Halibut, Crab, Groundfish on Tap for October NPFMC Meeting

Final action on the Pacific halibut catch sharing plan, a report of the groundfish plan team, and a number of issues related to crab management in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands are on tap for the October meeting of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council in Anchorage.

The council has set aside 12 hours each to discuss halibut and crab issues, plus six hours for various groundfish issues.

A council update on the status of the halibut catch sharing plan, which is online at www.alaskafisheries.noaa.gov/npfmc, outlines the five options for allocating Pacific halibut between the commercial individual fishing quota sector and charter sector, based on a combined catch limit that would be set annually by the International Pacific Halibut Commission in Area 2C and Area 3A.

In the area of crab management, the council will do an initial review of Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands crab right of first refusal, as well as an initial review of active participation requirements for this fishery. Also on tap are a discussion paper on crab cooperative provisions for crew, a work group report on binding arbitration, a discussion paper on binding arbitration issues, a review of forms and draft regulations for crab economic data reporting, and discussion on revised alternatives for the tanner crab-rebuilding plan.

The council has also set aside six hours for groundfish issues, including feedback on goals and objectives on Central Gulf of Alaska trawl prohibited species catch tools, an expanded discussion paper on vessel monitoring system use and requirements, and a review of the Bering sea habitat conservation area boundary. Also on the agenda is a discussion paper on northern Bering Sea research.

Alaska Salmon Harvest Climbs to 117 Million Fish

The preliminary total on Alaska 2012 commercial salmon harvest stood at 117.4 million fish at week’s end Aug. 31, as the harvest slowed or concluded in some areas of the state. That included some 63.2 million pink, 35 million sockeye, 16.7 million chum, 2 million silver and about 255,000 Chinook salmon.

In Southeast Alaska alone, the catch reached 31,744,000 salmon of all species, including 20 million pink, 9.4 million chum, 1.2 million silver, 775,000 reds and 187,000 kings.

Biologists with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game said that while catch rates were generally low in the troll fishery’s second Chinook salmon retention period, which began Aug. 11, that they were improving. Estimates were that approximately 50,200 kings were harvested in the troll fishery through Aug. 29, which is about 64 percent of the harvest target of 79,900 fish. These kings averaged 13 pounds and sold for an average price of $3.55 a pound this summer.

The pink salmon purse seine fishery in Southeast Alaska for 2012 was closed Aug. 27. Pink salmon harvests during the final openers on Aug. 26 and Aug. 27 fell from 750,000 fish the prior opening to 121,000 fish caught by the 78 boats that fished. Biologists said that as early as Sept. 6, the department might announce openings for Cholmondeley Sound chum salmon beginning Sept. 10.

In the Copper River, the cumulative harvest as of Aug. 29 was posted at 1.86 million sockeye salmon. This compares with an anticipated harvest of 1.16 million reds. The cumulative coho salmon from the Copper River District is estimated at 47,000 fish, which is below the anticipated catch of 83,400 fish for this date.

In the Kodiak management area, sockeye salmon commercial harvests stood at more than 2 million, below average for this date. Some 839,553 chum salmon have been harvested, slightly less than the average for this date. Pink salmon harvests were slowing too in the Kodiak area, with the pink harvest at 16.4 million fish.

Begich Bill Would Fund National Seafood Marketing Effort

Legislation backed by a national coalition of fisheries groups seeking millions of dollars annually to fund seafood marketing and development will be introduced in the US Senate in September.

The announcement Aug. 24 in Anchorage came from Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, who noted that the measure was drafted by the coalition from the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, the Great Lakes and Gulf of Mexico. It proposes a budget of $50 million annually. Begich acknowledged that finding a sustainable source of income would be critical to the success of the program.

Begich said that while Alaska fishermen have long benefitted from the efforts of the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute on market research and promotion of Alaska seafood products, it was time to step up to a national program to work on seafood quality and new product development, conduct market research and better promote and respond when challenges like natural disasters affect the industry.

A national marketing and development program could also help boost employment and the economies of coastal communities, he said.

Joining Begich at the news conference were Bruce Schactler, of Kodiak, a fisheries specialist with ASMI, and Kevin Adams, of Anchorage, vice chairman of ASMI, plus Beth Casoni, associate executive director of the Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association, and C. David Veal, executive director of the American Shrimp Processors Association. Schactler and Adams have been working for some time on developing the national marketing plan venture.

In 2009, the most current year for which data is available, commercial fishermen in the United States landed 8 billion pounds of fish and shellfish worth $3.9 billion at the dock. Overall seafood sales totaled $116 billion and the industry provided one million jobs nationwide including the harvesting, processing and retail sectors.

The state of Alaska produces 50 to 60 percent of the nation’s seafood annually.

Pacific Northwest Gets 3 NOAA Grants for Bycatch Reduction Research

Pacific Northwest research projects to reduce the bycatch of Chinook salmon, rockfish and crab will share in nearly $2.5 million in federal fisheries grants announced Aug. 29.

The 14 nationwide awards from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration included two grants to the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission and one to Oregon State University.

A $130,043 grant to the PSMFC is for research on the use of artificial light to enhance the escapement of Chinook salmon when used in conjunction with a bycatch reduction device in a Pacific hake mid-water trawl net.

The investigator will work with Pacific Hake fishermen and a net manufacturer to determine whether artificial light helps these kings to escape trawl nets. The Pacific hake fishery, the largest groundfish fishery by volume off the west coast of the US, also catches king salmon, which are listed under the Endangered Species Act.

If Chinook salmon bycatch exceeds certain levels, then consultation under the fishery’s ESA-related biological opinion will need to be reinitiated, which could result in additional fishing restrictions for the hake fishery.

A second PSMFC project to reduce bycatch of overfished and rebuilding rockfish species in the Pacific hake fishery received a $144,598 grant.

For this research off the coast of Oregon and/or Washington, the investigator will work with Pacific Hake fishermen and net manufacturers to test an excluder device designed to reduce rockfish bycatch in that fishery.

In 2011, Pacific hake began to be managed under the West Coast groundfish trawl catch share program, which created individual fishing quotas as well as individual bycatch quotas. If a fisherman participating in this program reaches a rockfish bycatch quota before reaching his Pacific hake fishing quota, then his fishing season would end. Developing three gear modifications that reduce rockfish bycatch while retaining a high proportion of targeted species is very important to the hake fishery.

Oregon State University received $68,289 for first ever field validation of the reflex action mortality predictor (RAMP) approach for determining crab bycatch mortality.

They will try to determine crab survival after being caught and released as bycatch.

These investigators will also estimate Dungeness crab survival rates after release in Oregon trap fisheries and evaluate ways to increase survival of bycatch caught crab.

If the RAMP is determined to be effective, then it could be used to determine survival in various other U.S. fisheries.

Because this project involves several commercial fishermen, the investigators hope this project will encourage additional fishermen to be involved in the research, NOAA officials said.

More information on these and other grants is at www.nmfs.noaa.gov.