May 13, 2014 — The most common bycatch topics in Alaska — salmon caught by the Bering Sea boats targeting pollock, and halibut caught by Alaska trawlers — were on the table at a fisheries symposium today.
Scientists, industry representatives and others interested in fisheries science, management and policy are discussing everything bycatch at the Lowell Wakefield Fisheries Symposium, which runs through Friday at the Hilton Hotel in Downtown Anchorage.
The discussion ranged from how different fisheries define bycatch, to what it means for the economics of various regions, to how it might be addressed.
Martin Hall, from the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission, said the key to addressing bycatch is thinking outside the box.
“Either you fish less, or you fish better,” he said.
Hall said that the old way of fishing was to kill a bunch of things, and keep the one you wanted to sell. Now, he said, fishing needs to find a way to capture fish alive, and then kill only the ones that will be kept and sold.
Hall said that gear improvements are occurring rapidly — what wasn’t even dreamed of a few years ago can now be implemented.
“We’re having our minds opened up,” Hall said.
Read the full story at the Alaska Journal of Commerce