December 14, 2022 — Created in 2021 to review bycatch issues impacting salmon, crab and halibut in Alaska, the Alaska Bycatch Review Task Force delivered its final report to Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy in December.
“It’s imperative that the state’s fisheries are managed in a way that ensures their success for future generations,” said Dunleavy when the Alaska Bycatch Review Task Force was formed in November 2021 to help better understand unintended bycatch of high value fishery resources in State and federal waters.
The final report is now published, and it recommends, among many other things, the introduction of measures as the firm cap of chum salmon bycatch in the Bering Sea pollock fishery and 10 percent observer coverage, for a period of three years, on non-pelagic trawl vessels in the Gulf of Alaska.