Saving Seafood

Changes to Halibut Fishery in the Bering Sea Being Considered by North Pacific Council

June 16, 2017 — SEAFOOD NEWS — At their June meeting last week, the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council moved forward on a regulatory amendment to allow Western Alaska Community Development Quota (CDQ) groups to lease halibut IFQ during times of low abundance.

The issue has been before the council since December 2015; last week the 11-member panel selected a preferred alternative for further analysis.

Low relative abundance has been an issue throughout the range of Pacific halibut since 2010 or so when the phenomenon of lower size at age became widely discussed. That years-long event, marked by successive generations of halibut not reaching sizes they have in the past at advanced ages, appears to have leveled out in recent years.

Both Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) and CDQ are issued in units which are converted to pounds, so the problem of lower pounds to fish, in a region defined by few processing plants and vast distances between fishing ports where product is processed and the markets that buy it, continues to affect residents of the Pribilofs and the Aleutian Islands.

In 2015, the issue reached a critical point when the International Pacific Halibut Commission’s (IPHC) stock assessment and harvest policy justified some half a million pounds of halibut in an area where over a million was required to run the plants and allow the fleet to go fishing.

The IPHC’s method for setting annual catch limits uses an equation that removes from the total biomass mortalities that are estimated by each country the year before, for example subsistence removals and bycatch removals.

In the Bering Sea, removals of halibut bycatch in the pursuit of flatfish and P-cod, amounted to 4.6 million pounds, nearly 14 percent of all halibut caught by the directed fishery in both countries that year. Catch limits went down from there in 2016. Additionally, most of the bycatch was smaller than 32-inches, which is the legal limit for the directed fishery.

In June 2015 the Council recognized the need to reduce bycatch in the Bering Sea and set goals for each fishing sector. The Amendment 80 fleet, targeting flatfish that inhabit the same sea floor as halibut, exceeded their reduction targets in the following years.

Any savings in the over 26-inch portion of the groundfish fleets’ halibut bycatch translates the following year as increased catch limits to the directed halibut fleet in the Bering Sea. Any savings of under 26-inch fish is taken into account by the IPHC’s annual stock assessments and improves the overall abundance of the species in that area and other areas affected by out-migration and recruitment to the biomass.

The action taken by the Council to allow CDQ groups to lease IFQ is seen as a stop-gap measure only in times of severely low abundance and until the Council completes their work on shifting the managment of halibut bycatch from a set Prohibited Species Catch (PSC) to an Abundance Based Management (ABM) scheme.

That effort continues at the Council with a step-wise process to establish first, indices that answer the question “Abundance of what?”, for instance just in the Bering Sea, or also the Aleutians or Gulf of Alaska, and a starting point that answers the question “Where do we begin measuring the ratio of what we’re catching with what is out there?”

Analyses will be done this summer for the Council’s consideration and further action at the October meeting.

This story originally appeared on SeafoodNews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

Moving Tribute Marks Oliver’s Last Council Meeting

June 6, 2017 — SEAFOOD NEWS — Chris Oliver, executive director of the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council and soon to be head of the National Marine Fisheries Service, did not want a going away party and his staff assured him they would not throw one during his last fisheries council meeting.

But shortly after the agency “B” reports yesterday morning, members of the Council’s Advisory Panel, the Scientific and Statistical Committee, other agencies involved in Alaska’s fishing industry, and stakeholders all quietly gathered in the main meeting room to wish him well.

Deputy Director Dave Witherell started things off with a tongue-in-cheek video showing the young Oliver coming to Alaska from Texas and “of course, falling in love with Alaska.” Oliver is an accomplished hunter and fisherman, one of many talents highlighted in the humorous tribute.

Witherell turned serious at the end, though, and called Oliver an important role model, a “leader, mentor, and friend” — words that would be echoed by many during the event.

Then Captain Stephen White, Coast Guard member of the Council, stepped up to present Oliver with the Meritorious Public Service Award on behalf of the Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard.

As White pinned the award on Oliver’s lapel, the commendation was read aloud.

“….Mr. Oliver led the Council’s efforts in rationalizing the world’s most complex fisheries, significantly improving safety measures and practices amongst federal fishing fleets and preserving sustainability of fishery resources for future generations.

“…Mr. Oliver’s vigilance, leadership, and professionalism have been fundamental to the stewardship of Alaska’s fishery resources. His many contributions and dedication to public service are most heartily commended and are in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Coast Guard.” The commendation was signed by Rear Admiral Michael F McAllister, Commander of the 17th Coast Guard District.

Other members of the Council related poignant and humorous stories about Oliver and his 15 years as the executive director of the Council — longer than any other.

Council chairman Dan Hull described Oliver as a “great mentor, pragmatic, a man who gets straight to business, but he’s always open to alternative views and innovation.  He’s been a strong supporter of our partner agencies and user groups and communities.

“There is no one more experienced or knowledgeable,” Hull said, “or with a better character or attitude to lead NOAA Fisheries.

“The loss to this region is a huge gain for the nation, the agency and for the regional fisheries management council system across the country,” Hull said.

Oliver took the microphone after sustained applause and remarked “I wouldn’t have had this opportunity if it weren’t for this Council. And the support of an excellent staff. They make me look good.” A slight pause, then “They mostly make me look good.”

The audience, many of them on their feet, laughed lightly.

Then with an emotion-laden voice, Oliver said, “This has been the hardest career decision I’ve ever made. I will do you proud.”

This story originally appeared on SeafoodNews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission. 

ALASKA: As salmon defenders gather, more signs of a 2018 fish fight

June 8, 2017 — There are more signs that the hook has been set for Alaska’s biggest fisheries fight in a decade.

As members of the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council and the International Pacific Halibut Commission gather in Juneau this week, salmon-supporting groups have been holding meetings about a double-barreled proposal to significantly strengthen legal protections for rivers that contain salmon.

That proposal has major implications for the state’s construction and mining industries.

Speaking Wednesday in downtown Juneau, Emily Anderson of the Wild Salmon Center said the proposal — now in the Legislature and simultaneously being considered for a 2018 ballot measure — is intended to fix a law created at statehood.

“It’s a very old law. It’s actually a holdover from the territorial government. It was changed just a little bit, but it’s very, very simple,” she said.

The law is Alaska Statute 16.05.871, which says in clause (d) that the commissioner of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game should approve a project that disrupts a salmon stream “unless the commissioner finds the plans and specifications insufficient for the proper protection of fish and game.”

“The only standard there is the proper protection of fish and game. So what does that mean?” Anderson asked. “There’s nothing in statute, there’s nothing in regulation that actually defines what the proper protection of fish and game is. That’s a problem.”

Read the full story at the Juneau Empire

Groups Praise Oliver as likely NMFS assistant administrator

May 19, 2017 — Pacific Seafood, fishing organizations and other groups, praised the likely appointment of Chris Oliver, executive director of the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council, as the next assistant administrator for Fisheries at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the United States.

Oliver, who was championed for the position by major U.S. seafood processors and organizations, confirmed the appointment in an email to SeafoodSource, which was also sent to his staff members.

“I have been contacted by the Department of Commerce, offered the position, and have accepted the position, with a tentative start date of June 19,” Oliver wrote.

However, Oliver stressed that the appointment is not final yet, since it is still subject to the White House vetting and approval process.

“I, and Commerce, would have preferred to keep this information close hold until the full appointment process is indeed finalized; but, given the timing involved, and the necessary transitional aspects involved, I feel it is incumbent upon me to let everyone know the status of this,” he said.

Oliver has served as the executive director of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council for the past 16 years. Prior to serving as executive director, Oliver also worked as the deputy director of the council and as Gulf of Alaska Fishery Management Plan Coordinator.

Since January, Pacific Seafoods, American Seafoods Company, other processors, and several fishing groups, have pushed for Oliver’s appointment. Other candidates for the job included LaDon Swann with the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium and Robert Barham, who previously served as wildlife and fisheries secretary in Louisiana.

Read the full story at Seafood Source