July 17, 2024 — A congressional watchdog agency says that serious improvements are needed in the way the federal government manages observers and bycatch in the nation’s fisheries.
A recent report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) calls on the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to bolster observers on fishing vessels and develop better ways to track and monitor bycatch.
The July 10 report is based on interviews with NMFS officials. It looks at the agency through the lens of five specific fisheries across the country.
For the Alaska region, the report looked at the Bering Sea pollock trawl fishery, the largest single-species fishery in the world.
The Alaska pollock fishery is among a relatively small number of high-value federal fisheries able to afford having at least one observer aboard vessels at all times while fishing.