April 16, 2023 — The North Pacific Fishery Management Council again drew fire from critics for its inactions to stop salmon bycatch during its meetings in April, when it reviewed information presented by its Advisory Panel and from its newly-formed Salmon Bycatch Committee.
But in the end, it voted to continue using prohibited species caps based on historical bycatch numbers, until more detailed information becomes available.
The motion chagrined commercial and subsistence users living in villages dotting the Yukon and Kuskokwim Rivers and along the northern Bering Sea. They argue that the historical caps don’t reflect present populations, which have declined to the point that they no longer have their salmon fisheries
SalmonState, a non-profit organization dedicated to reducing bycatch, delivered some 700 written comments to the council, most of them urging the 11-member panel to put a more restrictive cap on the incidental take of salmon. Other concerns include the incidental take of crab and other species in the mix that comes up mostly during the B season when pollock trawlers tow in the eastern Bering Sea.