United Catcher Boats

08/21/2026

UCB Ports | Kodiak, Alaska

On Kodiak Island, the connection to the sea is everywhere. Commercial fishing has helped shape the community for generations, from the vessels lining its harbors to the processors, marine businesses and families that make up its working waterfront.

Surrounded by the Gulf of Alaska and some of the most productive waters in the North Pacific, Kodiak is home to an incredibly diverse mix of fisheries. Po***ck, Pacific cod, salmon, halibut, crab and more all contribute to a fishing economy that stays active across seasons.

That diversity is part of what makes Kodiak unique. Vessels, processors and shoreside businesses support multiple fisheries throughout the year, creating a working waterfront where different parts of Alaska's seafood industry are deeply connected.

UCB member vessels are part of that waterfront, fishing for po***ck and Pacific cod in the Gulf of Alaska and delivering into a community where fishing isn't just something that happens offshore. It's part of what makes Kodiak, Kodiak.

08/20/2026

Alaska’s fisheries don’t exist in isolation.

The vessels, processors, ports, transportation networks, cold storage, coastal communities and other infrastructure that support Alaska po***ck are part of a much larger seafood economy. Many of those same systems support other fisheries, too.

Add in the continual work to fish cleaner through technology, research, communication and changes on the water, and there’s a much bigger story here than the one that tends to make the headlines.

This National Fisherman piece is well worth a read.

Alaska po***ck is the biggest catch in the United States. But the fish drawing the most attention are the ones the fleet never meant to pull up.

08/19/2026

There’s a lot of science behind the federal fisheries managed off Alaska.

NOAA Fisheries has wrapped up this year’s bottom trawl surveys in the Eastern Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands. During these surveys, scientists and vessel crews traveled thousands of nautical miles collecting information on groundfish, crab and other species, along with the ocean conditions and habitats where they were found.

Why does that matter?

These surveys provide fishery independent information about the distribution, abundance, size, maturity and health of species across these marine ecosystems. The data contribute to stock assessments, ecosystem monitoring and the science that informs federal fisheries management in the North Pacific.

And while the survey vessel may be back at the dock, the work isn’t finished. Samples still need to be processed, data analyzed and results incorporated into our understanding of a complex and changing marine ecosystem.

At UCB, we appreciate the scientists, vessel crews and partners who spend weeks at sea collecting these data. Long term, consistent scientific observations help managers and the fishing community better understand the resources and ecosystems we all depend on.

Take a look at NOAA Fisheries’ post below for a glimpse at this season’s work and what happens next.

08/18/2026

Complex fisheries. Decades of research. Scientists who spend their careers studying them.

08/17/2026

“In Alaska, no fishery stands alone.”

That’s the title of an important new opinion piece from Alaska Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development (DCCED) Commissioner Julie Sande, and it’s a message worth spending a few minutes with.

Commissioner Sande brings a uniquely Alaskan perspective to this conversation. A lifelong Alaskan who grew up in remote Southeast Alaska, she understands that our fisheries aren’t just numbers on a spreadsheet. They are boats and processors, businesses and working waterfronts, families and communities, all connected to one another and to the health of the resource.

We appreciate Commissioner Sande and her team at DCCED for putting a spotlight on that bigger picture.

Alaska’s fisheries are diverse. Different species, different gear types, different regions and different markets all face their own challenges. But none exists in isolation. What happens in one part of Alaska’s seafood economy can ripple through our ports, communities and businesses.

That makes the Commissioner’s message especially timely.

Give Commissioner Sande’s full op ed a read and let us know what stood out to you.

Thank you, Commissioner Sande and DCCED, for adding an important voice to the conversation about the future of Alaska’s fisheries.

Before we reduce a fishery to a slogan, we should remember what an industry looks like from inside a community.

08/14/2026

The value of the Alaska po***ck trawl fleet isn’t measured by the catch alone.

Every vessel is connected to a much larger network of jobs, businesses and expertise that make the fishery possible.

Beyond the Boat hears from the people who know this fishery firsthand, starting with a perspective from the water.

08/14/2026

Alaska’s fisheries are changing. The question is why. Before deciding on the solution, shouldn’t we first understand the problem?

That is the bigger question at the heart of this Global Seafoods article, and why we think it is well worth the read.

The article asks us to look beyond simple narratives and focus on what the science can tell us. When Western Alaska Chinook runs are critically depressed, every fish matters. But identifying a source of mortality is not the same as determining what is driving a stock decline.

The same principle applies to crab. Rather than framing the discussion as one fishery versus another, the article asks a more useful question: How much mortality comes from each source, and which management actions are most likely to produce meaningful biological benefits?

That leads to one of the article’s most important concepts:

“An Ocean Is Not an Aquarium.”

Salmon, halibut, crab, po***ck and other species do not exist in separate boxes. Ocean temperature, marine heatwaves, habitat, recruitment, prey availability, predation, competition and fishing can interact in complicated ways. Management can change fishing activity. It cannot reverse a marine heatwave.

The article also reminds us that the human side of Alaska fisheries is interconnected. Decisions affecting vessels can extend through processors, cold storage, fuel suppliers, shipyards, marine businesses, transportation, workers, families and communities.

None of this means fishing impacts or bycatch should be dismissed. They should not. It means we should keep asking the harder scientific questions:

What is driving the decline? How much does each factor contribute? Which management actions are most likely to improve the biological outcome?

The article ultimately asks a provocative question: If we ban the trawlers, will the fish actually come back?

If the best available science demonstrates that a management action will produce substantial biological benefits, that evidence should inform the discussion. But we should also be willing to examine ocean conditions, changing food webs, recruitment, natural mortality, predator prey relationships and other factors that may be affecting these stocks.

Alaska’s fisheries are too important for simple answers.

As the article puts it, protecting them requires more than finding an enemy:

“It requires understanding the ocean.”

We think this piece is worth reading, discussing and, most importantly, using as a reason to keep asking questions and following the science.

Calls to ban trawling in Alaska are growing as salmon, halibut and crab stocks struggle. But would eliminating trawlers actually bring these fisheries back? We examine the science and economics.

08/13/2026

Tools of the Trade | Crane

Some tools on a fishing vessel have one very specific job. Others are built to do a little bit of everything.

A crane gives crews the lifting power needed to safely move heavy gear, equipment, and supplies that would be difficult, unsafe, or impossible to handle by hand.

On a catcher vessel, that can mean moving fishing gear during maintenance or repairs, repositioning equipment on deck, or loading and unloading supplies while in port. What the crane is used for can change depending on what the crew needs to get done.

Like so much of the equipment on board, it is there to make a physically demanding job safer and more efficient.

Because on a working fishing vessel, sometimes the right tool is the one that can lend a hand wherever it's needed.

08/12/2026

We’re continuing to build out UCB’s website as a resource for people who want to learn more about our fishery and the work happening within it.

We’ve added the 2023 through 2025 annual reports for the Inshore Salmon Savings Incentive Plan (ISSIP), showcasing the suite of tools vessels use to share real-time information, work collaboratively, and avoid salmon bycatch.

These reports are not new to the public. They are presented through the North Pacific Fishery Management Council process and stored in the Council’s public web library, where ISSIP reports are available going all the way back to 2016.

Our Inshore IPA page also explains how the IPA program works to help people learn more about salmon avoidance in our fishery.

Take a look and explore the program and reports:

​The Inshore Incentive Plan Agreement (Inshore IPA) is entered into by po***ck catcher vessels from the inshore sector along with several Community Development Quota (CDQ) organizations. Working...

08/11/2026

Commercial fishing can be surprisingly complicated. We think understanding it shouldn't be.

United Catcher Boats represents catcher vessels participating in federally managed fisheries including the Alaska po***ck trawl fishery and Pacific cod fisheries in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska, and the Pacific whiting fishery off the West coast.

We help make the science and management behind these fisheries more accessible, while sharing firsthand insights from the people who experience them every day.

If you're curious about how these fisheries actually work, we'd love to have you follow along.