Pollock Harvest Climbs, Cod Trawl Slower for ‘A’ Season

Groundfish vessels in the Bering Sea working the pollock A season have landed upwards of 190,898 metric tons out of their total allocation of 1.267 million metric tons, which is up 20,000 metric tons over their 2013 total allowable catch.

Through Feb. 22, the last date for which federal fisheries officials have compiled all A season harvests, the pollock inshore sector had landed 77,916 metric tons, or 35 percent of their 221,856 metric ton quota, said Krista Milani, resource management specialist for the Alaska region of NOAA Fisheries at Dutch Harbor.

Last year’s A season quota for this sector was 94,176 metric tons.

Catcher processors had taken 64,893 metric tons, 37 percent of their A season allocation of 177,485 metric tons. A year ago, that allocation was 67,858 metric tons.

For motherships, the harvest came to 16,403 metric tons through Feb. 22, or 37 percent of their A season 44,371 metric ton allocation, which was down slightly from 17,629 metric tons land for the same period a year ago.

Within community development quota groups, the pollock harvest had reached 31,686 metric tons, or 62 percent of their 51,440 metric ton A season quota. That compared with 23,059 metric tons land for the same period during the A season a year ago.

In the cod trawl fishery, meanwhile, harvesters landed 24,157 metric tons, or 65 percent of their 37,079 metric ton quota through March 3, Milani said.

Last year’s cod trawl quota for the A season was 37,971 metric tons.