The fish behind America’s fish sticks is fueling a fight over trawling in Alaska

A growing controversy is unfolding in the Bering Sea over the Alaska pollock fishery, the second-largest fishery on Earth, which supplies products such as McDonald's Filet-O-Fish sandwiches, fish sticks, and imitation crab. Trawling nets used in the region bring up massive quantities of pollock alongside unintended catches of other marine life, including skates, crabs, and jellyfish.

This incidental capture, known as bycatch, has fueled a significant debate in Alaska regarding current fishing methods and environmental impacts. While the fishery and corporate buyers like McDonald's maintain that their practices are designed to minimize environmental harm, the visibility of dead marine life mixed into the massive pollock hauls highlights the tensions surrounding industrial trawling operations in the Bering Sea.