Spex Flex: Pacific Fishery Management Council Faces Uncertainty Brought by Climate Change — Part 3

At the same meeting, the Council added an emergency agenda item to consider a change in the 2026 harvest specifications for canary rockfish, shortspine thornyhead, and petrale sole.  

The reduced harvest specifications for these species had led to unusually negative impacts on fishing communities and businesses. At the same time, industry representatives reported that on-the-water observations were not matching the results of the 2023 stock assessments, which were used to set the 2025-26 harvest specifications and management measures...

Spex Flex: Pacific Fishery Management Council Faces Uncertainty Brought by Climate Change — Part 2

The concept of flexibility has been discussed in the Council process since its beginning, but the “spex flex” idea arose from the drastic cuts in canary, shortspine, and quillback mentioned above, as well as from existing initiatives coming together in the spring of 2025.  

Several ideas for increasing flexibility had been circulating in the Council process. In March, the Council was discussing an adaptive management project when Executive Director Merrick Burden noted that although the concept had originally focused on climate as the driver of change...

NPFMC Addresses Bering Sea Chum Salmon Bycatch in Groundfish Fisheries This Week

A Draft Environmental Impact Statement will be discussed by members of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) this week. The DEIS addresses four alternatives to manage chum salmon bycatch in the Bering Sea pollock fishery. 

The alternatives start with “no action,” which would keep management of chum salmon bycatch in the Bering Sea at the status quo.

Alternative 2 provides an overall chum salmon cap that would function as a hard cap for each pollock B season. If the overall cap is met, pollock fishing must... 

Twin Comebacks: Yelloweye Rockfish Rebound Mirrors Salmon’s Return on the Klamath

Two decades of patience, partnership, and persistence are paying off for West Coast fisheries. As salmon once again surge up the Klamath River following landmark dam removals, another species has completed its own long road to recovery offshore: the yelloweye rockfish.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council this week declared yelloweye rockfish rebuilt, marking the final chapter in one of the most significant – and toughest – fishery recovery efforts in U.S. history. The announcement means every groundfish species once considered overfished on the West Coast has now been rebuilt...

New Seafood Accelerator "Catch+Create" Launches to Drive Product Innovation  

A new startup accelerator program was recently launched to stimulate product  innovation, market growth and economic opportunity within the West Coast groundfish sector.  

Catch+Create, developed by nonprofit Positively Groundfish, is a highly resourced, no-equity accelerator focused on supporting entrepreneurs and small businesses to develop value-added products using West Coast groundfish like Pacific rockfish, sole, lingcod, sablefish, skate and more. This first-of-its-kind program is designed to help entrepreneurs create value-added packaged products like canned fish, frozen meals, smoked fish...

USDA Awards $34.66 Million for Pacific Pink Shrimp and Atlantic Groundfish Contracts

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently awarded $34.66 million in Section 32 contracts for Pacific pink shrimp ($15.73 million) and Atlantic groundfish ($18.93 million).

The announcement comes after the USDA’s pre-solicitation notice on May 23 and its solicitation notice on June 16 for frozen Atlantic pollock fillets, frozen haddock fillets, frozen ocean perch fillets, and Pacific salad shrimp.

Among the successful pink shrimp contracts were the following awards for Pacific salad shrimp: $3.275 million to Bornstein Seafoods, Inc., $10.01 million...

USDA Accepting Section 32 Bids for Atlantic Groundfish and Pacific Pink Shrimp

On June 16, 2025, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced formal solicitations for contract bids on commercially available Atlantic Groundfish and Pacific Pink Shrimp.

As is the protocol under the USDA’s Section 32 Program, products purchased through the solicitation will be distributed to various food nutrition assistance programs.

Per the solicitations, groundfish products must be delivered between August 16, 2025, and April 15, 2026. Pink shrimp products must be delivered between August 1, 2025, and October 31, 2025...

West Coast Fisheries Infrastructure Waxes and Wanes: Part 2

Loss of infrastructure and spreading repercussion

Editor’s note: This is the second of a three-part series on the struggles facing shoreside infrastructure that supports West Coast fisheries, submitted by Pacific Fishery Management Council Executive Director Merrick Burden. Part 1 discussed the decline in fisheries and infrastructure in the past 20 years.  

Infrastructure problems are particularly acute in California due to depleted salmon populations, closures in the nearshore rockfish fishery, delayed Dungeness crab seasons, changing regulations, and shifting markets. In the early 1980s, between 2,400 and 3,300 commercial boats...

Frank O’Hara III Takes Helm at Wild Alaska Sole Association

The Board of the Wild Alaska Sole Association (WASA) elected Frank O’Hara III as the group’s new president, it announced on February 18.

Currently, O’Hara serves as the Executive Vice President of the fishing company O’Hara Corporation, which harvests flatfish and other groundfish species in Alaska’s Bering Sea. He will succeed Jim Johnson of North Star Fishing Company, who served as President of WASA since it was created in 2023.

“I’m looking forward to working with WASA and growing markets for our Wild Alaska Sole...

Arctic Fisheries Secures Strategic Investment from SNH Capital Partners

SNH Capital Partners (SNH) has announced its latest strategic investment in Arctic Fisheries, a leading importer of premium seafood products like groundfish, crab, and lobster, serving customers throughout the United States.

With over a century of history, Arctic Fisheries has established a legacy that positions it as a leader in the industry. Leveraging strong, long-standing connections with a global network of suppliers, Arctic Fisheries sources high-quality, premium seafood that is highly esteemed by its foodservice clientele.

Michael Kotok, CEO of Arctic Fisheries...

USTR Extends China Section 301 Tariff Exclusions Through November 29

On Thursday, August 28, 2025, the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) announced the extension of tariff exclusions in the Section 301 Investigation of China's Acts, Policies, and Practices. The list of exclusions includes various seafood items, such as frozen haddock and sole, as well as frozen blocks of crab meat, which includes king, snow, and Dungeness crab.

The exemptions, which were to expire on August 31, will now expire on November 29, 2025. This is the second time this year that the exemptions have been extended...

US Seafood Groups Push for Federal Investigation Into Imported Seafood With Banned Antibiotics

The Oregon Trawl Commission (OTC), along with the Southern Shrimp Alliance (SSA) and the crawfish industry, sent a letter to the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) requesting a Section 301 Investigation on the use of antibiotics in farm-raised foreign seafood.

The OTC letter, addressed to USTR Jamieson Greer, requested that the USTR examine how the use of unapproved antibiotics and veterinary drugs constitutes an unfair trade practice that leads to downward pricing pressure on US seafood producers, who face stricter safety standards...

Groundfish Harvester in British Columbia Fined $37,000 For Illegally Catching and Selling Halibut

A commercial groundfish harvester in British Columbia was fined nearly $37,000 for illegally catching and selling halibut during a fishery closure last year in the Haida Gwaii Archipelago.  

According to Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), Stefan Grega, owner of the commercial fishing vessel Pacific Sunrise, pled guilty to multiple violations of Canada’s Fisheries Act. As a result, the court imposed a $30,000 fine and ordered Grega to pay back the $6,989 he made from the illegal harvest, resulting in a...

USDA Announces Section 32 Pre-Solicitation for Atlantic Groundfish and Pacific Pink Shrimp

On May 23, 2025, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced plans to purchase commercially available Atlantic Groundfish and Pacific Pink Shrimp for distribution to various food nutrition assistance programs.  

According to the USDA’s announcement, potential materials purchased include frozen Atlantic pollock fillets (material code 111291), frozen haddock fillets (material code 111292), frozen ocean perch fillets (111293), and Pacific salad shrimp (material codes 111453 and 111454).  

The May 23 notice was only a pre-solicitation for seafood bids. Formal solicitations for firm-fixed-price contracts with the...