We Fish for Alaska Pollock and We Have Nothing to Hide

We’re captains in the Alaska Pollock fishery. Every time we leave the dock, we don’t just take crew and gear — we bring observers and cameras to transparently record everything we do. From the Bering Sea to the Gulf of Alaska, our hauls are monitored, our catch is counted, and our bycatch is tracked. That’s not unusual out here. It’s just the job.

Everything we do is accounted for, and that’s fine by us - because we have nothing to hide. That scrutiny is part of what keeps our fishery one of the most tightly managed in the world.

Accountable for Every Trip, Every Tow

In the Bering Sea pollock fishery, 100% of trips are monitored. No exceptions. Whether it’s cameras on deck or observers on board, NOAA Fisheries is always keeping track.

On larger catcher-processors, two federally trained observers live and work alongside us, collecting data from every tow. Before ever stepping on a vessel with us, observers complete weeks of intensive training in species identification, data collection, safety procedures, and at-sea survival — and continue to receive regular training refreshers between contracts to stay current. A big part of their work is verifying the handling of salmon bycatch. We retain each and every salmon we catch so they can be counted, sampled, and tracked — length, weight, genetics and all. Those samples help identify where the fish originated from and give us a better idea of what’s happening in the open ocean. If a salmon is deemed suitable for food-grade use after sampling, it’s donated through SeaShare.

The data observers collect flow straight into NOAA’s management system and shapes real-time decisions about how and where we fish.

In the Gulf of Alaska, we have made enormous advances in monitoring over the last five years, despite still having a race for fish. Due to this, the Gulf is in the partial coverage category which means that prior to the implementation of electronic monitoring (EM), only a portion of Gulf trips were randomly monitored based on budget considerations each year. Beginning in 2025, every pelagic pollock trip from almost every vessel has an EM system running for the entire trip, and every EM delivery receives a full salmon count at the dock by a shoreside observer — just like catcher vessels in the Bering Sea.

Tracking Target Catch and Bycatch, Without Exception

We care about salmon, too. As career fishermen in Alaska’s waters, we know how much Alaskan families and communities depend on them. Salmon support livelihoods across the state — including ours, since many Kodiak pollock vessels also tender salmon in the summer.

None of us want to catch salmon, unless we’re sportfishing, which is why we’ve collectively spent decades fine-tuning our gear and embracing new technology to make fishing more efficient. Less time with our gear in the water means fewer chances of encountering salmon.

We invest in and use salmon excluder devices that allow strong swimmers like Chinook and Chum to escape our nets. Inevitably, salmon do appear. When they do, we move. Plain and simple. We talk to each other constantly out there and share real-time information across the fleet so other vessels can steer clear and avoid problem areas. Through teamwork, better gear, and real-time information sharing, our bycatch stays low: more than 99% of what we bring up the ramp is pollock — less than 1% is anything else. We also believe every fish matters and has value, which is why we continue to push forward in innovative ways that modernize our gear with science as the foundation.

That’s accountability. No guessing. No rounding. No padding numbers. We know exactly what we catch — and so does NOAA and the public, through transparent annual reporting that federal law requires us to provide every year.

Data, Trust, and Continuous Improvement

All this monitoring creates one of the most complex and detailed fishery data sets in the world. Observer data and EM footage are integrated into NOAA’s catch accounting system daily. Managers use that information to enforce Chinook limits and to show us when and where salmon bycatch is occurring, prompting “Rolling Hotspots” or corridor closures that allow us to shift our efforts and avoid salmon.

That information has led to significant improvements. We’ve learned that both salmon and pollock respond to changing ocean temperatures and move differently year to year. Weekly closure announcements help us adjust. Because of this system — and our ability to adapt —salmon bycatch has dropped by more than 50% since these programs began in the Bering Sea. These changes haven’t always been easy, but they’ve revolutionized how we operate.

It’s one of the reasons NOAA and scientists worldwide routinely point to our fishery — Alaska's pollock fishery — as an example of how trawl fishing can be done right. Not because it’s perfect, but because all of us fishermen and managers put our heads together to collectively find a better way. Beginning in 2026, all but one active vessel in the Gulf fleet will participate in voluntary electronic monitoring on every pelagic pollock trip – a sign that accountability across the fleet is only getting stronger.

Transparency at Every Step

We fish under full-retention rules. That means nothing goes overboard or unrecorded. If it comes up in the net, it stays on the boat and gets counted. Cameras provide proof that we’re keeping everything, while human observers —on deck or at the plant — focus on scientific detail and compliance.

Every pound, count, measurement, and video dataset folds into NOAA’s Catch Accounting System. This system brings together what observers and cameras record, what we log in the wheelhouse, and what plant staff verify at the dock to nail down exactly how much of each species we catch. It’s a full picture from the start of the haul to the offload.

Season after season, every bit of information we collect feeds the science that keeps this fishery healthy for the future. That constant cycle of monitoring and reporting isn’t a chore — it’s our safety net. It protects the resource, our jobs, and the coastal communities across the state that rely on Alaska Pollock.

Observers and cameras aren’t outsiders looking over our shoulder. They’re part of the system that keeps this fishery honest, durable, and sustainable. Every pound of pollock is counted. Every salmon is accounted for. That’s how it should be.

Fishing isn’t just our job; it’s our life. We want it here for our kids and theirs. So yes, we welcome the conversation. We fish in plain sight, by the rules, and we stand behind what we catch — with nothing to hide.

Transparency is the backbone of this fishery, and we stand by it every time we set the net.