2025 was another year of growth for Alaska’s mariculture industry, with more oysters and kelp harvested around the state. Those are some of the takeaways from a recent McKinley Research Group report.

The fishing industry group Alaska Groundfish Data Bank closed its office doors on Dec. 31, after nearly 40 years of representing trawl catcher vessels and processors in the Gulf of Alaska. The Kodiak-based organization has mainly revolved around one person for most of its lifespan.

Last month the department announced a harvest level of 5.3 million pounds of fish for the Kodiak area. But the Alaska Department of Fish and Game says that quota is not based on the latest stock assessment data, which indicates the number of Pacific cod in the Gulf of Alaska is increasing.

Scientists believe it was caught in some kind of old fishing gear. It’s at least the 13th dead humpback reported around the archipelago this year.

This summer’s salmon season was the 12th largest harvest in the last 40 years. It was also the 13th lowest in value when accounting for inflation. That’s according to preliminary numbers from the state.

Editor's note: This story was originally published by Nat Herz with the Northern Journal and is republished here with permission.According to that reporting, wildlife troopers confirmed they’re investigating allegations that “multiple seafood processors” had been illegally profiting from salmon and halibut bycatch. No arrests have been made and no charges have been filed against Julie Bonney or any seafood processors in Kodiak as of the publishing of this story.

Commercial Tanner crab fisheries around Kodiak will be closed going into next year. That’s after the Alaska Department of Fish and Game released the results of the 2025 Tanner crab survey for the Kodiak, Chignik, and South Peninsula Districts last week on Oct. 20.

The industry trade group held one of its two annual meetings in Kodiak Oct. 14 and 15 — the first time the island community hosted in at least 20 years.

The money comes from the Southeast Conference's Alaska Mariculture Cluster, as part of a $49 million it received from a federal grant awarded back in 2022.

Commercial fishing reopened near the Kitoi Bay Hatchery after a fishing boat spilled over 3,000 gallons of diesel in the area.