“Rebuilding plan” will be selected in December; bycatch allowed no matter what plan chosen
The AK Journal of Commerce reports that “The council accepted two alternatives for further analysis in a final rebuilding plan.
One is a no-action, which wouldn’t be allowed but is required to be considered; the other would specify a rebuilding time, either with or without a fishery targeting snow crab. Bycatch would be allowed in either case. The council is also looking for more information on some specifics, including what it would be like to remove the floor set for bycatch and counting all crab caught as bycatch throughout their range toward the bycatch limit.”
However, the stock is “not subject to overfishing,” according to a report submitted to the North Pacific Fishery Management Council.
[Meanwhile, the 2022 Bering Sea “pre-approved” snow crab bycatch level by trawlers is 5.99 million crab which equals nearly 7.8 million pounds. The catch quota for crabbers is 5.6 million pounds.]
