So, did you know they do a little trawling in Prince William Sound?
Yep. Looks like pelagic trawlers just cleaned up 6.1 million pounds of walleye pollock.
That's enough for a whole bunch of fish sandwiches, but it's hardly a nibble compared to the 2.65 billion pounds the big boys are chasing this year in the eastern Bering Sea.
How many of the famous copper river kings were destroyed prosecuting this fishery?
ReplyDeleteTrawling should not be allowed in or within 3 miles of PWS! What a crime. Smells like a Fuglvog.
ReplyDeleteNew phrase meaning alert: All "Fugged" up.
"pelagic trawlers" yeah right. Those pollock trawlers kill an awful lot of halibut and crab with their "pelagic" trawling.
ReplyDeleteCopper River Kings don't winter in PWS. The winter kings there are mostly from points south, Columbia River & BC.
ReplyDeleteI've participated in the PWS pollack fishery and it's pretty clean. Most of the by-catch is squid.
How many Columbia river and b.c. Kings were killed prosecuting this. Fishery?
ReplyDeleteI had some experience in this fishery in the 90's. We had nothing but 100% pollock--cleanest fishing I have ever seen. (cleaner than any longline or pot fishing)
ReplyDeleteI don't know if that is still the case, so go ahead and make up whatever false info you care to. There are no fact checkers (and few facts) in these comments.
Anon @ 10:59am said "I don't know if that is still the case, so go ahead and make up whatever false info you care to. There are no fact checkers (and few facts) in these comments"
ReplyDeleteBoy, you got that right!
How much salmon fry do these walleye eat? Mid water clean fishery.
ReplyDeleteIf you what the facts check with the Prince William Sound Science Center they information on this fishery. Also there was observes on board and I'm sure there information is available. I can only remember one halibut being caught by me. But there was a lot of job for the cannery works.
ReplyDeleteHow many salmon do pollock eat?
ReplyDeleteResearch says almost none. At least I don't see any looking at the data.
Look it up:
http://access.afsc.noaa.gov/REEM/WebDietData/Table1.php?NODC=8791030701
I just read that PWS pollock do eat pink salmon fry when plankton populations are low.
ReplyDeleteSo there is some evidence of preying on salmon. Not their normal diet, though.
Upper Columbia River Kings have been on the Federal ESA since 1999, and the Snake River Sockeye on the register, since 1991. Not including the Theatened List of Steelhead, and remainder of Kings to the Columbia and tributaries. Who is watching this sector of government?..NMFS?.....Sounds to me like there needs to be a few more studies implemented, and select fisheries shut down. What the Hell! Alaska? Pollock fishers...Stewards of the Oceans my A$$!!!...
ReplyDelete"I'm like the Weyerhaeuser of the fish industry," Miller said. "I'm trying to do good and make sure people are employed."
ReplyDeleteA National Transportation Safety Board report said the master of the vessel was under pressure to produce, and management emphasized production over safety....
Today, Miller says he was unfairly targeted by the Department of Justice.
"It was a ridiculous charge to start with," Miller said. "Those government people had a bone to pick or something and I didn't do anything wrong. – And I proved it."
http://www.alaskareport.com/alaska10069.htm
Trawling for pollock is a destructive fishery. The fishery pretty much manages itself right now with a little input from NPFMC, who's members are influenced by the pollock lords big time. Millions of dollars on the plate makes the difference when resources of the people are given to a handful of men to harvest.
ReplyDeleteThere is very little bycatch with true mid-water fishing; a few squid, salmon, sharks etc. However, this time of year you often "crash" the net on the bottom to catch efficiently and maximize roe percentage. Bycatch is worse than you realize. I caught very few halibut but a few salmon is common. The large salmon bycatch in the western gulf a few years ago was not typical. Legislation should be passed requiring net modifications to reduce bycatch. It can be done but fishermen won’t change voluntarily. Trawling is effective and productive. However, like SE, it simply should not be allowed in PWS.
ReplyDeleteAnon @ 8:11, what damage have you documented that would make shutting down the PWS pollack fishery imperative? Just conjecture?
ReplyDeleteAnon @ 5:02 Maybe you could document for us all the sockeye and steelhead caught in the PWS pollack fishery. Even the king catch is miniscule. More are caught by local Cordovans sport fishing than in the pollack fishery. The PWS pollack fishery is short and sweet. It doesn't drag on like the Bering sea fishery.
It's pollock, not pollack.
ReplyDeleteAnon@8:34 You are dropping your doors and net down, and CANNOT Control what you are taking...especially when you are crunching the net for the best pollock roe at the bottom of the fish schools....everytime you plow your doors into the bottom, you are taking out "existing and future habitat" for other fish and crustaceans, which is also, By-the-way, food for future Pollock age classes...If they are in the Mid-water Column, why not Purse seine for them? Seines can be built pretty damn big these days!...A re-structuring of Federal Statutes for gear types allowed to fish for Pollock should be mandated. Just imagine Purse-seining for Pollock on the Bering Sea!....PWS could be done in a snap! The fish could be kept alive and brailed out. Produce a higher quality product, keep by-catch alive while discarding them. Selectively filter out smaller Pollock that's not as desireable for the markets, and let them go also. Slow the fishery down, and focus more on quality and 100% utilization of the harvests. Why tow in 30ft. swells and haul back on a surging boat, while smashing a once perfectly good product?...Aren't fillets the product in demand? And higher roe percentages landed?...Think about the future of stocks, and not so much about the bucks made!....You'll get both if you can manage the resource properly. Been there done that buddy!...Gear type hasn't changed much in a long time. It's about time. You might have to actually work on deck tho!...lol
ReplyDeleteDrum seining is very possible on a trawler....just give the skiffman an extra epirb and a flare kit.
ReplyDeleteAnon @7:40
ReplyDeleteYou speak of what you do not know. Both of bering sea trawlers and of seining. I have seen hearing let "free" since there was no room left in the tender and they were anything but "alive" as they floated away. This will not cut down bycatch at all. And really thinking a live pollock market will bring top dollar is insane. Pollock is a cheap fish for a reason....there is a lot of it!! No one wants to pay a lot of money for pollock. The comments on this board are usually horrible at best since they are based 90% on emotion and 10% semi-fact. I wish people would research what they think they know before they speak.
There is plenty of king salmon bycatch seining. They don't brail anymore. They roll it aboard.
ReplyDelete90% semi fact? And 10%
ReplyDeleteWith all that genetic research available, how many Pollacks are on the NMFS's most infamous NPFMC?
Why did the Pollack go to sea?
I was being facetious with almost all of the comments!...Lol....One thing I DO KNOW is that a Billion Dollar industry is Tearing the shit out of the Bottom of the oceans, and Corrupt Azzholes are paying ALOT of money to have Politicians condone it, and ALSO Privatize a PUBLIC Resource. I could give a ratz a$$ about draggers! Really now....Pollock fishing should not be allowed to happen in PWS....Too Diverse of an Eco-system in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteHow many walleye pollock does it take, to explain to a 100% fact, over 0% emotion?
ReplyDeleteRemember when the Copper River gillnet fleet was blamed, by Francis Miller for the Stellar's Decline in 1985.
How many Pollacks did Dan Hull sleep with?
Pollock, from Pollacks!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.illegal-fishing.info/uploads/1_GreenpeaceUSA-rethinking-sustainability.pdf
anon @ 7:40, you're missing the point. The point is, I've never seen a sockeye in a trawl. Or a steelhead. Chums and kings, yes, maybe a silver or two. So I'm looking for documentation of a sockeye/steelhead bycatch issue in the PWS pollock fishery. It just isn't there. From my personal observations, it's not that dirty of a fishery. Other than a few squid, it's cleaner than most.
ReplyDeletePollock fishing should be kept OUT of any migration areas of Salmon! This King/Dog/Coho/Salmon, and Halibut By-catch allowance should NOT be permitted PERIOD! Let the Draggers fish outside the Salmon areas permanently! The ONLY reason they are nearshore is SPECIFICALLY for Pollock Roe! Figure out another way to harvest those fish without Screwing Up all other fisheries! Why was Dragging Eliminated in SouthEast? I Blame the Council for Screwing up the Salmon and Halibut stocks! And they should be Prosecuted!
ReplyDeleteKEY WORDS!...No Sockeye or Steelhead Documented! Yet how many juveniles are subject to actual mortality? Fact is...Your gear is down, and you don't know what killing you are doing! Just because it doesn't come up on deck, doesn't mean it that is not suspect to mortality. Identification of juvenile salmon and steelhead is usually not much of a focus, when you are hauling back large bags of Pollock. It's mostly about getting the fish in the tank, and getting the net back in the water asap! Most deckhands aren't looking for juvenile salmon. Many could care less, and run them out the shit shoot. Especially with only a part time observer, and Federal logbooks to honestly record in. Salmon don't have to be landed to experience mortality. Incidental catch is a tough one, for sure! But with enough research and experimentation by-catch can be reduced and eliminated!
ReplyDeleteIt's always "cleaner than most" and just ask anyone from the drunken sailor squad of that Alaska Congressional Delegation, where clean is always defined by another pollack in Congress.
ReplyDelete"cleaner than most"
2012
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9SU6QS01.htm
"cleaner than most"
1969, congressional pollacks never change.
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/43/1652
Why did the pollack go to sea?
Why do pollacks names end in "ski"?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.greenrightnow.com/kabc/2010/06/03/senator-lisa-murkowski-drilling-away-at-environmental-protections/
HAHAHA!!!....Shut Em Down!!!!
ReplyDeleteAnon @ 8:15, you're don't know what you are talking about. Your whole post is conjecture based on nothing.
ReplyDeleteI participated in the fishery for two seasons and I know what I saw. I also fish salmon on the Copper River Flats and Prince William Sound. So I'm sensitive to what happens to salmon. That's where I really make my living. There are no sockeye's or steelhead caught in the PWS Pollock fishery. The only juveniles dying are the pink fry the pollock feed on.
Hahaha...@8:13 Two seasons Does Not Justify an Assumption that interactions Do Not exist! Especially with very little Observer coverage if any, and an Extrapolation of ESTIMATES. So, we are supposed to take your word for it? Hahaha! "Conjecture" would be to ASSUME incidental catch rates, based on what is seen crossing the shore side factory processing belts. I have fished the Alaskan circuit for 30 plus years, including BS and GOA Pollock/Cod/Crab and Salmon (multiple gear types), and can honestly tell you that Drag Gear is NOT in the best interest of any struggling finfish species, and Shrimp and CRAB for that matter! I have spliced more mainline cable and have witnessed more bycatch tossed off deck for greedy boat owners, than you have lost Anchors in the CR Delta. Don't tell me what you think you know! Because you really DON'T! I stopped Trawling because it wrecks the bottom! I know what it does, because I have watched the crt screens many long nights, and have crunched the net down myself. It really pisses me off when A$$holes try to justify Bottom Trawling, and that's what it is, no mid-water about it, to struggle to make their big boat payments! Hard pressed to stay afloat, they'd rather screw it up for everyone else! I'm not buying what your selling here dude!
ReplyDeleteThere should be 2 comment boards on this blog.
ReplyDeleteOne for opinions and crazy weird obscure posts, and another for facts.
If you can't control what Trawl Nets take from the ocean, then keep it on the beach.
ReplyDelete"If you can't control what Trawl Nets take from the ocean, then keep it on the beach." is the key to fair management of the resources that land based users depend on for a main source of livelihood.
ReplyDelete"Keep" them all "on the beach" as a consequence for the past bycatch numbers in relation to the declining numbers of other species such as crab, halibut and salmon. There is enough historical data out there to justify the restrictions.
Seine the flats!
ReplyDeleteTOM POLLACK //??.;'/..
ReplyDelete