Save halibut, or save observers?

A number of businesses are coming to the defense of a trawl fleet possibly facing tighter halibut bycatch limits in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands.

Among them is Saltwater Inc., an Anchorage provider of fishery observers.

Wanted: observers

A report to the North Pacific Fishery Management Council notes "current difficulties in recruiting and retaining observers."

The report says "conversations are underway" about solutions, including "options for allowing providers to hire foreign nationals to be observers in the Alaska fisheries."

Trident's warning

A recent federal summary of enforcement actions for the first half of 2017 said a written warning was issued to Trident Seafoods.

Deckboss obtained a copy of the written warning through a Freedom of Information Act request. Read it here.

Observer issues 'fully and satisfactorily resolved'

The Alaska Seafood Cooperative, representing Bering Sea flatfish trawlers, submitted the following response to yesterday's post: Observers report taking abuse over halibut.

Every May, NMFS' Fishery Monitoring and Analysis Division (FMA) releases a report describing various aspects of observer deployment in fisheries off Alaska. Topics include coverage levels and distribution in the partial coverage fleet, coverage rates given certain budget constraints, and general monitoring compliance among different sectors of the fleet. This latter section was highlighted yesterday in a post on Deckboss.

While the FMA report covered certain compliance issues with the Amendment 80 sector, the effectiveness of efforts by the FMA, NMFS, and industry to address some misunderstandings that spawned those complaints should be understood. Late in 2014, the Alaska Seafood Cooperative (AKSC) became aware of a small number of observer complaints relating to halibut accounting within our sector. In addition to discussing these issues, dialogue with Martin Loefflad and Chris Rilling from FMA brought to light some conflicts between observer protocols and the needs of captains for timely information concerning halibut bycatch to effectively avoid halibut. During the meeting, an acceptable solution was reached, and observers now provide raw data to captains. This information is now available in a much more timely manner.

As many may know, AKSC and its members have been collaborating with NMFS on a program to release halibut as soon as possible from a vessel's deck to improve survival. NMFS issued an exempted fishing permit (EFP) for all AKSC member vessels because of their confidence that the issues that led to the complaints are fully and satisfactorily resolved. Absent satisfactory resolution of the issues, vessels would have been prohibited from participating in the EFP.

AKSC is appreciative of NMFS' willingness to proactively work with our co-op and member companies to resolve issues with observers quickly and efficiently. This allows companies to proactively address operational issues that arise under the observer program. The effectiveness of conversations with NMFS is evident, as observers have had no such complaints in 2015.

Observers report taking abuse over halibut

The National Marine Fisheries Service has issued its 2014 annual report for the North Pacific fishery observer program.

The report is loaded with interested reading, not the least of which is on pages 87-88.

The agency notes a "significant trend" involving catcher-processor vessels and observer reports of harassment, intimidation and other issues.

Multiple investigations have been initiated, NMFS says. The report continues:

These investigations include allegations of physical sample bias including removing halibut from observer samples, or physically preventing a halibut from entering an observer's sample during collection. Additional allegations include hostile work environment due to industry behavior and remarks to the observer in an attempt to influence how they sample the catch to reduce the number of halibut in their sampling.

The report further says officials issued two "outreach letters" to the Amendment 80 trawl fleet and the freezer longline fleet.

These letters identified trends involving intimidation, harassment, hostile work environment, sample bias and attempted coercion regarding halibut bycatch sampling methods as well as catch weighing and record keeping and reporting requirements.

Will your boat need an observer next year?

The National Marine Fisheries Service has released this draft plan for how the agency intends to assign fishery observers to vessels taking part in Alaska's groundfish and halibut fisheries during 2015.

Deckboss can't be sure, but he believes NMFS is proposing some significant adjustments. Check out the executive summary near the top of the plan.

Commerce IG looks at catch shares, observers

Deckboss hasn't had a chance to read them, but here are a couple of intriguing items from the Commerce Department inspector general:

Review of NOAA Catch Share Programs

Announcement of Observer Program Audit

A human, or a camera?

The National Marine Fisheries Service is offering vessel owners a chance to avoid having to carry a fishery observer in 2014.

The agency plans to exempt up to 14 boats that agree to take part in a pilot project to test electronic monitoring systems.

More details in this letter.

For background, check out our previous post.

Volunteer? Who, me?

We heard quite a bit of bellyaching when the North Pacific observer program expanded this year to cover new fleets, including halibut boats.

One complaint was that more should have been done to develop an alternative to the inconvenience and cost of having a human observer ride along on small boats.

Surely electronic monitoring — onboard cameras — could keep tabs on catch and bycatch, the critics said.

OK, fine.

Now read this letter from the North Pacific Fishery Management Council to several commercial fishing groups.

The letter says a pilot project has been set up to test electronic monitoring systems.

The trouble is, not many commercial fishermen have volunteered to take part in the project so far, the letter says.

The council wants a viable electronic monitoring alternative on the water as soon as practicable, and the volunteer pilot program is "vital to the realization of this goal," the letter says.

Coming Jan. 1

Here's a news release from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game about the impending expansion of the federal fisheries observer program.

Despite a lot of squawk out there, this thing is looking like a go.

You knew this was coming

The Alaska congressional delegation is asking federal regulators to partially delay the 2013 implementation of the expanded fishery observer program.

The request is entirely predictable and expected.

For many years, large trawlers and other fishing vessels operating off Alaska have carried observers — typically, young biologists — to record what is caught where.

The data they gather is critical for proper management of the fisheries.

Come the new year, the program is expanding. It means hundreds of smaller boats, such as longliners targeting halibut and sablefish, will have to carry an observer on at least some of their fishing trips.

Now that implementation is upon us, we're getting an outcry — and politicians jumping in as they often do when new federal regulations come down.

Organizations such as the Sitka-based Alaska Longline Fishermen's Association have raised a litany of reasons why the expanded observer program will unnecessarily burden the operators of smaller vessels.

A press release on U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski's website lays out some of the gripes.

The bottom line seems to be that some fishermen simply don't want an extra body aboard.

Would you?

It will be interesting to see if the National Marine Fisheries Service gives in to the congressional pressure and delays the program.

Deckboss really doesn't care either way.

But if observers are deployed as scheduled, he'll sure be interested to see an honest accounting of what really comes up on all those hooks.

Council seeks funds to expand observer program

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council is asking the Obama administration to provide $3.8 million to launch an expanded fisheries observer program.

Here's the letter requesting the money.

Fishery observers — people who ride aboard boats to monitor catch and bycatch — already are used extensively off Alaska, with industry paying most of the cost. The observers provide data vital for managing pollock, cod and other fisheries.

The council wants to fill in gaps in the program by expanding observer coverage to more boats, including halibut vessels and small trawlers.

The $3.8 million is needed as a one-time subsidy to put the expanded observer program into place faster, the council letter explains.