Matt Tinning: Misinformation about ‘factory trawlers’ won’t bring back Kenai kings

By MATT TINNING | AT-SEA PROCESSORS ASSOCIATION

March 23, 2026 – Southcentral Alaska families are facing another difficult king salmon season. For communities on the Kenai Peninsula, low Chinook returns are not an abstract policy debate — they affect freezers, businesses, traditions, and livelihoods. The frustration is real. The concern is justified.

But when the stakes are this high, facts matter.

Mary Peltola’s campaign continuously posts inaccurate statements blaming trawling. A recent social media post claims, “Factory trawlers are destroying our fisheries and leaving Alaskans to deal with the consequences.” She’s also blamed trawling for “excessive bycatch” and the “decimation” of Southcentral king salmon runs. Like numerous other social media posts about fisheries from the campaign, that claim is fiction, pure and simple.

I am proud to represent the Alaska pollock catcher-processor fleet. These 11 American trawl vessels are the largest in the United States, harvesting more than one billion pounds of Alaska pollock every year and immediately processing the catch on board. This is the fleet sometimes called “factory trawlers,” and that the Peltola campaign is seeking to turn into a bogeyman.

Every one of these vessels is required by law to carry two independent, federally-trained observers. They count everything that comes up in the nets. Whenever a salmon is encountered, independent observers record and report that, and extensive genetic sampling and modeling is undertaken by government scientists to determine where the salmon originated and whether bycatch is having any impact on returns to Alaska rivers.

5.2 billion hatchery salmon are released into the North Pacific Ocean every year – many from Russia and Japan. Salmon is a tiny fraction of our fleet’s catch – far below 0.1%. But not all salmon bycatch is the same, and it is important for Alaskans to know that a substantial majority of the salmon our fleet encounters are foreign hatchery chum.

What about our impact on Southcentral kings? NOAA scientists have a detailed and precise answer to that question. In 2023, the most recent year for which complete federal genetics data is available, the entire “factory trawler” fleet reduced Chinook salmon returns to all Southcentral Alaska rivers combined by an estimated 84 fish.

Eighty-four.

Southcentral king salmon declines are devastating. But the science is crystal clear: “factory trawlers” are not “decimating” these runs. Not even close. Scientists confirm that the “factory trawl” fleet is having no measurable impact on king runs to any Southcentral river. None.

It is deeply disappointing to see candidates for public office play politics on the issue of salmon returns – an issue that is dear to the heart of every Alaskan. Social media is saturated with misinformation about trawling, and some politicians are choosing to double down on lies in the hope that it will win them votes.

That is too bad. The Alaska pollock fishery is a proud Alaska industry, supporting more than 6,300 Alaskan jobs and providing an economic anchor for many Alaska coastal communities. And trawlers are the backbone of Alaska’s seafood economy – accounting for 80% of Alaska Region landings. People frustrated by reduced fishing opportunities on the Kenai, Kasilof, or other Southcentral rivers deserve facts. They deserve elected officials committed to honest dialogue and collaboration around real solutions about salmon returns – not cynical political grandstanding and lies.

Matt Tinning has worked in fisheries policy for almost two decades, first in the environmental community and more recently with the commercial fishing industry. After stints with Ocean Conservancy, the Marine Fish Conservation Network and Environmental Defense Fund, Matt joined the At-sea Processors Association, where he now serves as CEO.