North Pacific Sets Model for Responsible Fishery Management
The North Pacific leads the nation in accounting for and reducing the amount of fishery bycatch, the incidental harvest of non-targeted species, another reason that Alaska is considered a model for fishery management.
“In Alaska, we have not turned a blind eye to the issue of bycatch. In fact, we have made sure it’s monitored, accounted for, and ultimately reduced,” said MCA Executive Director Dave Benton.
Managed by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, Alaska fisheries are singled out for praise in a report today critical of the nation’s handling of bycatch.
“The North Pacific Council leads the way in quantifying bycatch … and has made progress in minimizing bycatch as required by law,” says the report Turning a Blind Eye, issued by the Marine Fish Conservation Network.
“More than any other council, the North Pacific Council has employed a variety of measures to reduce bycatch in the groundfish fisheries, such as using excluder device and other gear modifications, setting bycatch limits, regulating time and area closures, and changing methods of deploying gear to avoid interactions with seabirds,” the report says.
While troubled by the sheer volume of Alaska’s fisheries – some 4.4 billion pounds annually or 55 percent of the nation’s seafood landings – the Network notes that groundfish discards in Alaska have decreased 50 percent even while the overall catch, based on scientifically set catch limits, has increased.
Overall, the Bering Sea Aleutians groundfishery “waste index” of 0.09 was the lowest on
the Network’s list. The worst fisheries had an index that was 30 to 45 times that recorded in Alaska.
The report also notes that Alaska’s largest fisheries have 100 percent observer coverage and fishery managers incorporate bycatch data into management decisions. “Unlike many fisheries managed by other councils, projected bycatch amounts (in the North Pacific) are explicitly incorporated into annual quotas, thus eliminating ‘off-the-books’ mortality.”
“It is no surprise the North Pacific Council has applied some of the most effective management measures to combat bycatch: the council has the information to back it up,” says the report. “The North Pacific Council has shown that it can be done.”
“Not only can it be done, it is being done here in Alaska and we are committed to doing it even better,” said Benton. “Industry and fishery managers are continuing to work together to explore new ways to reduce bycatch to the maximum extent practical. Right now we are engaged in an active cooperative research program to develop innovative gear modifications to further reduce salmon and halibut bycatch and so far the tests look very promising.
“In renewing the MSA this year, we hope the nation takes a page from Alaska’s success story, where we’ve created a robust seafood industry that addresses issues like bycatch, lives under scientifically set catch quotas and keeps decision making at a local level though an open, transparent, public process,” Benton said.
The Juneau-based Marine Conservation Alliance is a coalition of seafood processors, harvesters, support industries and coastal communities that are active in Alaska fisheries. The MCA represents approximately 75 percent of the participants in Alaska shellfish and groundfish fisheries and promotes science based conservation measures to ensure sustainable fisheries in Alaska.