NOAA Fisheries received 627 public comments on four potential strategies to reduce chum salmon bycatch by trawlers in the Bering Sea pollock fishery.
Now, the North Pacific Fishery Management (NPFMC) is accepting comments on the topic through January 30.
The strategies are outlined in a 772-page draft environmental impact statement requested by the Council to evaluate management options ahead of its February 5-11 meeting in Anchorage.
The management strategies under consideration include:
— A coast wide cap on chum bycatch.
— A bycatch cap applied only during years of low salmon abundance.
— Expanded avoidance measures coordinated through formal industry agreements.
– A bycatch cap that, once reached, would trigger temporary closure of areas known for historically high interception of Western Alaska chum.
The NPFMC is expected to identify its preferred alternative at the February meeting, after which NOAA Fisheries will make a final decision.
Comment HERE through Jan. 30
Pollock trawlers push back
Current and former NPFMC members who represent Seattle-based pollock trawl groups already are on the record stating opposition to a chum cap.
At the December meeting, NPFMC member and trawl rep Anne Vanderhoeven said “there is not yet any justification to reduce pollock harvests to conserve depressed runs of salmon in Western Alaska.”
“The impacts of the salmon crisis are truly devastating to subsistence users and Alaska Native culture,” Vanderhoeven told the Alaska Beacon. “But the best scientific information does not support the assertion that relatively small adjustments to the pollock catch will measurably or significantly increase salmon escapement to Western Alaska rivers.”
Similarly, Stephanie Madsen, former NPFMC chair and trawl rep said in 2023: “There’s no way the pollock fleet will accept a hard cap on chums.”
COMMENT HERE THROUGH JANUARY 30
