Calling out Copper River salmon fishermen

Federal officials came out today with some pointed counsel: "Do not kill or injure seals and sea lions and harm the good name of your world-class fishery."

Skipper, deckhand charged with shooting sea lions

Here's the press release.

Big news on Steller sea lions

A line in the North Pacific divides the Steller sea lion population into eastern and western "distinct population segments."

This just in from the National Marine Fisheries Service:

April 18, 2012

NOAA proposes removing eastern Steller sea lions from endangered species list; agency seeks public comment

JUNEAU — NOAA is proposing to remove the eastern Steller sea lion, currently deemed "threatened," from the list of endangered wildlife, after a status review by its biologists found the species is recovering sufficiently.

"This proposal reflects the continued recovery of the eastern population of Steller sea lions and the strong conservation partnership among NOAA Fisheries, the states, the fishing industry, and other stakeholders," said NOAA's Fisheries Service Alaska Regional Administrator Jim Balsiger.

More here.

Gazing into my Aleutian crystal ball

We could see two interesting developments soon with respect to the seafood industry in the Aleutian Islands.

First, some commercial fishing companies are likely to seek intervenor status in support of the state's lawsuit against the National Marine Fisheries Service on the Steller sea lion issue. The state and industry players hope to block restrictions, set to take effect Jan. 1, to curtail harvests of Aleutian fish the endangered Stellers rely upon for food.

Second, the troubled processing plant on Adak Island soon might have a new tenant. The leading candidate looks to be Icicle Seafoods Inc., which flew a team out to Adak in recent days to look things over. Icicle, you might recall, once was a partner in the plant. The big question is whether the plant can be readied in time for the upcoming Pacific cod season.

NMFS pledges independent review of BiOp

Here's a National Marine Fisheries Service white paper that was posted briefly on the agency's website Monday and then removed.

Deckboss spoke with Jim Balsiger, head of NMFS for Alaska, who explained the document was a rough draft that was posted inadvertently.

Anyway, he said the gist of the paper is true: NMFS will subject its new Steller sea lion biological opinion to an "independent scientific review" via the Miami-based Center for Independent Experts.

This is good news for the commercial fishing industry, which faces big losses due to planned closures along the Aleutian chain. The BiOp calls for these fishing closures to protect food supplies for the endangered sea lions.

According to the white paper, NMFS might develop a new BiOp depending on the outcome of the independent review.

The fishing industry, of course, sees lots of other potential culprits in the decline of Steller sea lions, such as voracious killer whales and environmental shifts.

Feds want fishery closures to save sea lions

The National Marine Fisheries Service today released its long-awaited draft biological opinion on the effects of commercial fishing on the endangered western population of Steller sea lions, concluding the fisheries are likely to jeopardize the continued existence of the animals and "adversely modify" their critical habitat.

OK, so what does that mean?

The agency is proposing a "reasonable and prudent alternative," or slate of changes in the harvest of groundfish such as Pacific cod and Atka mackerel.

The idea behind the RPA is to minimize "local competition" between fishing boats and the sea lions for food fish.

The proposed fishing changes appear to be confined to waters in the central and western Aleutian Islands, where the sea lion population decline is most problematic.

Here is the RPA, taken directly from the massive biological opinion:

This RPA requires changes in groundfish fishery management in Management Sub-areas 543, 542, and 541 in the Aleutian Islands Management Area.

RPA for Area 543
Pacific cod fishery
1. Close the directed fishery and prohibit retention of P. Cod in Area 543.
Atka mackerel fishery
1. Close the directed fishery and prohibit retention of Atka mackerel in Area 543.

RPA for Area 542
Groundfish fishery
1. Close waters from 0-3 nm around Kanaga Island/Ship Rock to directed fishing for groundfish by federally permitted vessels.
Pacific cod fishery
1. Close the 0-10 nm zone of critical habitat to directed P. cod fishing by federally permitted vessels using fixed gear year round. Close the 10-20 nm zone of critical habitat to directed fishing for P. cod by federally permitted vessels using fixed gear January 1 through June 10.
2. Close the 0-20 nm zone of critical habitat year-round to directed fishing for P. cod by federally permitted vessels using trawl gear.
3. Prohibit P. cod fishing November 1 through December 31 in Area 542.
Atka mackerel fishery
1. Close the 0-20 nm zone of critical habitat to directed fishing for Atka mackerel by federally permitted vessels year round.
2. Set Atka mackerel TAC for Area 542 to no more than 47% of ABC.
3. Eliminate the HLA platoon system for Atka mackerel harvest.
4. Change the Atka mackerel seasons to January 20 through June 10 for the A season and June 10-November 1 for the B season.

RPA for Area 541
Pacific cod fishery
1. Close the 0-10 nm zone of critical habitat to directed fishing for P. cod by federally permitted vessels year-round.
2. Close the 10-20 nm zone of critical habitat to directed fishing for P. cod using fixed gear by federally permitted vessels January 1 through June 10.
3. Close the 10-20 nm zone of critical habitat to directed fishing by for P. cod using trawl gear by federally permitted vessels June 10 through November 1.
4. Prohibit P. cod fishing November 1 through December 31 in Area 541.
Atka mackerel fishery
1. The available data do not indicate a need to further modify fishery management measures to conserve Atka mackerel forage availability within this fishery management area. However, the elimination of the platoon management system provides an opportunity to further disperse the Atka mackerel seasons to January 20 through June 10 for the A season and June 10 through November 1 for the B season.