Alaska's salmon collapse and the trawler fight

Kodiak lives on both trawl and salmon money. On September 12, 2026, the Kodiak Chamber of Commerce's fisheries debate put Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan beside Democratic challenger Mary Peltola. The general election was set for November 3, 2026. Sullivan is a two-term incumbent with a seat on the Senate Commerce Committee. Peltola is a former US House member, Yup'ik, who grew up on the Kuskokwim River. Alaska Public Media reported that the debate's sponsors included major players in the pollock industry. Both candidates pledged to curb trawl bycatch. Peltola promised to ban 'Lower 48 factory trawlers,' her phrase for out-of-state ships that process their catch at sea. She also said the federal government should help pay to fit trawlers with excluders, gear that can limit bycatch, and with real-time monitoring. Native News Online reported that she called for keeping mid-water trawlers off the seafloor. Sullivan promised to get his Bycatch Reduction Act through its committee vote, then days away. The bill would require excluders and seafloor-contact detection. He cited climate change, ocean acidification and competition from Russian hatchery salmon among the causes needing research. Each criticised the other's record. Peltola criticised Sullivan over campaign money. The Anchorage Daily News reported that he had received roughly $300,000 from trawling executives and PACs over the years, and she roughly $10,000. PACs are political action committees, which pool campaign donations. Neither debate report records a reply from him on the donations. Sullivan criticised Peltola as a lawmaker who got little done in a little more than two years in the House. The same newspaper reported her reply, that she had worked with him on disaster relief for fishermen. Neither candidate defended the bycatch status quo.