Among them is Saltwater Inc., an Anchorage provider of fishery observers.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Alaska commercial fishing news and notes
About me
- Deckboss
- I'm a journalist covering Alaska's commercial fishing industry. My real name is Wesley Loy. Reach me at wloy61@gmail.com.
Blog archive
-
▼
2021
(125)
-
▼
March
(20)
- More Peter Pan personnel news
- Longtime Peter Pan CEO Collier steps aside
- More COVID dollars coming
- Sitka Sound herring harvest gets underway
- Save halibut, or save observers?
- Should Alaska seafood qualify as organic?
- Sitka herring watch
- Juneau watch
- Fiber and fishing
- The Scandies Rose tragedy
- Bigger salmon haul predicted
- Into the fray
- Crab crisis?
- Juneau watch
- Do released halibut survive?
- Halibut time! Sablefish too!
- F/V Haida Lady afloat again
- Juneau watch
- Bristol Bay's price discontent
- Seiner reported sunk near Sitka
-
▼
March
(20)
11 comments:
The letter reads like an admission of a conflict of interest by Saltwater. They don't want cuts on bycatch because it will reduce the number of days their observers at sea (read less profit for Saltwater).
For a long time people have suspected that the observer system is gamed by the draggers. Saltwater advocating for their profits over conservation measures is another piece of evidence that the systems is corrupt.
After reading the letter isn't it reasonable to question the integrity of the data collection on the amount of actual bycatch?
Report less bycatch = more fishing days = Saltwater profits
This letter is related to the NPFMC meeting on April 5th. Go to the site and leave a comment to reduce bycatch here.
https://meetings.npfmc.org/Meeting/Details/1945
You have to scroll down the page to C2 and click the "comment here" link.
Saltwater inc is a parasitic operation that should have no say in this decision. Period.
Saltwater has gotten so much blowback from its self-serving comment that it quickly removed it from the NPFMC comments. Watch for more to come. Their call for retaining a few observer jobs over the protection and sustainability of various fishery resources (halibut, black cod, herring, Chinook to name a few) that the A80 boats -- all from Seattle -- dump as bycatch is despicable.
Why have observers at all if draggers are allowed to dump millions of pounds of Blackcod with no penalty?
Dumping dead halibut, black cod, and other by catch overboard makes no sense. Why not require the trawler to bring it to the processor, who must then process it at no cost and sell it for some common good. The trawler gets nothing and the processor gets nothing. And, if you think the processor will balk at doing it for no cost reimbursment, then think again. The processor has huge profits on pollock and can easily afford to process the prohibs for a worthy cause.
The trawl bycatch problem could be solved easily by them if.....they were forced to fairly compensate the permit & ifq holders for they’re bycatch. Factoring in time to average legal size & loss to spawning biomass. Two things would happen...they would quickly find a way to reduce bycatch. And/or fairly compensating the affected fisherman for theyre unavoidable bycatch would become part of they’re business plan. Those of us being affected by they’re unavoidable bycatch wouldn’t be all up in they’re business, as we would be being compensated for out loss. Instead of being told to pound sand as we are now. By the trawlers,nmfs, observer companies.
I agree with March 29 8. 15 am.
So 8:15 AM has it. The catch of Halibut and Black cod by trawlers is really a reduction, or a reduction in part, of the IFQ holders future quota. Therefore the value of that bycatch, or a good part of the value should go to the IFQ holders. It may not reduce the trawl bycatch, but it will compensate those who would have benefited had the bycatch not occurred.
Saltwater is trash, the letter shows how demented the trawlers and their advocates are.
While I understand March 29th's rationale as I am a commercial fisherman out of Sitka, that solution will not help all the other people(Subsistence, Sport and recreational users) affected by the trawl fleets unsustainable bycatch nor will it strengthen stocks that are already suffering. I want to fish and be able to keep fishing and I want others to be able to do the same in the future. There is no $ amount that could compensate me for that experience.
Post a Comment