AMCC at the December NPFMC Meeting: Advocating for a Whole-Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries Management

Posted on December 18, 2025

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council met in Anchorage this month to continue managing Alaska’s fisheries during a time of growing ecological uncertainty and federal disruption. AMCC participated to deliver a clear message: Alaska’s global leadership in science-based fisheries management must continue to evolve into ecosystem-accountable management before the next crisis forces reactive change.

A major focus of the meeting was the Council’s action on 2026–2027 groundfish harvest specifications in Alaska’s trawl fisheries. Due to the federal shutdown, the Council relied on 2024 SAFE reports because 2025 survey data could not be analyzed in time after NMFS staff furloughs. The Council also requested an early-2026 update to the Gulf of Alaska Pacific cod assessment. AMCC emphasized that while these decisions are grounded in stock assessment science, they must better reflect the system-wide risks Alaska’s fisheries now face.

In written comments and oral testimony, AMCC underscored that we are not saying the science is wrong, but that it is likely incomplete for the accelerating environmental uncertainty in the North Pacific. A total allowable catch can be biologically sustainable for a single species while still being ecologically unsustainable if habitat impacts, fishing methods, and cumulative removals are not fully considered. We also highlighted that Council risk tables often function as warnings without triggering change, and that annual accounting resets do not reflect how ecosystems and communities experience impacts over time.

AMCC also testified on the 2028 Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) Five-Year Review work plan, expressing concern that core elements, especially cumulative impacts and Habitat Areas of Particular Concern (HAPCs), were removed. Because the EFH review informs long-term resilience, AMCC urged that, if the scope is constrained, NMFS and the Council clearly communicate opportunities for public engagement so that community and Indigenous knowledge can be meaningfully and equitably integrated to complement models and industry data.

Finally, during staff tasking and related discussions, AMCC raised several priorities important to fishing communities and ecosystem stewards, including the need for stronger attention to Bristol Bay walrus declines, ensuring habitat impacts are incorporated into upcoming Council work such as the herring PSC discussion paper scheduled for October, advancing clear action to eliminate seafloor contact in pelagic trawl fisheries, and urging a Council letter, as they did in 2018, requesting removal of BSAI and GOA planning areas from proposed federal offshore oil and gas leasing.

AMCC appreciates the Council process and the many public servants and knowledge holders working under real strain to keep Alaska’s fisheries governance moving forward. This December meeting reinforced both the challenge and the opportunity ahead: to keep fishing strong for the next generation, management tools must turn early warnings into precautionary action grounded in the best available science and the place-based knowledge that never gets furloughed.

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