Tag Archives: Bering Sea pollock fishery
NOAA Fisheries Denies Request for Emergency Action on Bering Sea Chinook Salmon Bycatch
NOAA Fisheries denied a request for emergency action to institute a cap of zero on Chinook salmon bycatch in the Bering Sea pollock fishery. The request was submitted on January 17, 2024. It effectively asked Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo to close the Bering Sea pollock fishery, which opened on January 20, 2024. It was submitted by: Association of Village Council Presidents, Kuskokwim River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, Tanana Chiefs Conference, Yukon River Drainage Fisheries Association, Yukon River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission. The petition also requested that the Department of Commerce urge the North Pacific Fishery Management Council to evaluate and update current Chinook salmon bycatch management. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 13:08
Unalaska pushes back against proposed bycatch restrictions on pollock fishery
Unalaska leaders are pushing back against a proposed petition to eliminate Chinook bycatch in the Bering Sea Alaska pollock fishery. Nearly 100 tribes and communities in western Alaska, including the Association of Village Council Presidents, signed an emergency petition that would set a zero-bycatch limit on Chinook salmon in the pollock trawl fishery for 180 days. Unalaska Mayor Vince Tutiakoff Sr. said in a letter that a zero-cap would “effectively shut down the entire pollock fishery of the Bering Sea,” and create a “dire situation” for Unalaska. links, more, ??click to read<< 11:19
Bycatch task force considers new rules, more research to protect Alaska fish intercepted at sea
In the search for a solution to the problem of bycatch, the unintended at-sea harvest of non-target species, the stakes in Alaska are high. Now a special task force is nearing the end of a year-long process to find solutions that satisfy competing interests to the problem of bycatch, which refers to fish that are caught incidentally by commercial fishers who are targeting other fish. The Alaska Bycatch Review Task Force, created by Gov. Mike Dunleavy last November, is due to release its final report by the end of next month. At least two additional meetings are to be held between now and then. >click to read< 11:50
NPFMC wants more information on decline in king crab stocks
Two decades into the decline of Bristol Bay red king crab, with stocks now too low for a commercial fishery, the fight continues at the North Pacific Fishery Management Council over what protections to take for the crab in danger and how soon to do it. Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers had hoped that federal fisheries managers might put restrictions on groundfish fishing in the Red King Crab Savings Area, as well as other measures, during the NPFMC’s April meeting in Anchorage. Instead, the council voted to have staff prepare an expanded discussion paper for its October meeting that includes analysis of the impacts on annual or seasonal closures to pelagic trawl, groundfish, pot and longline gear in the BBRKA, including impacts on target catch, fishing timing relative to crab mating and molting, crab avoidance and other prohibited species catch and non-target species. >click to read< 11:27
‘Everybody’s worst nightmare’: Bering Sea fishermen on edge after Coronavirus closes second processing plant
Now, fishermen and industry leaders are anxious that they might not have places to offload their catch, and that their plants might be the next to close down, said Dan Martin, who manages a fleet of nine pollock trawlers for a company called Evening Star Fisheries. “Any hiccups like this, you really have to reshuffle the deck and try to figure out, ‘Okay, what’s the next step?’” said Martin, a retired skipper. He called the shutdowns “everybody’s worst nightmare.” >click to read< 10:32
Unalaska gets new pollock plant
The city of Unalaska has a big new fish processor, but it’s not new to Unalaska Island. The Northern Victor, owned by Icicle Seafoods, is now inside city limits, on Ballyhoo Road, docked permanently in Dutch Harbor, the famous body of water within the municipal boundaries of Unalaska. Until late last year, the 380-foot-long vessel was located across the mountains, in Beaver Inlet, a bay on the south side of Unalaska Island. >click to read< 18:05 
AK plans to cut salmon bycatch in Bering Sea pollock fishery; Comments wanted
Federal fish managers are proposing changes to the Bering Sea pollock fishery to better reduce bycatch of Chinook and chum salmon, and they want input from the public. The fishery now has separate programs to account for takes of the two salmon species – for Chinook, incentives are provided to each vessel to avoid bycatch at all times. For chum salmon, Intercooperative agreements help the fleets avoid areas of high bycatch. The North Pacific Council wants to integrate the two programs. Read the post here 19:22
Bering Sea king bycatch, co-op reports and Gulf of Alaska tendering to come back before North Pacific Council
The North Pacific Fishery Management Council asked for reports and discussion papers on several items this morning, including king bycatch in the Bering Sea pollock fishery, the reports fishing cooperatives provide to the council each y
ear and tendering in the Gulf of Alaska. continued
