Sen. Sullivan Introduces Bycatch Reduction Act to Protect Alaska Salmon and Seafloor
While the bill addresses popular conservation goals, it imposes significant costs on the fishing industry and faces a long road through committee during a busy session.
Commercial trawl vessel owners in the Bering Sea, Aleutian Islands, and Gulf of Alaska must install new gear like seafloor contact sensors and salmon excluder devices within one to two years, which costs money and time. The bill also creates a new assistance fund and a Flume Tank Assistance Fund to help offset those costs, but noncompliance brings civil penalties and permit sanctions under federal fishing law.
“The Foundation shall use the amounts in the Fund to reduce or mitigate bycatch, and reduce marine benthic habitat contact from mobile or fixed fishing gear, including by providing financial assistance to fishing industry organizations, associations, fishermen and owners and operators of commercial fishing vessels to purchase or modify fishing gear, equipment, and technology”
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Sent to a congressional committee for expert review. The committee decides whether this bill moves forward.
Introduced in Senate
The bill was officially filed and given a number. It now enters the legislative queue.
No votes have been recorded for this legislation yet.
Senator Dan Sullivan introduced an updated Bycatch Reduction Act (S. 4938) to establish gear performance standards, mandate salmon excluders, and prohibit unsustainable foreign seafood imports. The bill aims to protect seafloor habitats and improve transparency in fishery management.
The article criticizes Senator Sullivan's Bycatch Reduction Act as a 'watered down' version of previous legislation. It highlights Sullivan's campaign donations from the trawling industry and argues the bill lacks enforceable geographic limits for trawling compared to earlier proposals.
Senator Dan Sullivan's new bill creates a toolkit to reduce bycatch and seafloor impacts. However, critics claim the bill is nearly identical to a 2024 proposal by Mary Peltola but with fewer protections for small-vessel operators and less funding for research and engineering programs.
Document Type
Congressional Bill
Official Title
Bycatch Reduction Act
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