Fishing for a Solution · Episode 5 of 12 · 20 min
Building the Biggest Fishery
Alaska pollock is the largest U.S. fishery by volume, with a 2026 Bering Sea catch limit of 1.375 million metric tons, a little over three billion pounds. The episode follows how it was built, from Japanese frozen surimi to the late-1980s race for fish, when Seattle fleets fought Alaska shore plants. The American Fisheries Act of 1998 ended the race with fixed shares, cooperatives and a $90 million buyout.
Who's who
- Ted Stevens+4 more episodesAlaska senator who introduced the 1997 bill behind the American Fisheries Act
- Keith Criddle+1 more episodeUniversity of Alaska Fairbanks economist on the act's trading limits
- Lou GroenMcDonald's franchisee who created the Filet-O-Fish in 1962
- Bernt BodalLeader of American Seafoods in the 1990s
- Julie Bonney+1 more episodeKodiak trawl fleet representative at the Alaska Groundfish Data Bank
- Matt TinningChief executive of the At-sea Processors Association
- Joe BundrantChief executive of Trident Seafoods
Where it happens
- Bering Sea+10 more episodesSource of the 2026 catch limit of 1.375 million metric tons
- Dutch Harbor, Alaska+1 more episodeSite of Japanese-owned pollock processing plants
- Kodiak, Alaska+3 more episodesTrawl fleet city hit by the 2024 Gulf of Alaska closure
- Seattle, Washington+7 more episodesHome of the catcher-processor fleets
Timeline
- 1960Nissui reports a breakthrough in freezing surimi
- 1982Council sets a two-million-ton groundfish ceiling
- 1992First inshore and offshore pollock allocation
- October 21, 1998American Fisheries Act signed
- 2005Fishery first certified by the Marine Stewardship Council
- September 25, 2024Central Gulf of Alaska pollock fishery closed early over Chinook bycatch
Still debated
Reports differ on the buyout figure and on how much the 1998 act, rather than sea lion protections, explains the changes. Industry and economists call it a model fishery; critics in Western Alaska say that measure leaves out salmon. How much Russian competition drove the price slump is not settled.
