Alaska fisheries officials are calling on the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) to reject the recertification of Russia's Western Bering Sea pollock fishery, arguing the fishery fails to meet the conservation standards routinely required of U.S. fishermen while competing directly with Alaska pollock in global markets.
The request comes as MSC considers formal objections to the fishery's five-year recertification. According to IntraFish, Alaska Department of Fish and Game Commissioner Doug Vincent-Lang submitted a July 1 letter urging MSC Chief Executive Rupert Howes to halt the recertification, following a formal objection filed by the At-sea Processors Association (APA). MSC expects a decision on the objection during the week of July 13.
In his letter, Vincent-Lang argued consumers purchasing seafood bearing the MSC ecolabel often assume the product was harvested responsibly, despite what he described as significant shortcomings in the Russian fishery's management.
"For the last five years, the MSC has provided products originating from the WBS (Western Bering Sea) pollock fishery with full access to the most widely recognized sustainability certification in global seafood," Vincent-Lang wrote. "During this time, WBS pollock has been sold around the world to unwitting consumers who see the MSC ecolabel and believe that their purchases must be ethical."
He argued the Western Bering Sea fishery lacks "no credible harvest strategy, no bycatch avoidance measures, and no benthic habitat protections whatsoever," while questioning how the fishery's previous certification conditions were considered satisfied.
The Commissioner also raised concerns about salmon conservation, writing that Russian pollock vessels encounter Alaska salmon but provide no credible bycatch data or mitigation measures. He said the fishery's management changes also increase the risk of overfishing shared pollock stocks and criticized the absence of meaningful protections for vulnerable seafloor habitat.
The letter echoes many of the same issues currently being debated within U.S. fisheries management.
Earlier this month, U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) reintroduced the Bycatch Reduction Act, legislation aimed at reducing bycatch, strengthening monitoring requirements, limiting seafloor contact by trawl gear and expanding transparency throughout the North Pacific fishery management process.
The proposal would require proven salmon excluder devices aboard pollock vessels, establish new standards intended to keep both midwater and bottom trawl gear off the seafloor, expand ecosystem research and improve public reporting of bycatch and observer data.
Several provisions also reflect concerns raised by longtime Alaska crab fisherman Jeff Steele during the North Pacific Fishery Management Council's June meeting.
Steele argued that pelagic trawl gear operating in Alaska should be required to demonstrate that it remains entirely off the seabed before being allowed to fish in areas closed to bottom trawling. He has maintained that observer data show pollock vessels can make contact with the seafloor despite being classified as pelagic gear, and has called for measurable performance standards to verify bottom avoidance.
Those concerns closely parallel Vincent-Lang's criticism of the Russian fishery.
In his letter, the commissioner said Alaska fisheries are routinely held to rigorous standards because of their transparent management system, while arguing the Western Bering Sea pollock fishery continues to receive MSC certification despite lacking basic habitat protections and transparent reporting.
"The WBS pollock fishery has been certified without even the most rudimentary system for identifying and protecting vulnerable seafloor habitat in place," Vincent-Lang wrote. "This failure should be an embarrassment for the Marine Stewardship Council."
He concluded by urging MSC to deny recertification, arguing the organization risks undermining confidence in its sustainability label by certifying a fishery that lacks adequate safeguards for bycatch, habitat protection and stock management.
The dispute highlights growing concern among Alaska fishing organizations that domestic fleets operating under some of the world's strictest fisheries regulations are being forced to compete against imported seafood that, they argue, is certified under far less rigorous conservation standards.
