Bering Sea pollock trawlers have used up their herring bycatch allowance, and now they're getting shut out of productive fishing grounds known as herring savings areas.
This will cause "significant disruption and economic harm to the pollock fishery," and could even lead to increased salmon bycatch, the trawlers say in this
emergency petition to the North Pacific Fishery Management Council.
As a solution, the trawlers propose doubling their herring bycatch allowance from 2,532 metric tons to 5,064 metric tons.
This idea is drawing plenty of opposition from people who say herring is a valuable forage fish best left in the water to help support the marine food chain.
The council is meeting Monday through Wednesday via webconference.