Board of Fisheries to weigh PWS proposals

The Alaska Board of Fisheries is meeting this week in Cordova to consider dozens of proposals for the Prince William Sound region.

Here are a few attracting our interest:

Proposal 16, from the Chenega IRA Council, would close the Prince William Sound pollock trawl fishery.

Proposal 43, from Cordova District Fishermen United, would establish a directed octopus fishery in Prince William Sound.

Proposal 73, from James Burton, and several other proposals deal with permit stacking in the salmon seine and driftnet fisheries.

Proposal 78, from Virgil Umphenour, would reduce Prince William Sound pink salmon hatchery production by 25 percent.

A bill to ban octopus farming

U.S. Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-Rhode Island, and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, have introduced legislation to ban commercial octopus farming in the United States and prohibit imports of farmed octopus from foreign countries.

"Octopuses are among the most intelligent creatures in the oceans. And they belong at sea, not suffering on a factory farm," Whitehouse said in this press release.

The bill "protects Alaska's marine ecosystems and supports wild harvest opportunities for Alaska's fishermen," Murkowski said.

Let go of that octopus!

Cook Inlet area fishermen have taken nearly the full 35,000-pound bycatch allowance of octopus.

And so, retention of octopus will be prohibited after 5 p.m. Thursday, says this announcement from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

My understanding is that fishermen targeting cod or other fish retain octopus largely for use or sale as bait.