April 12, 2023 — After days of testimony and comments from hundreds of Alaskans over the course of its week-long April meeting, SalmonState views that the North Pacific Fishery Management Council has failed to meaningfully address the issue of the pollock trawl fleet’s bycatch of chum salmon, king salmon, herring, halibut, snow crab, Bristol Bay red king crab, and many other species.
SalmonState claims that instead of recognizing the need to manage Alaska’s oceans as an ecosystem and accepting its own Salmon Bycatch Committee (SBC) and Advisory Panel’s (AP) recommendations for a range of measures to reduce chum salmon bycatch, the Council threw out the guidance of the advisory boards they charged with developing this very proposal and assigned the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to start again from square one in proposing a cap. They say this decision postpones any meaningful action for this fishing season at the very least.