The impacts of trawl gear on Alaska’s changing marine ecosystems takes center stage at an Oct. 16 meeting of the Joint Protocol Committee of the Alaska Board of Fisheries (BOF) and the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC).
A spotlight will be on an ongoing controversy surrounding so-called pelagic trawl gear, which as defined by federal regulation, means “mid-water.” But the gear has proven to be fishing on the ocean bottom, in many cases, more often than not. The pelagic definition has not been updated since 1993.
The BOF/NPFMC committee serves as the formal state-federal coordination platform to align fishery management policies across Alaska’s state and federal waters.
The protocol committee includes three members each from the two groups. For the Board of Fisheries they are Tom Carpenter, Marit Carlson-Van Dort and Mike Wood. The NPFMC members are Angel Drobnica (NPFMC chair), Nicole Kimball and John Moller/Brian Ritchie.
The meeting is convening at the request of the state fish board “to provide for information exchange and education about the impacts of bottom trawl fisheries, the NPFMC’s current management requirements, and measures under consideration,” according to a NPFMC notice.
Presentations will include:
- Pelagic (midwater) and non-pelagic trawl fisheries operating in state waters in the Bering Sea, Aleutian Islands, and Gulf of Alaska
- What federal management requirements are in place to minimize adverse impacts of trawl fisheries
- Statutory requirements for assessing the impacts of NPFMC-managed fisheries on habitat, and what “tools” the Council uses
- Ongoing research on pelagic trawl impacts and NPFMC actions underway
Got comments? Stop by and tune in
The deadline to COMMENT to the committee is October 9.
The meeting runs from 8:30am to 5pm (AK) at the Anchorage Marriott Downtown on October 16, where in-person comments are welcome. (no remote testimony).
Listen-only online: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89752081977
