The fight for Filet-O-Fish sandwiches and the sea - The Horn News

A dispute over industrial trawling in Alaska’s Bering Sea is intensifying around the pollock fishery that feeds U.S. McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish sandwiches and supplies fish sticks and imitation crab. During a typical net haul, Alaska pollock is caught alongside bycatch—skate, crabs, jellyfish, and salmon—driving conflict with critics who cite environmental and cultural impacts. The article notes bycatch accounts for 2% of the pollock fishery’s total catch, which can translate to hundreds of thousands of salmon annually; over the past decade, average catches were about 18,000 Chinook and 288,000 other salmon per year, mostly chum. Salmon declines have also triggered political scrutiny, including efforts like a seven-year Yukon River Chinook ban beginning in 2024, while scientists say warming oceans are a primary driver.