ADN Politics podcast: Bering Sea factory trawlers and Alaska salmon

Host Elizabeth Harball talks to longtime fisheries reporter Hal Bernton, who went out on a factory trawler this August with ADN photographer Loren Holmes to report on the pollock industry’s impact on Alaska’s salmon runs.

Host Elizabeth Harball talks with ADN journalists and others about some of Alaska’s biggest news stories. Subscribe here or wherever you listen to podcasts.

As Western Alaska communities face a shocking decline in the salmon runs they depend on, fishing operations called factory trawlers are drawing more scrutiny than ever before — the vessels are not going after salmon, but they can still scoop some up in their nets.

CVRF, Coastal Villages Region Fund, Northern Hawk, aerial, aerial photo, commercial fishing, fishing
CVRF, Coastal Villages Region Fund, Northern Hawk, commercial fishing, fishing

With support from the Pulitzer Center, the Daily News recently published a two-part series diving into factory trawling in the Bering Sea, the industry’s impact on Alaska’s salmon runs, and Community Development Quota groups, which have become powerful players in fishery politics.

In this episode, host Elizabeth Harball talks to longtime fisheries reporter Hal Bernton, who went out on a factory trawler this August to report the first story in the series.

Read the stories:

A struggle to dodge salmon in pursuit of a massive pollock bounty

Bering Sea fishing group grapples with how to invest pollock profits in Western Alaska

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Host: Elizabeth Harball. Guest: Hal Bernton. Produced by Elizabeth Harball, Zachariah Hughes and Evan Phillips. Editor: David Hulen.

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