Alaska fishing disputes sharpen battle over the Senate seat

Fishing has become a defining issue in Alaska’s closely watched Senate race between Democratic challenger Mary Peltola and Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan, as the state’s fisheries face economic and ecological pressures. Their competing proposals could influence local livelihoods and help shape a contest that may affect control of the Senate.

Peltola wants to ban large factory trawlers from the Lower 48 and expand support and monitoring for local fishermen; Sullivan opposes that ban and focuses on foreign fleets, while backing rules to reduce salmon bycatch. Alaska supplies almost 60 per cent of the wild seafood harvested in the US, and fishing employs one in seven Alaskans. Bering Sea pollock trawlers have caught about 20,000 king salmon a year as bycatch over the past decade; Sullivan’s bill has cleared a Senate committee but still needs approval from both chambers.