Native Vote 2026
U.S. Senate candidate Mary Peltola’s campaign on Thursday sharply criticized Sen. Dan Sullivan’s newly released fisheries policy, arguing it is an election-year attempt to distance himself from a record the campaign says has favored factory trawling over Alaska’s fishing communities.
The response comes days after Peltola, a lifelong Alaskan, former fishing boat captain, and former member of Congress, unveiled her own fisheries platform, “Fighting for Alaska Fisheries,” which calls for banning factory trawling and implementing new measures to restore declining fish stocks.
Campaign spokesperson Harry Child accused Sullivan of failing to act during his time in the Senate.
“Dan Sullivan is running scared after seeing a groundswell of support from Alaska fishermen who are fired up to support Mary’s plan to ban factory trawling and fight for Alaska’s fisheries – and Alaskans will see through his election-year tricks,” Child said in a statement. “The truth is that Sullivan has had twelve years in the Senate to take meaningful action to shut down factory trawling and stand up for Alaska fishermen – instead, he’s made money off of the world’s largest farmed salmon company, lied about continuing to take money from Pebble Mine executives, and has supported the factory trawling agenda in DC at every turn. Alaskans know that Mary is a fighter who will stand up to anyone to restore abundance to Alaska fisheries, and they won’t forget that Sullivan only cares about two things: The special interests who cut him checks, and himself.”
Peltola’s fisheries platform outlines several policy proposals aimed at protecting Alaska’s commercial, subsistence, and sport fisheries.
Among the plan’s key provisions are:
- A ban on factory trawling and restrictions on mid-water trawlers operating near the ocean floor to reduce bycatch and rebuild fish populations.
- Securing federal fishery disaster funding for Alaska fishermen and fishing communities.
- Fully funding fish stock assessments to improve fisheries management.
- Strengthening enforcement of federal standards intended to reduce bycatch.
- Expanding electronic monitoring and other technologies to improve accountability for commercial fishing operations.
- Investing in Alaska’s seafood by-product economy and mariculture industry while opposing expanded federal finfish farming permits.
- Creating Tribal seats on the North Pacific Fishery Management Council and preserving the current makeup of the federal subsistence board.
The campaign said Peltola has built her career around advocating for Alaska’s fishing industry.
According to the campaign, while serving as Alaska’s representative in Congress, Peltola supported legislation to reduce bycatch and bottom trawling, permanently protect the Bristol Bay fishery, strengthen the seafood supply chain, and improve fisheries management. The campaign also said she worked with lawmakers from both parties to secure more than $500 million in federal funding for Alaska fisheries.
Peltola’s campaign said her experience as a commercial fisherman and fishing boat captain has shaped her approach to fisheries policy.
“As a lifelong fisherman and a former fishing boat captain, she’s seen firsthand the decline of salmon runs and the devastating impacts out-of-state trawlers are wreaking on our fisheries,” the campaign said. “She knows the stakes, and she’s running for Senate to fight for bold action to save our fish and restore abundance for Alaskans.”
Sullivan’s office had not publicly responded to the Peltola campaign’s statement at the time of publication.
Read Mary’s full plan to fight for our fisheries here.
