Alaska Leads Nation in Bycatch Reduction, Accountability North Pacific Sets Model for Responsible Fishery Management
The North Pacific leads the nation in accounting for and reducing the amount of fishery bycatch, the incidental harvest of non-targeted species, another reason that Alaska is considered a model for fishery management.
“In
Alaska, we have not turned a blind eye to the issue of bycatch.
In fact, we have made sure it’s monitored, accounted
for, and ultimately reduced,” said MCA Executive Director
Dave Benton.
Managed by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council,
Alaska fisheries are singled out for praise in a report
today critical of the nation’s handling of bycatch.
“The North Pacific Council leads the way in quantifying
bycatch … and has made progress in minimizing bycatch
as required by law,” says the report Turning a Blind
Eye, issued by the Marine Fish Conservation Network.
“More than any other council, the North Pacific
Council has employed a variety of measures to reduce bycatch
in the groundfish fisheries, such as using excluder device
and other gear modifications, setting bycatch limits, regulating
time and area closures, and changing methods of deploying
gear to avoid interactions with seabirds,” the report
says.
While troubled by the sheer volume of Alaska’s fisheries – some
4.4 billion pounds annually or 55 percent of the nation’s
seafood landings – the Network notes that groundfish
discards in Alaska have decreased 50 percent even while
the overall catch, based on scientifically set catch limits,
has increased.
Overall, the Bering Sea Aleutians groundfishery “waste
index” of 0.09 was the lowest on the Network’s
list. The worst fisheries had an index that was 30 to 45
times that recorded in Alaska.
The report also notes that Alaska’s largest fisheries
have 100 percent observer coverage and fishery managers
incorporate bycatch data into management decisions. “Unlike
many fisheries managed by other councils, projected bycatch
amounts (in the North Pacific) are explicitly incorporated
into annual quotas, thus eliminating ‘off-the-books’ mortality.”
“It is no surprise the North Pacific Council has
applied some of the most effective management measures
to combat bycatch: the council has the information to back
it up,” says the report. “The North Pacific
Council has shown that it can be done.”
“Not only can it be done, it is being done here
in Alaska and we are committed to doing it even better,” said
Benton. “Industry and fishery managers are continuing
to work together to explore new ways to reduce bycatch
to the maximum extent practical. Right now we are engaged
in an active cooperative research program to develop innovative
gear modifications to further reduce salmon and halibut
bycatch and so far the tests look very promising.
“In renewing the MSA this year, we hope the nation takes a page from Alaska’s
success story, where we’ve created a robust seafood industry that addresses
issues like bycatch, lives under scientifically set catch quotas and keeps decision
making at a local level though an open, transparent, public process,” Benton
said.
The Juneau-based Marine Conservation Alliance is a coalition
of seafood processors, harvesters, support industries and
coastal communities that are active in Alaska fisheries.
The MCA represents approximately 75 percent of the participants
in Alaska shellfish and groundfish fisheries and promotes
science based conservation measures to ensure sustainable
fisheries in Alaska.
“In
Alaska, we have not turned a blind eye to the issue of bycatch.
In fact, we have made sure it’s monitored, accounted
for, and ultimately reduced,” said MCA Executive Director
Dave Benton.