Alaska House advances bill to allow commingling of fish for salmon setnetters

Rep. Louise Stutes, R-Kodaik, speaks on the House floor on May 20, 2025, in support of Senate Bill 156, a measure to support the Alaska Commercial Fishing and Agriculture Bank. The bill was a product of a legislative task force addressing the wide-ranging economic crisis in Alaska’s seafood industry. The bill won final passage in the House on May 20, 2025. (Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

By Sean Maguire

Alaska Beacon

The Alaska House on Wednesday advanced a bill to establish cooperatives for salmon setnetters, which would allow commingling of fish.

Since territorial days, multiple permitholders, often from the same family, have stored and delivered their salmon together. But the language of state statute and regulation suggests that individual permitholders need to store and deliver their salmon separately.

Kodiak Republican Rep. Louise Stutes said that is impractical and unsafe. Permitholders are often elderly or children, she said, and setnetting routinely involves fishing in skiffs in rough water in remote regions.

Since 2022, Alaska Wildlife Troopers have investigated over a dozen potential violations statewide, involving misdemeanor charges and citations. 

The House Fisheries Committee’s bill would allow setnetting cooperatives to form. If passed, the Alaska Board of Fisheries would be directed to issue regulations on the maximum number of permitholders allowed in each cooperative. That number could change region-by-region.

“This bill, at its heart, is not only about preserving the status quo, but about keeping local access to permits in rural communities,” Stutes said before the final vote.

The Alaska House on Wednesday unanimously approved the bill. Anchorage Republican Rep. David Nelson was absent from the final vote.

House Bill 117 received support from fishing groups across Alaska. The bill now advances to the Alaska Senate for its consideration.

• Contact Mark Sabbatini at editor@juneauindependent.com or (907) 957-2306.