Alaskans
AGAINST
BIG TRAWL
© Robert Visser
Alaska Families Are Paying the Price for Big Trawl
More than 3 million salmon. More than 9 million crab. At least 57.5 million pounds of halibut. All wasted as bycatch, thanks to industrial trawl fleets owned by out-of-state corporations.
They profit. Alaskans pay the price. Every fish discarded is a fish that never reaches our rivers and dinner tables.
© Robert Visser
Nearly 3 out of 4 Alaskans want tighter restrictions on trawling
Yet the leaders we send to DC to represent us, like Sen. Dan Sullivan and Rep. Nick Begich, haven’t done enough to reel in the trawling industry.
Why are they so adamantly staying on the wrong side?
Big Trawl might be powerful, but its fate is in Alaskans’ hands.
Millions of fish wasted
Big Trawl companies and their fleets drag our waters only to pile up an enormous volume of bycatch every year, wasting catch that should be supporting Alaskans.
From 2017 - 2025, Big Trawl vessels wasted:
So let’s get this straight: These trawlers are allowed to fish where we can’t.
They destroy our waters wherever they go, and support politicians who are failing to meet the moment.
Meanwhile, sport and subsistence fishermen are forced to deal with tighter restrictions as we all contend with the economic ripple effects of salmon shortages and reduced fishing stocks? Sounds fair.
It’s time for leaders to stand up to out-of-state Big Trawl interests. That means standing up for our valuable resources and stopping the waste.
No real action from federal decision-makers
While our fisheries struggle and communities feel the consequences, our elected officials are failing to act. Worse, they have helped enable the crisis we’re in.
Politicians like Sen. Dan Sullivan and Rep. Nick Begich are supposed to represent us. Yet instead of taking decisive action, they’ve only proposed more reports, studies, and delays that give out-of-state trawlers time to continue wasting our fish.
We don't need more delays. We need action. And we need leaders finally willing to stand up for Alaskans, not Big Trawl.
It's time to demand accountability from Alaska's federal delegation
Alaska’s fisheries are largely governed under federal law, giving the state’s congressional delegation significant influence over trawling and bycatch policy. They control:
Bycatch limits and accountability rules
Federal Fisheries legislation
NOAA fisheries oversight
Enforcement, monitoring, and observer funding
But the political sway of Big Trawl and their lobbyists raises serious questions about whether current federal fisheries policy serves Alaska families and fishermen — or the interests of out-of-state corporations.