06/02/2026
https://aksportingjournal.com/salmonstate-calls-on-npfmc-to-address-trawlers-bottom-dragging-process/
From SalmonState:
The North Pacific Fishery Management Council has the opportunity, at its June meeting, to close a notorious loophole that allows pelagic, or so-called “mid-water” trawlers, to drag the ocean floor a very high percentage of the time that they are fishing, including in protected areas closed to forms of fishing that involve mobile bottom contact. In the Bering Sea alone, 40% of all bottom contact by fishing operations comes from “mid-water” trawlers.
“No one should be allowed to drag the ocean floor in protected, sensitive areas closed to that practice. It’s far past time to close this colossal loophole,” said SalmonState Executive Director Tim Bristol. “The term ‘pelagic’ refers to marine ecosystems not near the coast or seafloor. Pelagic or “midwater” trawling needs to stay off the bottom of the ocean. If “midwater” draggers can’t uphold this basic definition, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council needs to manage them as bottom trawlers,” said Ryan Astalos SalmonState Operations Director.
Trawling is an industrial form of fishing in which large ships drag an enormous net with a mouth as wide as a football field behind them. They bycatch, on average, 141 million pounds of marine life each year. This includes tens of thousands of king salmon, hundreds of thousands of chum salmon, millions of herring, millions of crabs, and millions of pounds of halibut — all species experiencing declines. It also includes protected species like orcas.
“No one should be allowed to drag the ocean floor in protected, sensitive areas closed to that practice. It’s far past time to close this colossal loophole,” said SalmonState Executive Director Tim Bristol. “The term ‘pelagic’ refers to marine ecosystems not near the coast or seafloor. P...
