Endangered Chinook?

Public comments are rolling in on a National Marine Fisheries Service finding that listing Gulf of Alaska Chinook salmon as threatened or endangered "may be warranted."

The finding was in response to a petition from the Wild Fish Conservancy, a nonprofit organization headquartered in Washington state.

The idea of listing Chinook has raised considerable alarm across Alaska's fishing industry, with many organizations and individuals warning of serious economic damage were such an action actually taken.

NMFS is taking public comment until Sept. 6. You can read all the comments here.

We'll update this post periodically with links to select comments.

Alaska legislators

Alaska Department of Fish and Game

United Fishermen of Alaska

Kenai River Sportfishing Association

Central Council of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska

Wild Fish Conservancy

Alaska resource associations

Alaska Trollers Association

Purse Seine Vessel Owners' Association

Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association

Southeast Alaska Guides Organization

Petersburg Borough

Alaska Marine Conservation Council

Pacific Seafood Processors Association

Gulf of Alaska cod regains MSC certification

Here's a press release.

Calling for cod help

The state has sent a letter requesting a federal disaster declaration for the 2018 Pacific cod fishery in the Gulf of Alaska.

Cod trouble

As expected and feared, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council has slashed the quota for Pacific cod in the Gulf of Alaska.

The total allowable catch for Gulf cod in 2018 is 13,096 metric tons, down 80 percent from this year's 64,442 tons.

The council is meeting through the weekend in Anchorage. Its quota recommendations are subject to U.S. commerce secretary approval.

Gulf trawlers to stand down, rise up

Gulf of Alaska trawlers plan to suspend fishing so they can attend the upcoming North Pacific Fishery Management Council meeting in Portland.

The trawlers are worried about the current direction of long-running efforts to "rationalize" the Gulf groundfish fisheries.

A catch share concept

If federal regulators move forward with a catch share program for Gulf of Alaska trawl fisheries such as pollock and cod, some of the catch shares should go to "community fishing associations."

Right?

Some Alaska legislators evidently think so. They've introduced this resolution urging consideration of the idea.

The House Special Committee on Fisheries is scheduled to give the resolution a hearing at 10 a.m. Tuesday.

Rep. Paul Seaton, R-Homer, chairs the committee.

Halibut help coming

The National Marine Fisheries Service says it's implementing a plan to tighten halibut bycatch limits in the Gulf of Alaska groundfish fisheries.

Here's the press release.

Gulf pollock and cod up, sablefish down

The outlook for Gulf of Alaska groundfish stocks is mixed for 2014.

Government scientists are recommending appreciably higher "acceptable biological catch" levels for pollock and cod.

The sablefish ABC, however, is significantly lower.

See all the numbers here.

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council will consider the recommendations and set catch quotas at its Dec. 9-16 meeting in Anchorage.

Council recommends Chinook cap

Here's the final motion the North Pacific Fishery Management Council passed to limit Chinook bycatch in the Gulf of Alaska non-pollock trawl fisheries.

The council is recommending a hard cap of 7,500 Chinook salmon.

As you can see, however, the motion includes a "uncertainty pool" provision that could give trawlers an additional 1,000 Chinook in some years. At least that's how Deckboss reads it.

Council decisions are subject to Commerce Department approval.

For more background on this, see our prior post.

Chinook bycatch headlines council agenda

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council is meeting this week in Juneau, and Chinook bycatch is heading the agenda.

The council is set to take final action on measures to control the incidental take of Chinook in Gulf of Alaska trawl fisheries targeting species such as Pacific cod, flatfish and rockfish.

The options include an annual limit, or "hard cap," of between 5,000 and 12,500 Chinook salmon.

Chinook bycatch, of course, is a very hot topic these days given the weak Chinook returns to many of Alaska's river systems.

The council has been working methodically to rein in this bycatch.

In June 2011, the council set a cap of 25,000 Chinook in the Gulf pollock fishery.

Regulators also have set caps in the giant Bering Sea pollock fishery.

Ill crewman airlifted off boat south of Cordova

A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter Tuesday night hoisted an ailing crewman off the 130-foot fishing vessel Retriever more than 200 miles south of Cordova.

The 57-year-old crewman was experiencing symptoms of internal bleeding, but he was conscious and able to walk upon arrival at Cordova, the Coast Guard said.

Here's some video of the medevac operation at sea.

Coast Guard medevacs longliner crewman

A Coast Guard helicopter today safely hoisted an ailing crewman off the longliner Polaris.

The 76-foot vessel was located 23 miles northwest of Chirikof Island in the Gulf of Alaska.

The crewman, 57, reportedly was suffering from abdominal pain, the Coast Guard said.

Council bumps up Gulf of Alaska pollock quota

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council has set the 2012 total allowable catch (TAC) for Gulf of Alaska groundfish.

Here are the TACs for key species and the percent change from 2011.

Pollock, 116,444 tons, up 21 percent
Pacific cod, 65,700 tons, up 0.9 percent
Pacific Ocean perch, 16,918 tons, down 0.5 percent
Sablefish, 12,960 tons, up 14.8 percent

The TACs are subject to U.S. commerce secretary approval.

56 hours in Dutch Harbor

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council is meeting this week way out in Dutch Harbor.

As usual, the agenda is packed, with a total of 56 hours of meeting time scheduled.

Deckboss is hard-pressed to find much excitement in this meeting, as the council isn't expected to take final action on any major issues.

One item likely to stir some interesting conversation, however, concerns the council's intent to reduce the allowable bycatch of halibut in the Gulf of Alaska.

The council in April put some options on the table for cutting the halibut bycatch limit by 5 to 15 percent for Gulf trawl and fixed-gear fleets.

Council members are expected to chew on the numbers further in Dutch Harbor, then select a "final preferred alternative" at their December meeting in Anchorage.

When all is said and done, regulators could implement tighter halibut bycatch limits early next year.

Bycatch, of course, is a hot topic these days due to recent declines in Gulf halibut biomass and rising tensions between two competing fleets — charter boats and commercial longliners — dependent on the fish.

Here's the council's draft analysis on the halibut bycatch issue. The first page has a nice summary. Thorough types are welcome to continue through the remaining 464 pages.

USCG conducts distant medevac for captain

A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter this afternoon medevaced the 61-year-old captain of the fishing vessel Sea Bird.

The 167-foot vessel was far out in the Gulf of Alaska, 253 miles southeast of Kodiak.

The captain, whose name was not released, was reported to be suffering "symptoms of gastrointestinal distress," a Coast Guard press release said.

He was taken to a hospital in Kodiak.

A Coast Guard C-130 aircraft accompanied the helicopter, which was operating at the edge of its range.

Sea conditions on the scene were calm.

The Sea Bird's chief mate will bring the vessel into Kodiak, the Coast Guard said.

The boat's hailing port is Seattle.

Council said to pass Gulf Chinook bycatch limit

Deckboss has been remiss in failing to note that the North Pacific Fishery Management Council has been meeting the past several days in Nome.

It's the first time the council has ever convened in that exciting and faraway town.

And the council, evidently, has used the occasion to achieve yet another first: a limit on Chinook salmon bycatch in the Gulf of Alaska pollock fishery, says this press release from the Alaska Marine Conservation Council.

Work advances to control Chinook bycatch in Gulf

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council is making progress toward controlling the incidental capture, or bycatch, of Chinook salmon in Gulf of Alaska pollock trawl nets.

How can we tell?

Check out this 295-page analysis posted this week on the council's website.

The analysis is a necessary step for meetings coming up later this month and in June, when the council could elect to impose a "hard cap" on the pollock fishery. That means the fishery would be closed down once a certain number of Chinook are taken as bycatch.

Chinook bycatch last year in the Gulf pollock fishery was an alarming 43,915 fish, according to the chart on page 21 of the analysis.

A hard cap, if approved, could be implemented in mid-2012.

The analysis says addressing Chinook bycatch in the Gulf is the council's highest priority.

Most Alaska groundfish catches to surge in 2011

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council this morning set the 2011 total allowable catch for pollock and other groundfish.

The limits are subject to final approval by the U.S. commerce secretary.

Here's a rundown of the major species, the catch limits and the percentage change from the 2010 limits.

Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands

Pollock — 1.25 million metric tons, up 54 percent
Pacific cod — 227,950 tons, up 35 percent
Yellowfin sole — 196,000 tons, down 10.5 percent
Atka mackerel — 53,080 tons, down 28 percent
Pacific Ocean perch — 24,700 tons, up 31 percent

Gulf of Alaska

Pollock — 96,215 tons, up 13.5 percent
Pacific cod — 65,100 tons, up 9 percent
Arrowtooth flounder — 43,000 tons, no change
Pacific Ocean perch — 16,997 tons, down 3 percent
Sablefish — 11,290 tons, up 9 percent

Big improvement overall for Gulf catch limits

A reader asks what the North Pacific Fishery Management Council did over the weekend in setting the 2010 total allowable catch (TAC) for Gulf of Alaska groundfish.

Here's a rundown of TACs for some of the main species, as well as the percent change from the current year.

Remember, the U.S. commerce secretary can adjust these figures, as the council merely makes recommendations.

Walleye pollock — 84,745 tons, up 69.8 percent
Pacific cod — 59,563 tons, up 42.5 percent
Arrowtooth flounder — 43,000 tons, no change
Pacific Ocean perch — 17,584 tons, up 16.4 percent
Sablefish — 10,370 tons, down 7.1 percent
Northern rockfish — 5,098 tons, up 16.9 percent

Looking good in the Gulf

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council today kicked off a weeklong meeting in Anchorage, and as always at its December session, the panel's top order of business is setting groundfish quotas for the coming year.

We've already heard a lot about the flagship Bering Sea pollock fishery, and how the scientists are recommending a quota no greater than this past season's 815,000 metric tons.

That's a mountain of fish sticks, but it's a sorry quota compared to a few years ago when the harvest was nearly twice as big.

Because of its status as one of the world's largest fisheries, Bering Sea pollock tends to get all the media love.

But groundfish is important for fishermen and ports in the Gulf of Alaska, too, and the outlook in those waters is much brighter.

Government scientists are recommending an "acceptable biological catch" for pollock of 84,745 tons, which is a 70 percent increase from this year's ABC.

As for Pacific cod, an even more valuable groundfish species in the Gulf, the recommended ABC is 79,100 tons, a 43 percent increase.

Exciting stuff.

But setting quotas isn't the hottest item on the council's agenda for this meeting.

The real fireworks are reserved for what's known as the Gulf of Alaska cod sector split.

What's that, you ask?

The council wants to address what's become quite a war for lucrative cod out of Kodiak and other Gulf ports.

To simmer down the competition, the council at this meeting aims to divide the cod among the different kinds of fishing vessels, which include trawlers, longliners, pot boats and jiggers.

Sound simple? Not.

This tough part is finding a fair way to split the fish among sectors, especially when each is screaming for a bigger piece of the pie.

One fisherman, Craig Cochran of Newport, Ore., summed up the hopes of many in a letter to the council:

"I would ask that this not become a food fight, but a rational decision based on the true history of each sector," he wrote.