An underwater image captured in 2016 shows sockeye salmon swimming up the Brooks River in Alaska's Katmai National Park to spawn. The commentary authors write that salmon and other fish are harmed by trawling. (Photo provided by the National Park Service)
As lifelong Alaskans and proud Republicans, we believe in stewardship — of our oceans, our communities and our resources. That’s why we see benefits to Senate Bill 161 and House Bill 203, bills that would ban bottom trawling in Alaska’s state waters. There are many much more sustainable ways to harvest fish from the ocean that don’t decimate ocean floor habitats and scoop up hundreds of thousands of salmon, halibut, blackcod, crab and even orca as bycatch. It’s time for Alaskan leaders to take a stand in defense of our coastal heritage and the sustainability of our fisheries. Thankfully, Sens. Mike Cronk and Robert Yundt and Reps. Kevin McCabe and Neal Foster are leading the way at the state level by introducing these bills. Unfortunately, the vast majority of trawl fishing that occurs in Alaska is under federal management. This is where the Alaska congressional delegation comes in — in particular, Rep. Nick Begich, who promised during his campaign to take action on this issue.
Bottom trawling is an industrial fishing method that drags massive nets across the ocean floor, indiscriminately destroying vital marine habitats and scooping up everything in their path. The majority of the trawl fleet that fishes in Alaska’s waters are not Alaskan, but hail from Washington and Oregon. While bottom trawling Alaska’s fish benefits these few Lower 48-based large corporate fleets in the short term, it threatens the long-term health of our oceans and the future of Alaska’s fishing communities.
This isn’t about opposing commercial fishing — far from it. Alaska’s economy and culture are deeply tied to the sea. But bottom trawling is neither necessary nor sustainable fishing. It’s strip-mining the ocean floor. And it’s time we call it what it is: reckless, wasteful and incompatible with responsible resource management.
Conservatives believe in local control and the protection of small businesses. Bottom trawling undermines both. Local fishermen — who fish responsibly using hook-and-line, pots and other low-impact methods — are being squeezed out by industrial-scale trawlers that deplete stocks and leave ecological ruin behind.
We cannot let short-term profits override long-term responsibility. Our children and grandchildren deserve to inherit prosperous ocean and sustainable fisheries where their small family owned businesses can thrive. Legislation to ban bottom trawling is a step toward that future — and a demonstration that Republicans in Alaska are ready to lead with vision and courage.
The ocean doesn’t belong to multinational corporations — it belongs to the people of Alaska and our visitors who love to fish, travel and recreate here. Let’s protect it.
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