r/alaska • u/Forsaken-Coconut-271 • 7d ago

Opinion: It’s time for the trawl industry to stop misleading Alaskans — and for our elected officials to act

https://www.adn.com/opinions/2025/08/23/opinion-its-time-for-the-trawl-industry-to-stop-misleading-alaskans-and-for-our-elected-officials-to-act/
189 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

17 comments sorted by

21

u/Faroutman1234 7d ago

We spend billions making little ladders so the fish can get into the mountains then these guys drag the bottom and kill millions of tons of game fish.

13

u/Forsaken-Coconut-271 7d ago

It's crazy. I have this theory that we let the fishing industry get away with murder (pun not intended) because we have a cultural image of every fisherman being like George Clooney in The Perfect Storm. In reality, it would be much healthier if we treated the industry with the same rigor and skepticism that we heap on all of the other extractive industries.

16

u/Kowazuky 6d ago

the commercial fishing industry at large is not the problem. they are a huge part of Alaska’s economy, especially so in the coastal regions and the remote islands that are supported exclusively by commercial fishing.

Most commercial fishermen actually hate these trawlers even more than other people. They operate by different rules and are not part of the culture shared by all other fisheries and fishermen. Their nets pull up the ocean floor, destroy reefs, kill protected species that get in the way and just generally cause havoc.Much of their bycatch is the stock of other fisheries too. Meaning trawlers directly harm the populations that those other fisheries are careful to respect, along with the environment upon which they depend. While other fishermen take pride in what they catch, and the high quality food they are able to provide to the world, abide by strict regulations, and respect the environment they are working in. Trawlers actively negate these considerations and pointless kill everything just to provide the lowest quality product possible.

3

u/Outrageous-Fan268 6d ago

Great comment. This is true. Sustainability is built into Alaska’s constitution, and state fisheries are managed for sustained yield. Most fishermen in the state hate the trawlers because they’re acutely aware of how absolutely devastating trawlers are to their fisheries.

5

u/Kowazuky 6d ago

not just “game fish” but literally anything that gets in the way of their nets. They’re so discriminate and destructive it’s ludicrous.

40

u/Headoutdaplane 7d ago

They are not misleading our officials, they are buying them

15

u/Its_in_neutral 7d ago

Could Alaska implement something like this to deter trawlers?

https://www.euronews.com/green/2022/03/19/italian-fisherman-sinks-illegal-trawlers-with-other-worldly-underwater-sculptures

1

u/WWYDWYOWAPL 14h ago

Love it! just put giant underwater caltrops all over the trawlers favorite areas.

14

u/Upset-Word151 6d ago

Trawlers need to fuck right off Alaskan waters

7

u/Cdwollan 6d ago

Especially since so many are from out of state.

-2

u/Kowazuky 6d ago

that’s hardly the issue. A huge percentage of the fleet of salmon seiners, long liners and crab boats come up from Washington. That’s not a bad thing and it’s simply easier to keep the big boats down there. The pollock are found Alaskan waters, and most highly concentrated in the bering sea. so thats where they are going to fish for them. where the boats come from is beside the point. It’s the way they fish for them that is destructive, the trawler industry just needs to go. New methods need to be tried and developed that dont harm other fisheries, protected species and the ocean environment as a whole.

12

u/Cdwollan 6d ago

That's a big issue because they're extracting from Alaska waters without contributing to the Alaska economy the way local fishermen are. So not only are we relying on destructive fishing practices, we're allowing people to come to the areas around our state to do it.

1

u/riddlesinthedark117 6d ago

I forgot the percentage, but something like 60% of the trawling rights is owned by the native corps could be halfway ended by them choosing ships that improve their bottom/“mid water” equipment or immediately choose not exercise those rights.

So all of this, needs a mirror first

1

u/HydrogenatedBee ANC to PDX 6d ago

Which corporations are they?

2

u/riddlesinthedark117 5d ago

Norton Sound and the Coastal Villages at the very least

1

u/LumpyElderberry2 5d ago

Which corps? I have never heard this..

2

u/riddlesinthedark117 5d ago

Norton Sound for one and the Coastal Villages?

https://pulitzercenter.org/stories/how-kuskokwim-region-activist-baltimore-helped-western-alaska-villages-claim-share-bering

https://pulitzercenter.org/stories/struggle-dodge-salmon-pursuit-massive-pollock-bounty

Their execs are the type to pull in a million a year and lobby the legislature to not institute a income tax, too