The Marine Conservation Alliance (MCA), a coalition of harvesters, processors and communities involved in the Alaska groundfish and crab fisheries, renewed its support today for scientifically set catch limits, even though it means a reduction in the Bering Sea pollock catch limit for the upcoming year.
The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) is set to adopt Acceptable Biological Catch (ABC) and Total Allowable Catch (TAC) levels for 2010 for Bering Sea pollock slightly below levels set for 2009. The Council action continues the NPFMC’s long tradition of following the advice of its science advisors.
On Monday, the Council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) recommended an ABC of 813,000 metric tons, down from 815,000 in 2009.
“This was not unexpected. The responsible course of action is to follow our scientists’ recommendation to reduce harvests in accordance with the model and the precautionary factors built into the model,” said MCA executive director David Benton. “This has been the way we’ve done business in Alaska for over 30 years with the result that there are no overfished stocks.”
In November, the Council’s Bering Sea Aleutian Islands Plan Team scientists reviewed the status of Bering Sea pollock. They recommended an Acceptable Biological Catch of 813,000 metric tons of pollock in 2010, slightly down from 2009’s levels.
After reviewing the data, the SSC unanimously supported the recommendation of 813,000 mt for 2010.
“We’ve known this downturn was coming because a large age class of fish that dominated the population was getting older.” Benton said. “It’s a bit of a disappointment, because last year the scientists were projecting that pollock might increase in 2010. We just have to stay the course, stick to the science, and ensure long term conservation of the stock.”
Bering Sea pollock is one of the world’s largest fisheries and accounts for a third of all fish harvested in the U.S. Such fluctuations in the catch are not unusual. Pollock catch limits were held below 1 million tons from 1977 to 1983. More recently, the catch limit dropped to 980,000 tons in 1999 after which the stocks rebounded and produced record catches of almost 1.5 million tons from 2002 to 2006.
Based in Juneau, the Marine Conservation Alliance is a coalition of seafood processors, fishermen, coastal communities and support industries involved in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska groundfish and crab fisheries. The MCA promotes science-based conservation measures to ensure sustainable fisheries in Alaska. For more information, visit www.marineconservationalliance.org.