Federal fisheries managers have set groundfish catch limits for 2026-27 in the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands, leaving the pollock total allowable catch (TAC) nearly unchanged despite a 30 percent drop in pollock biomass.
The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) acted on the advice of its Scientific and Statistical Committee, which concluded that no reduction from the preliminary ABC (acceptable biological catch) was warranted and recommended adopting preliminary overfishing limits (OFL) and ABC.
"We have a two-million metric ton cap for all Bering Sea groundfish," Diana Evans, interim executive director of the NPFMC, said on Dec. 9. "It is my understanding that the reason the SSC did not think an additional buffer was needed (for the pollock) was because there is already a buffer between the cap and the ABC. We proved that even though we don't have the information we usually have we do have the right information to make a robust science-based decision."
Evans' comments came after the council released a statement saying that the SSC had conducted a thorough review of groundfish stocks "based on the best scientific information available." The council noted that some groundfish stock assessments planned for 2025 were not completed due to the government shutdown. As a result, the SS relied on the most recent peer-reviewed 2024 stock assessment and fishery evaluation (SAFE) reports and the projections for 2026 resulting from those approved assessments, along with new information, including 2025 catch reports, ecosystem status information, and contextual information from the 2025 BSAI and GOA bottom trawl surveys.
The SSC review of information did not find evidence of additional conservation concerns warranting harvest reductions below current levels, for any of the stocks. None of the groundfish stocks were overfished in 2024, nor was overfishing occurring in 2024 or 2025, the council said.
In a separate action after receiving public testimony, the council asked the Alaska Fisheries Science Center to update the Gulf of Alaska Pacific cod stock assessment in early 2026, rather than wait until the fall of that year.
This could allow the council to potentially adjust the 2026 catch limit for Pacific cod in the GOA midseason in 2026. Evans said the council will decide in February whether to hold a special meeting on the matter. The reason for the request to the AFSC was a substantial increase in the recent survey for Pacific cod in the Gulf, which could not be considered during the December meeting because the government shutdown prevented staff from completing the planned stock assessment. Pacific cod are a core groundfish species in Gulf fisheries.
The council recommended bycatch limits for halibut in the BSAI and GOA and for crab species and herring in the BSAI and noted that bycatch limits for salmon are already established in regulations.
A procedural issue arose with the timing of updated information related to herring, which limited public review and prevented an advisory panel review prior to council action, so the council recommended the approved herring biomass estimate from 2024 be used to set the limits for 2026 and 2027.
Other issues before the council included arbitration between crab harvesters and processors and charter halibut management measures.
The council voted to remove a requirement in crab arbitration that the arbitrator can only select a remedy proposed by one side. The motion approved now allows the arbitrator to select an independent or compromise remedy based on facts provided during arbitration.
The council encouraged arbitrators to provide a written rationale to parties to the arbitration and said the arbitrator would be responsible for ensuring that the rationale is consistent with applicable antitrust laws.
Also during this meeting, the charter halibut management committee, the advisory panel, and the council made motions for a progression of charter halibut management measures, including bag limits, size restriction and weekly closures recommended under different charter halibut catch limits that could be adopted for the 2026 season, said Sarah Marrinan, a fishery analyst for the council.
From this stage, the council's recommended measures for area 2C (Southeast Alaska) and 3A (Southcentral Alaska) will then be submitted by the U.S. delegation as a regulatory proposal to the International Pacific Halibut Commission at its meeting in January. After the IPHC adopts the coastwide Total Constant Exploitation Yield and establishes the individual regulatory area TCEYs the catch sharing plan allocations from the domestic parties are adopted and become a component of the IPHC regulations.
The catch share plan then dictates the 2026 charter halibut allocations for Area 2C and 3A, and the proposed list of management measures will be used to inform how that limit in pounds will translate into size restrictions, bag limits, day of the week closures, and more. IPHC regulations are published as annual management measures by the National Marine Fisheries Service i the Federal register, usually in February following the annual IPHC meeting.
