In the battle for an Alaska Senate seat and the governor’s mansion, the oil-dependent state’s declining fisheries loom large, but no one wants to look at the biggest culprit, climate change.
Like corn in Iowa and cattle in Oklahoma, fish are always a hot topic in Alaska. This year, they could help determine which party controls the Senate. Former Representative Mary Peltola ended a nearly half-century Republican hold on Alaska’s lone House seat four years ago campaigning on “fish, family and freedom.” In Alaska’s Senate race, Ms. Peltola has accused Senator Dan Sullivan, the Republican incumbent, of putting “Seattle-based factory trawlers ahead of Alaskan families and our rivers.” She has doubled down on her fishing-first platform with a proposal to ban out-of-state trawlers.
Mr. Sullivan has promoted his work to reduce the accidental catch of juvenile salmon and halibut, and has targeted Russian and Chinese fishing fleets. Alaska accounts for roughly 60 percent of wild seafood harvested in the United States. The industry includes 370-foot factory trawlers and Indigenous subsistence fishermen. Fishermen in Alaska share concerns with their brethren across the country, including the rising cost of diesel fuel and the Trump administration’s cuts to the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration.
All the talk persuaded Jake Everich last month to stay in port to listen to candidates talk. “I don’t have time for politics,” said Mr. Everich, who attended the Kodiak debate for governor. But in this case, he added, “I have to pay attention.” A recent poll by the progressive firm Data for Progress showed that almost three-quarters of Alaskans support a trawling ban.
Source: New York Times Top Stories · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing