No ESA listing for Chinook

The National Marine Fisheries Service has found that listing Gulf of Alaska Chinook salmon under the Endangered Species Act is "not warranted at this time."

Here's a notice to be published in the Federal Register.

ESA watch

Tomorrow is the deadline for the National Marine Fisheries Service to submit its finding on whether Gulf of Alaska Chinook salmon should be listed under the Endangered Species Act.

The agency is considering the question in response to a listing petition from the Wild Fish Conservancy, a nonprofit headquartered in Washington state.

A finding that some or all Gulf of Alaska Chinook stocks are threatened or endangered would be momentous.

Deckboss will be watching closely to see what drops!

The wait is nearly over

We'll soon have the government's answer on whether Gulf of Alaska Chinook salmon should be listed under the Endangered Species Act.

The National Marine Fisheries Service is pledging to render its decision on or before May 13.

A nonprofit organization, the Wild Fish Conservancy, petitioned NMFS for the listing and later sued the agency for failing to meet the deadline for making its decision. The lawsuit has now been settled with the setting of the May 13 date.

Chinook runs across Alaska are weak, forcing fishery conservation measures.

But the Alaska Department of Fish and Game doesn't support listing the fish, writing in September 2024: "The best available scientific and commercial information makes it clear that GOA Chinook salmon do not meet the definition of a threatened or endangered species."

Gulf gets more cod

Details in this press release from the North Pacific Fishery Management Council.

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.