Monday, January 21, 2013

One more pollock note

The Prince William Sound pollock fishery also opened yesterday.

Trawlers are chasing a quota of 2,623 metric tons, down slightly from last year.

11 comments:

  1. i didn't even know there was a pollock fishery in the sound, how much effort is there or markets?

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  2. Yeah, Deckboss! Tell us what's up with this fishery!

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  3. Yeah...killing those desirable copper river kings as bycatch, all in pursuit of cheap fish sticks.

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  4. why doesn't everybody quit whineing about the loss of king salmon,halibut and overall eco system distruction and start doing something about it!alaska trollers assosceation the longline fishermans union can start educating the public on the wanton waste in these trawal and drag fisheries!also we can ask the public to quit buying these fish sticks and fake crab meat made from these fisheries.maybe carry signs in front of mcdonalds across the country or costco outlets who buy these products!this would be a start,the silence is deaffening!where is ata or the long line fisherman union!people are loseing our livelyhoods,and yet we see no real substancial action?

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  5. I'm sure I'll get torn a new one for this, but the PWS drag fishery has some pretty darn low bycatch, I've been on longliners with worse. That being said, I still want to know about effort and market..

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  6. Here is the problem.
    Trollers were restricted to SE of Suckling in 1976.

    In the 90's ALFA and other SE fishermen, including trollers, and some marine conservatists got groundfish trawling in the FCZ off SE Alaska prohibited by the NPFMC.

    A few years later nearly all groundfish trawling in the State waters was prohibited by the BOF when they passed a proposal backed by the Alaska Marine Conservation Council.

    ATA and ALFA have not been invited to my knowledge to help prohibit trawling West of Suckling. With their membership primarily from SE it is not their place in my opinion (and I am a member of both groups) to lead the battle westward. I am sure that if asked both groups and most of their members would help.
    In the meantime why aren't the non-trawl fishermen west of Suckling leading the battle to eliminate trawl by-catch?

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  7. According to Ed Farley (NMFS AUKE BAY Labs, trawl bycatch isn't an issue for kings. This is his synopsis of his keynote address Monday at the Alaska Marine Science Symposium:

    Chinook Salmon and the Marine Environment
    Chinook salmon are an important cultural, commercial, and sport salmon species to the people of Alaska. Recent sharp declines in Chinook salmon returns to Alaska’s rivers have lead to disaster declarations by the State of Alaska and Federal Government for some communities. The question is: “where have all the salmon gone?” Chinook salmon are anadromous, meaning their life cycle is dependent on environmental conditions in both freshwater and marine environments. Understanding the potential impacts of climate change on Chinook is complicated by the wide disparity between the effects of climate change on freshwater habitats, where long term temperatures are sharply increasing, and on the marine environment where warming occurs only very slowly, if at all. Mortality can be high and variable in both of these environments, but scientists believe the recent synchronous decline in Alaska’s Chinook salmon returns is largely due to factors impacting their survival in the marine environment. We provide data on climate, distribution, migration, and diet of Chinook salmon in order to describe their marine ecology and understand effects of climate on the timing of the life cycle (phenology). The following hypotheses explaining the decline in Alaska’s Chinook populations will also be discussed: 1) match – mismatch hypothesis: early marine mortality operating for all Alaskan Chinook salmon is the mismatch between timing of the life cycle in freshwater and the annual cycle of productivity in the marine environment, which is caused by the differential effects of climate change in the continental spawning and rearing areas and the nearshore marine environment; 2) critical size and period hypothesis: where climate change is effecting growth and energetic status during the first year at sea impacting marine survival over winter; 3) reduced size at age hypothesis: harvest on larger Chinook salmon has reduced fecundity in adult spawning populations leading to lower productivity.

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  8. NMFS BS. Kings are missing because of 1. Match - mismatch 2. critical size and period, or 3. reduced size at age. First two due to climate change and the third apparently to sport catch and release.

    All of this nonsense is easier to believe than trawl bycatch? Not for me.

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  9. Previous post should have read "nearly all groundfish trawling in the State waters of SE Alaska....

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  10. Great, NMFS research say NMFS management not responsible! Who could have guessed?

    I repeat, They have NO IDEA what the actual trawl bycatch is in the Gulf of Alaska, not a clue. Everyone with even a limited knowledge of the issue knows this. 30% observer coverage generates nothing but smoke and mirrors.

    Anyone who pretends these numbers have the remotest significance is a fraud. It is that simple.

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  11. Living a LIE takes years off one's life. Good, maybe when these crooks use up their energy fooling the people, they'll all fade away into nothingness.

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