Mary Peltola Rolls Out Her Plan to Fight for Alaska Fisheries

Mary Peltola’s plan for Alaska fisheries comes at a critical time. With ongoing battles over fishing rights, federal management, and the future of salmon runs, the stakes have rarely been higher. Here’s where she stands.

By Melissa Norris

Today, Senate Candidate Mary Peltola released a fisheries policy plan titled “Fighting for Alaska Fisheries,” outlining her vision to address declining fish stocks and support Alaska fishermen, families, and coastal communities.

Mary’s plan centers on several key priorities—fighting for a ban on factory trawling, reducing bycatch, restoring fish abundance through improved stock assessments and fishery disaster funding, expanding electronic monitoring technology, strengthening Alaska’s seafood economy, creating opportunity for fish waste, and increasing Alaska Native and Tribal representation in federal fisheries management. It’s a tall order, but one that is much needed.

As a lifelong fisherman, former fishing boat captain, and former Alaska representative in Congress, Peltola says the decline of Alaska’s salmon runs and the impacts of large-scale trawl fisheries require immediate action. Her proposal calls for what she describes as “Alaska-first solutions” designed to protect fisheries resources while sustaining the communities that depend on them.

Among the specific policy proposals are:

• A ban on factory trawling and measures to keep mid-water trawlers off bottom.
• Increased enforcement of bycatch reduction standards and expanded use of electronic monitoring.
• Full funding for fish stock assessments and fishery disaster relief programs.
• Investments in Alaska seafood processing innovation, fish by-product utilization, and mariculture.
• Creation of Tribal seats on the North Pacific Fishery Management Council and protections for federal subsistence representation.

Peltola points to her previous work in Congress, including efforts to address bycatch, protect Bristol Bay, strengthen seafood supply chains, and secure federal fisheries funding for Alaska communities.

For Alaska’s sport, commercial, personal-use, and subsistence users, fisheries management remains one of the state’s most consequential policy issues. Peltola’s proposal adds another voice to the ongoing debate over how Alaska can restore salmon abundance and ensure future generations continue to benefit from healthy fisheries. The more active our candidates and elected officials can be on the subject of Alaska fisheries conservation and protection, the better off we’ll all be.

Below you’ll find some key points shared by Mary and her team. You can review the full plan here:

“As someone who grew up salmon fishing on the Kuskokwim River with my father, I know firsthand that fish is more than food—it’s central to our Alaska way of life. But that way of life is under attack and the fish that fill our freezers are becoming harder and harder to find thanks to out-of-state factory trawlers, excessive bycatch, and destruction of our fisheries. We don’t need more studies to tell us what’s happening in front of our eyes; Alaska needs bold action now to restore and protect our fish. I will fight for practical, Alaska-first solutions to restore our fisheries, strengthen our communities, and ensure that the next generation can experience the same abundance Alaskans have enjoyed for generations.” – Mary Peltola

Mary has spent her life fighting for Alaska fisherman, fisheries, and the communities they sustain. As a lifelong fisherman and a former permit holder, she’s seen firsthand the decline of salmon runs and the devastating impacts out-of-state trawlers are wreaking on our fisheries. She knows the stakes, and she’ll fight for bold action to save our fish and restore abundance for Alaskans.

Banning Factory Trawling

• For too long, out-of-state factory trawlers have exploited Alaska fisheries—Creating excessive bycatch, and ravaging the ocean floor while Alaska fishermen and communities suffer the consequences. Mary will fight to ban factory trawling to protect our Alaska way of life.
• Many trawler fleets are hiding behind mid-water or “pelagic” status, when the truth is many are just as bad as the bottom trawlers. These mid-water trawlers make bottom contact 80% of the time, damaging our fisheries and ecosystem along the way. Mary will fight to keep mid-water trawlers off bottom, ensuring that trawlers can’t hide behind outdated definitions and harm our fish stocks.

Restoring Our Fisheries

• Mary has long fought to make sure that Alaska fishermen receive the aid they deserve to compensate for collapsing fish runs. She’ll continue to fight for robust fishery disaster funding – both immediate relief for fishermen and long-term funding for increasing resilience – to support Alaska fishermen, families, and coastal communities grappling with the devastating impacts of factory bottom trawling and rapidly changing fisheries.
• Alaska fisheries cannot be managed on guesswork. Mary will stand up to anyone to fully fund fish stock assessments so that catch limits are based on accurate data, and Alaska fishermen aren’t being hit with outdated, unnecessarily strict restrictions.
• It’s time to get serious about enforcing our National Standards on bycatch and fishery protection, because the collapse of Alaskans’ way of life cannot be accepted as collateral damage. Mary will demand the NOAA crack down on enforcing National Standards 8 and 9 and the entire Magnuson-Stevens Act to hold fishery councils accountable for prioritizing sustainable stocks, reducing bycatch, and protecting the communities most impacted by fishery declines.

Bringing Innovation Into Our Traditions

• Alaskans should be leading the charge on innovation, especially when it can be leveraged to restore our fisheries and crack down on bad actors. Mary supports expanding the use of modern electronic monitoring and advanced technologies to detect wasteful bycatch in real time and hold industrial trawling fleets accountable for breaking our fishery protection regulations.

Strengthening Our Alaska Seafood Economy

• Alaskans don’t believe in waste, but as a country we only use about 75% of each fish harvested – leaving money on the table in a livelihood with extremely tight margins. Mary will push for federal grants to help Alaska create a fish by-product economy, to turn what is currently discarded as waste into an industry that supports Alaska jobs, strengthens coastal economies, and reduces fishery waste.
• Mary will always stand firmly with Alaska wild-caught fish and against the farmed fish economy. She will work to pass Don Young’s Keep Finfish Free Act, which would ban the federal government from pushing toward national finfish farm permitting.
• Certain forms of mariculture represent a huge opportunity for Alaska. Mary will fight for federal funding to help Alaskans grow and market our mariculture industry to encourage farming non-fish ocean species like kelp and shellfish. This industry offers substantial, sustainable financial benefit to our state and offers Alaska another opportunity to lead the Blue economy as we always have.

Securing All Alaskans a Seat at the Table

• The communities most impacted by declining fish runs should never be excluded or overpowered in decision-making about our fishery regulations. That’s why Mary supports locking in the current makeup of the federal subsistence board, to ensure that Alaskans are the ones making subsistence decisions.
• Alaska Natives have kept our fisheries strong for generations, and they deserve a seat at the table. Mary will fight to create Tribal seats on the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council to ensure that Alaska – not Seattle or Oregon – is deciding how to tackle the issues our fisheries are facing.

Editorial Disclaimer

Fish Alaska, Hunt Alaska, our advertisers, sponsors, and affiliates do not endorse or oppose political candidates unless explicitly stated otherwise. However, fisheries policy directly affects Alaska’s fish, fishermen, families, businesses, and communities, making it an important topic that deserves coverage regardless of political affiliation.

Our goal is to provide readers with information about the policies, positions, and decisions that impact Alaska’s fisheries so they can make informed decisions for themselves.

For more in-depth discussions, candidate interviews, and fisheries policy coverage, we encourage readers to listen to the Dragging Alaska Podcast and the Trawl Free Table Podcast, where we speak directly with candidates, policymakers, fishermen, scientists, and stakeholders about the issues facing Alaska’s fisheries. If you do not see your preferred candidate featured, we encourage you to contact their campaign and ask them to participate. All candidates have been invited to join the conversation, and our platform remains open to those willing to discuss fisheries policy and the future of Alaska’s fisheries.

Melissa Norris

About the Author Melissa Norris

Melissa Norris is the founder and Publisher of Fish Alaska and Hunt Alaska magazines. She has over two decades of experience fishing all over Alaska, writing about her time in the field, testing gear, planning trips and cooking and harvesting wild Alaska seafood. In addition to writing tons of content for the magazine and our website, Melissa heads our digital platforms and leads the design team.

For Melissa Norris’s full bio, read more.