Wednesday, December 21, 2016

ADF&G Announces Openings

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game has new announcements this week regarding Pacific cod and Pollock fisheries in Prince William Sound.

The Prince William Sound area parallel Pacific cod seasons for pot and jig gear close at midnight on Dec. 31, and parallel Pacific cod fishing will open immediately on Jan. 1 for vessels using pot, jig and longline gear.

ADF&G is reminding harvesters that all fish must be landed within 24 hours following closure of the 2016 season and prior to participating in the 2017 season.

Prince William Sound parallel Pacific cod season closures for jig and pot gear will coincide with their respective closures in the adjacent federal Central Gulf of Alaska regulatory area. Also, the Prince William Sound parallel season closure for longline gear will coincide with the federal closure of less than 50 foot hook-and-line gear sector in the Central Gulf.

The directed fishery for walleye Pollock using pelagic trawl gear in the Prince William Sound registration area of Alaska opens at noon Jan. 20 with a guideline harvest level of 9.43 million pounds. The deadline to register for this fishery is 5 p.m. on Jan. 13, and registrations will be issued only to those who possess a 2017 miscellaneous saltwater finfish permit card for trawl gear.

Registration packets are available only at the Alaska Department of Fish and Game offices in Cordova, Homer and Kodiak.

ADF&G has also announced a solicitation for bids to contract a vessel to conduct a test fishery from Jan. 12 through Jan. 19, to harvest up to 900,000 pounds of Pollock in Prince William Sound. Eligible vessels must be registered for the 2017 Prince William Sound directed Pollock trawl fishery.

The minimum bid price is $0.030 a pound. Bids will be accepted for three individual lots of 300,000 pounds each. Bids must be received at ADF&G’s Homer office by noon on Jan. 6. Those interested in bidding should contact Jan Rumble or Elsa Russ at ADF&G in Homer, Alaska.

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