary target is pollock, king salmon and other species are frequently caught in the process.

Republican Senator Dan Sullivan has historically supported the pollock industry. He is now promoting a new bill intended to reduce bycatch and protect seafloor habitats. Sullivan describes the proposal as the most comprehensive bycatch legislation ever created.

Democratic challenger Mary Peltola, who is Indigenous and from the Kuskokwim, argues that Sullivan's bill is an election-year ploy. She plans to ban factory trawlers, the largest vessels in the pollock fleet. Peltola noted that Sullivan has raised over $300,000 from trawlers.

"Dan Sullivan reeled in over $300,000 from trawlers and waited until the 11th hour for a half-hearted and half-baked solution," Peltola said.

Heather Mann, who leads a trawlers association, disagrees with the focus on the pollock fleet. She argues that eliminating the fishery would not restore salmon runs. Mann stated that science shows the impact of pollock fishing on salmon populations would be minimal.

In the village of Kwethluk, the decline in fish is visible. Subsistence fishing is the main occupation and a core part of the local culture. Mary Nikolai, the tribal president, inspected a neighbor's cold smokehouse that had not been used all summer. Nikolai said the empty buildings represent a slow trend of closing out the local workforce.

The race remains close enough that the outcome could affect the balance of power in the U.S. Senate. Both candidates are running political ads that reference the fish issue. Sullivan's ads urge voters to thank him for fighting for fishermen. Peltola's ads criticize Sullivan for taking money from out-of-state corporate trawlers.