Monday, November 2, 2009

'Fishery porn'

A while back we posted some pictures, purportedly shot by a crewman aboard an unidentified Gulf of Alaska flatfish trawler, showing what appeared to be extreme Tanner crab bycatch.

Those pictures caused quite a stir.

Now an anonymous somebody has steered Deckboss to another blog featuring a five-minute video, again from an unidentified trawler, appearing to show extreme halibut bycatch.

Crewman on the video look to be chucking chicken halibut overboard for all they're worth.

Of course, I can't vouch for the authenticity of the clip, which is time stamped Sept. 1, 2004. The host blog is avowedly anti-trawl.

All I can say is the video is fascinating to watch, and looks real enough. Make of it what you will.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow!

Absolutely sickening! Almost every single halibut is dead either from the immense pressure of being packed into the cod end, or being out of the water too long. You can even see some of the halibut doing the "circle swim", which are basically "brain damaged" halibut. Look at how the dead halibut lay flat and sink slowing to the bottom of the sea. Anybody who has commercial fished for halibut will recognize the characteristics of dead halibut.

I sure hope someone recognizes this boat. Even better, play this video as the opening "statement" for the next North Pacific Fishery Management Council meeting.

Draggers are raping our seas and the future of our fisheries. Dirty bycatch trawl fishing has to stop. I hope each one of us who views this video passes it on for others to see how disgusting this fishery is. If more of us complain, our voices will eventually be heard by the council.

Anonymous said...

Nothing has changed since 2004, except for the fact halibut are getting harder to find in the gulf. Not all draggers are dirty, but there is alot of this going on. What do they care as long as they catch their flats or cod? Most of them don't fish halibut anyways. Most are'nt even homeported in Alaska.

Anonymous said...

Hey Curt Waters, whats your opinion on this? Its absolutely true that halibut are getting harder to be found in the GOA, cant speak for BSAI as i dont fish there. Also see a LOT of halibut with ripped of lips (even legal sized halibut) assume they are from autobaiters fishing for cod that are under 60 feet and therefore dont need an observer. Its time for observers on all sectors!!!

Anonymous said...

I am curious why commercial halibut fishermen are so knowedgeable about the characterisitics of both "brain-dead" and dead halibut? Apparently discarded dead and dying halibut isn't unique to the trawl fishery. Observer coverage across all sectors, not just trawling, is obviously needed.

Anonymous said...

Too bad there were no observers on this boat...but then, hey they are paid by third-party contractors hired by vessel owners who prefer that their observers DON'T document violations.

Hey Wesley- rather than posting about extramarital affairs by USCG commanders, perhaps you could write about issues related to problems in Alaska's fishery management?

Anonymous said...

TO: I am curious why commercial halibut fishermen are so knowedgeable about the characteristics of both "brain-dead" and dead halibut? Apparently discarded dead and dying halibut isn't unique to the trawl fishery. Observer coverage across all sectors, not just trawling, is obviously needed.

Sorry, I should have said "Anybody who has commercial fished, will recognize the characteristics of dead halibut".

I just based my answer on my ENTIRE past commercial fishing experience. I've also fished for herring, salmon, grey & black cod, tanner & king crab, & jigged for rockfish. I also agree that observation should be across the board, within reason.

scottie said...

I watched and quite a few did seem to be recovering from the shock and heading down to safer waters. JMHO