October 15, 2024 — A diverse group of harvesters, conservation entities and others are calling on federal fisheries managers to do more to protect seafloor habitats from midwater trawl nets they say are dragging the bottom of the ocean floor.
Midwater, or pelagic, trawling — used to catch schooling fish like pollock, is supposed to be fished in the water column rather than on the seafloor. For this reason, pelagic trawling is allowed in most conservation areas closed to bottom trawling — a form of fishing where nets are purposely dragged on the seafloor and damage corals, sponges and other living seafloor habitats in the process.
An analysis by the National Marine Fisheries Service indicates that 40% to 100% of the width of pelagic trawl gear fished in the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea has been in contact with the seafloor, and that these nets, which range from 50 to 190 yards wide, are dragged for miles.
After hearing extensive testimony during their October meeting in Anchorage, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) called for a special meeting to be held Feb. 3-10 at the Egan Center in Anchorage for an initial review of chum salmon bycatch in these waters. The fishery council is to further consider pelagic trawl seafloor impacts at its June 2025 meeting in Newport, Oregon.