Tag Archives: North Pacific Fishery Management Council
NPFMC cuts halibut bycatch limit by 25% – Nobody’s happy!
The council had a series of options for cuts of as high as 50 percent in the limit for the trawl fleet. Sam Cotten, proposed a 35 percent cut that he called “a bare minimum, maybe even a bit below.” But Cotten’s motion was amended to a 25 percent cut by Bill Tweit, a Washington council member, who called it a “strong first step” that he said would be followed by more steps to tackle the halibut bycatch. Cotten’s motion was amended to a 25 percent cut by Bill Tweit, He was interrupted by hoots of disagreement from hook-and-line fishermen who attended the meeting and had pushed for a much higher bycatch cut. Read the rest here 07:19 Bering Sea halibut bycatch cut leaves both trawlers and halibut fishermen unhappy, Read the rest here 07:26 Council cuts halibut bycatch in Bering Sea, Read the rest here 07:34
North Pacific Fishery Management Council seeks to reduce veto threat over MSA — but not during its meeting in Sitka.
Council members have concerns over amendments that would exempt fisheries decisions from the National Environmental Policy Act, and open the door to potentially biased science. (but, we already have NOAA’s “best available” science!) The final recommendations from the council on changes to the Magnuson Stevens Act won’t be made until another committee — the CCC, or Council Coordination Committee — meets later this month. Read the rest here 13:58
Editorial: Halibut population is wobbling
Mismanagement of bycatch — fish caught by accident while boats net other permitted species — is an offensive waste most recently highlighted by a May 30 story in the Seattle Times. The Times’ focus is on the (tinyurl.com/p9vr49l), but the issues involved are familiar to most commercial fishermen. Longstanding bycatch rules are based on distrust of fishermen and somewhat logical, but obviously counterproductive, notions about how to discourage “accidental-on-purpose” behavior. Read the rest here 19:17
North Pacific Fishery Management Council Meeting in Sitka! June 1st thru the 9th. This is a big one!
The Council will meet the week of June 1 2015 at Centennial Hall, Sitka. Other meetings will be held during the week, and all can be reviewed in the Agenda by clicking here The Draft Agenda Schedule can be reviewed by clicking here Listen on line while the Council is in session, by clicking here 16:45
Dumping of halibut sparks fight among North Pacific fishing fleets
When Skipper Bill Hayes brings up his trawl net from the bottom of the Bering Sea, he often finds halibut mixed in with the yellowfin sole and other fish he pursues with a Seattle-based trawler. People often pay more than $15 a pound for halibut at the store. But federal harvest rules only allow hook-and-line fishermen — not trawlers such as the boat Hayes captains — to sell these fish. To make trawlers try to avoid halibut, they are required to dump this “bycatch” overboard. They can’t even donate the fish to a food bank. Read the rest here 08:29 Related articles, click here
OP-ED: Fears Mount over NPFMC halibut bycatch quota vote
I have been an Alaskan since 1996. I live and work in Dutch Harbor and have built a labor and equipment company providing services to the Amendment 80 vessels. The North Pacific Management Council is meeting in June to decide whether to adjust the Amendment 80 fleet’s allowable halibut by-catch. The Council’s decision is likely to cost Alaskan jobs. We have been providing longshore services either directly or indirectly since 1998. Our company has grown from a few hard working Alaskans to a little over 120 employees. Read the rest here 18:37
Is NOAA Stacking the NPFMC Deck? – Alaska members appeal recusals
The North Pacific Fishery Management Council will spend the first four days of its weeklong meeting in Sitka beginning June 3 deciding on a series of deep cuts in the halibut bycatch allocation for the Bering Sea groundfish bottom-trawl fleet, but it may do so without a majority of the votes on the final decision coming from the Alaska delegation. The council, which has 11 members with six appointed from Alaska, could hold a final vote without two Alaska members, David Long and Simon Kinneen, unless the NOAA, reconsiders its decision to recommend them for recusal. Read the rest here 08:03
It’s time to reduce Bering Sea halibut bycatch
The summer season is upon us and for many Alaskans this means fishing for one of the state’s most prized species — halibut. During the first week in June, federal fishery managers have an important opportunity to take a stand for those of us in Alaska that value and depend on the halibut resource. At their meeting in Sitka, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council will vote on measures to reduce the amount of halibut that can be wasted as bycatch in other fisheries. Read the rest here 21:23
Once again, Lu Dochtermann tells it like it is
Once again, Lu Dochtermann tells it like it is, in the decades long fight to reduce for trawl catcher processors targeting other species for export. He calls the crying misbehaving bottom trawlers “outlaws” that they are. The NPFMC letters so far number in the 300 pages realm. Lu’s stands out because this is about disaster economics, politics, and he sees it for the ruckus that it is – and calls for PROHIBITED SPECIES CATCH cutbacks commensurate, in parity with, those the directed halibut commercial fleet has taken (over 70% drops in allowed catch of the target species itself). He’s on board his halibut boat right now in the Gulf of Alaska as he submitted his testimony with the assistance of his office. Read the rest here 22:54
2 Alaska fisheries council representatives disqualified from voting on halibut bycatch
In a move that throws a curveball into the volatile halibut bycatch issue, two Alaska representatives have been disqualified from voting when the matter comes before the North Pacific Fishery Management Council when it meets June 1-9 in Sitka. Simon Kineen and David Long both must recuse themselves because of their employment by groundfish companies, creating a financial conflict of interest. Ironically, both had voted on the side of halibut small boat fishermen in December. Read the rest here 07:56
Guest Opinion: State needs to push for halibut protection – by John L. Beath
The Pacific halibut may be an icon of our region, but over the past 10 years in the Bering Sea, it’s become increasingly obvious that we aren’t doing as good a job of protecting them as we should. A total of 62.6 million pounds of halibut were caught as bycatch, harvested unintentionally and thrown overboard dead. To compare, the hook-and-line fishermen targeting halibut only caught 69.7 million pounds in the same area over the same period of time. Read the rest here 10:52
GUEST COMMENTARY: Bering Sea halibut bycatch cuts critical for conservation
I’ll also be considering what’s coming up after I return to homeport — the June convening of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council in Sitka. There the Council will take final action on the proposed reduction of halibut bycatch caps in the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands, or BSAI, region.This decision point comes after a decade of steady stock decline, during which time the directed halibut fishery quota in the BSAI has dropped by 63 percent. Halibut fishermen in the hardest hit region — the Central Bering Sea — are facing closure Read the rest here 13:12
Alaskan Coastal legislators support halibut bycatch cuts
The Alaska legislature’s coastal representatives sent a letter to the North Pacific Fishery Management Council expressing support for 50 percent halibut bycatch cap reductions for the groundfish fleet in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands. “Over the past decade,” the legislators wrote, “more than 62 million pounds of halibut has been caught, killed, and discarded as bycatch in the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands. During the same period, landings of halibut as the target species have declined from an already alarmingly small 52 percent,,, Read the rest here 11:27
North Pacific council cuts Bering Sea salmon bycatch caps
The most iconic Alaska fish is in puzzling decline, and the mission for both state and federal fisheries managers is to spread the pain as evenly as possible. The cuts of 25 percent and 30 percent for the pollock industry’s performance standard and hard caps struck a middle ground that was too much for one group and not enough for the other. The council’s unanimous decision was to reduce the hard cap from 60,000 to 45,000, and the performance standard from 47,591 to 33,318 in low abundance years. Read he rest here 11:16
Alaska groundfish sector gears up for access to resource battle with halibut
Letters in protest of potentially drastic halibut bycatch reductions for Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands (BSAI) as groundfish fleets are flowing to fisheries regulators as companies prepare to battle with the halibut sector for access to resource at the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) meeting in June. The battle will not be easy. They’re going up against an ailing 4CDE area , which has seen its quota cut by roughly 58% since 2011 as groundfish bycatch has increased to become the majority of the catch in that region. Read the rest here 17:35
North Pacific Fishery Management Council will meet the week of April 6, 2015 in Anchorage, AK
The North Pacific Fishery Management Council will meet the week of April 6, 2015 at the Anchorage Hilton Hotel, 500 W. 3rd Avenue, Anchorage, AK. AGENDA and SCHEDULE. All meetings are open to the public, except executive sessions. The Council meeting will be broadcast at https://npfmc.adobeconnect.com/april2015 19:26
Walker announces North Pacific council nominations
Gov. Bill Walker announced late on March 13 his nominations for two North Pacific Fishery Management Council seats, which expire August 10 of this year. The two seats up for nominations are those of chairman Dan Hull and Ed Dersham. For Dan Hull’s seat, which represents small boat commercial interests, Walker has nominated Dan Hull, Buck Laukitis, and Paul Gronholt. For Ed Dersham’s seat, representing sportfishing interests, Walker has nominated Andrew Mezirow, Richard Yamada, and Arthur Nelson. Read the rest here 10:45
Next round of Walker fishery appointments closely watched
Commercial fishermen who make their living in federal waters off Alaska are watching as Gov. Bill Walker prepares to announce a set of appointments to the board that manages the multibillion-dollar fishing industry in the North Pacific. One of the principal roles of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council is overseeing the massive, Seattle-based factory fishing vessels that catch and process lower-value groundfish like pollock, mackerel and sole. Read the rest here 09:14
Commerce appoints Blue North CEO to serve on NPFMC
The US Commerce Department is appointing Blue North Fisheries CEO and President Kenny Down to the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC). “This is an out-of-cycle appointment. He has been appointed because John Henderschedt resigned,” Speegle said. Henderschedt is executive director of the Fisheries Leadership & Sustainability Forum. Read the rest here 14:32
North Pacific Fishery Management Council newsletter
Click here to read the actions and announcements following the last council meeting. 17:07
North Pacific Fishery Management Council adds 50% option for bycatch cut
In January, the put a Band-Aid on a Bering Sea halibut situation that needs a blood transfusion from the North Pacific Fishery Management Council. Halibut fishermen earned a breather in 2015, with slightly raised allocations all around and a status quo 1.285 million pounds for the central Bering Sea quota holders, but the bulk of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council’s February meeting took a look at every way possible to get those numbers higher. Read the rest here 11:38
North Pacific Halibut Bycatch Limit Could See 50 Percent Cut
Halibut harvests have been on the decline in the Bering Sea for years, but the amount that trawlers and catcher-processors are allowed to take has stayed the same. Now, federal regulators have agreed to consider stiffer limits on halibut bycatch. This weekend, the voted to study the impact of cutting the 10 million-pound bycatch limit by as much as 50 percent. Read the rest here 16:17
North Pacific Fishery Management Council Meeting February 2, thru 10 in Seattle
All meetings are open to the public, except executive sessions. AGENDA and SCHEDULE. The Council meeting will be broadcast at npfmc.adobeconnect.com/february2015. 07:33
OPINION: Halibut waste in the Bering Sea is deplorable – By Pete Wedin
The Bering Sea directed halibut fishery is in a state of crisis. For the 2015 season, IPHC proposes reduction of the catch limits in Area 4CDE by a whopping 71 percent. How many of us could weather such a cut?In the mean time, trawl bycatch caps in the Bering Sea remain unchanged, and millions of pounds larger than the directed fishery quota. The truly sad thing about all of this is that more than 65 percent of the halibut bycatch in the Bering Sea is caused by trawlers targeting two species: yellowfin sole and rock sole. Read the rest here 09:18
David Bayes: Major bycatch reduction essential to halibut fishery
In recent seasons, halibut users across the state have been tightening their belts. Biologists tell us that, though the total number of halibut in Alaska’s waters is at a very sustainable rate, those halibut are now growing more slowly than usual. Since halibut are regulated based upon the “total number of pounds in the sea,” rather than “total number of fish in the sea,” the longline and charter fleets are facing allocation cutbacks. Read the rest here 16:27
Canada-U.S. delegates meet in B.C. to discuss halibut ‘wastage’ in Bering Sea
You might say it’s a story about the fish that didn’t get away. Fishermen in the Bering Sea off the coast of Alaska are tossing back millions of kilograms of dead halibut they’ve caught unintentionally while scooping up other stocks. The longtime practice, known as bycatch, has become the focus of intense scrutiny in Alaska and will be the subject of debate at a meeting at month’s end of the International Pacific Halibut Commission in Vancouver. Read the rest here 11:13
If we don’t protect Alaska halibut, there will be no fish to fight over
The halibut wars are on, folks, and I don’t mean the Domino’s Pizza ad slam from last year. There are a few silly voices trying to make the current arguments regarding halibut an allocation war. Sadly, they are wrong. It’s way past allocation, folks, and now its a fight for preservation and sustainability. Areas of the Bering Sea have not been managed to sustain halibut — specifically Area 4CDE. Read the rest here 13:31
Oceana “Bering Sea 2014 canyon cruise” turns up fewer corals, more controversy
A conservation group scientist, John Warrenchuk, of Oceana, said it could indicate the corals were wiped out by commercial net fishing, while a fishing industry scientist said they may never have grown there in the first place, and said existing records would show if any fishing had ever happened in the coral-free areas. Industry scientist John Gauvin, representing bottom trawlers, called for a review of data of fishing activity by area, based on data collected by observers onboard commercial fishing vessels. Read the rest here 09:12
Bering Sea/ Aleutian Islands Bycatch debate far from being finished – and other news
Bering Sea halibut fishermen narrowly missed getting a reduction of trawl bycatch at the latest 
meeting after a tied vote on a petition for emergency action by the state of Alaska. At issue are the drastic cuts being made to the directed halibut fishery in the Bering Sea and the lack of similar cuts to the bycatch mortality by trawlers. That is not the end of it, however. Read the rest here 19:05
Had it with high halibut bycatch? Tell the NPFMC by May 26
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