Tag Archives: Karla Bush
ADF&G discusses where to spend disaster funding for crabbing fisheries
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game hosted a second meeting to discuss how to distribute funds to fisheries that experienced disaster in recent years, with Thursday’s meeting focusing on Bristol Bay red king crab and Bering Sea snow crab fisheries. Much of the discussion centered around the division of payments between the vessel and crew members, with several people calling for 60% to go to the vessel and 40% to the crew, rather than a 70/30 split. “The boat I’m on and have been on for many years, we’re the same on any crab fishery — it’s always 60 to the boat and 40 to the humans,” fisherman Mike Mathisen said. Video, >click to read< 13:40
Solutions to the Bycatch Blame Game
The issue of bycatch has grown more important as some fisheries get smaller and those who depend on the fish for their livelihood or survival find that there are not enough fish to go around. This raises the question of whether bycatch is at the root of the problem or if other issues facing fisheries must be addressed. Bycatch is monitored in a combination of ways, through at-sea observers, electronic monitoring, seafood processing plant observers, logbooks, and fish tickets. “In the Bering Sea, approximately 94 percent of all catch is observed, including 99 percent of all trawl catch,” Bush explains. “In the Gulf of Alaska, 40 to 50 percent of all catch is observed across all gear types.” Photos, >click to read< 12:26
