US: Alaska moves to open up Prince William Sound for octopus fishery

Commercial fishermen in Prince William Sound, Alaska, could soon be able to harvest octopus after the Alaska Board of Fisheries voted to allow a directed fishery at its recent December meeting.Commercial fishermen are already allowed to catch octopus as bycatch in both Prince William Sound and Cook Inlet, but catch levels have remained consistently low in Prince William Sound.The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) has typically set an annual guideline harvest level of 35,000 pounds of octopus for Prince William Sound; however, octopus bycatch has never approached that limit. According to ADF&G data, just 1,091 pounds of octopus were harvested in Prince William Sound in 2024. Cook Inlet fishers have typically harvested far more octopus as bycatch, with state data showing 19,591 pounds of octopus was harvested from the management area in 2024 – less than the 26,867 pounds harvested in 2023. Commercial Operator’s Annual Reports show that Alaska fishers were paid a total of ...