POLICY & ADVOCACY • YEAR-ROUND REPRESENTATION
The decisions that shape the water.
SEAGO carries Southeast Alaska sport fishing experience into the state, federal, and international processes that shape conservation, access, opportunity, and coastal livelihoods.
ThreeDecision-making levels
EightCore policy areas
Year-roundMonitoring and engagement
OneRegional industry voice
WHY THIS WORK MATTERS
Policy is where conservation, access, and livelihoods meet.
Management decisions can change the season, the opportunity available to anglers, the stability of a business, and the strength of a coastal community.
SEAGO works to ensure those decisions are informed by sound science, credible economic information, and the practical realities of operating on Southeast Alaska waters.
SEAGO is not built around conflict. It is built around representation, organization, and long-term engagement.
WHERE DECISIONS HAPPEN
Three levels of policy. One connected fishery.
Halibut and salmon move across borders and jurisdictions. SEAGO follows the full decision chain so the fleet’s perspective does not disappear between agencies, commissions, councils, and public processes.
01 • INTERNATIONAL
Cross-Border Fisheries
United States–Canada commissions shape Pacific halibut conservation and Pacific salmon treaty implementation.
02 • FEDERAL
North Pacific Management
Federal processes shape guided halibut allocations, management measures, bycatch policy, and quota-based tools.
03 • ALASKA
State Fisheries Policy
State boards, agencies, and lawmakers shape sport fish regulations, allocation, budgets, statutes, and implementation.
EXPLORE THE POLICY AREAS
Follow the process. Understand the stakes.
Each page explains the decision-making body or issue, why it matters to Southeast Alaska sport fishing, and where SEAGO participates.
IPHC
Pacific halibut science, coastwide conservation, catch limits, and annual management measures.
Pacific Salmon Commission
The U.S.–Canada treaty process affecting Chinook abundance, harvest agreements, and Southeast Alaska opportunity.
Halibut Bycatch
Unintended halibut mortality in groundfish fisheries and its effect on the stock and directed fisheries.
Charter Halibut RQE
A quota-transfer tool designed to supplement guided recreational halibut allocations in Areas 2C and 3A.
NPFMC
The federal council process for halibut allocation, bycatch management, access, and fishery management plans.
Charter Management Committee
Industry-informed recommendations for guided halibut management measures and implementation.
Legislation
State and federal bills, budgets, statutes, and policy decisions with consequences for the fleet.
Board of Fisheries
Alaska’s public process for sport fish regulations, allocation, and regional management plans.
HOW SEAGO ENGAGES
Experience from the water, carried into the record.
Effective advocacy is more than attending meetings. SEAGO connects fleet experience with analysis, relationships, testimony, and consistent follow-through.
01
Listen
Calls, surveys, meetings, and direct experience identify what is changing across the fleet.
02
Analyze
SEAGO connects operating realities with science, regulations, economics, and the public record.
03
Represent
The industry’s perspective is carried into commissions, councils, boards, agencies, and legislative conversations.
04
Report Back
Members receive context, deadlines, outcomes, and opportunities to help shape the next step.
POLICY MOVES. THE FLEET NEEDS TO MOVE WITH IT.
A strong voice begins before the meeting starts.
Join SEAGO or bring an issue forward. Member experience gives the organization the reach, credibility, and information needed to show up prepared when decisions are being shaped.