Federal fisheries regulators said a cap would balance protections for Western Alaska salmon with the health of pollock fisheries.

With the deadline for public comment approaching, hundreds of Alaskans are weighing in on a U.S. Department of Interior review of federal subsistence management.

Subsistence communities in Western Alaska ask for strict limits on the Bering Sea trawl fishery.

The council that manages Alaska’s federal fisheries may be just days away from a decision that could limit how much chum salmon the Bering Sea trawl fleet can scoop up as bycatch.

The Alaska Federation of Natives has launched an aggressive campaign to fight the Safari Club International's effort to weaken the influence of the federal government on subsistence management in Alaska and restore state authority over its regulation.

Alaska's congressional delegation introduced legislation on Wednesday, Jan. 14 that aims to reduce bycatch in parts of southwest Alaska using better marine data, technology, and gear.

Changes to federal subsistence management are still possible through a newly started regulation review process.

Safari Club leaders and Alaska Native subsistence advocates have long been at odds over rights to hunt and fish in Alaska. But the sport hunting group reached out to help a group of Native hunters, displaced by October's devastating storm, reconnect to their subsistence culture.

From Nov. 5, 2025 to Jan. 15, 2026, hunters in the portion of the Unit 18 management area known as RM617 will be able to harvest one bull moose, excluding male calves.

Storm-impacted communities on the Kuskokwim Delta coast and upriver will have additional opportunity to harvest moose, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.