Wednesday December 18, 2024
KMXT —
Alaska’s Board of Fisheries considered four proposals that would have severely restricted or even shut down the pollock trawl fishery in Prince William Sound. Ultimately, though, only one was passed that didn’t go nearly that far. The amended version of Proposal 15, which was changed by Board member Tom Carpenter, was approved six to one. Proposals 14 and 16 had no action taken based on #15 passing, and proposal 17 failed with only one member in favor.
The measure stipulates that all salmon bycatch must be brought back to port and surrendered to the Alaska Department of Fish & Game, also referred to as mandatory retention. This would add on to the mandatory retention that is already required for rockfish and potentially address some of the salmon bycatch concerns in the trawl fishery.
The approved proposal also removes a requirement in the Prince William Sound Pollock Trawl Fishery Management Plan that currently closes a specific area of the fishery once harvest levels hit 60% of the total.