Legislature(2017 - 2018)GRUENBERG 120
03/09/2017 10:00 AM House FISHERIES
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| Audio | Topic |
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| Start | |
| Presentation: "bycatch" | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
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ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
HOUSE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON FISHERIES
March 9, 2017
10:02 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Louise Stutes, Chair
Representative Zach Fansler
Representative Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins
Representative Geran Tarr
Representative Mike Chenault
Representative David Eastman
Representative Mark Neuman
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
PRESENTATION: "BYCATCH"
- HEARD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record
WITNESS REGISTER
GLENN MERRILL, Assistant Regional Administrator
National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Participated in the comprehensive overview
on bycatch.
CHRIS OLIVER, Executive Director
North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC)
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Participated in the comprehensive overview
on bycatch.
SAM COTTEN, Commissioner
Alaska Department of Fish & Game (ADF&G)
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Participated in the comprehensive overview
on bycatch.
TRENT HARTILL, Federal Fisheries Coordinator
Alaska Department of Fish & Game (ADF&G)
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Participated in the comprehensive overview
on bycatch.
CHRIS WOODLEY, Executive Director
Groundfish Forum, Inc.
Seattle, Washington
POSITION STATEMENT: Participated in the comprehensive overview
on bycatch.
BRENT PAINE, Executive Director
United Catcher Boats Association
Seattle, Washington
POSITION STATEMENT: Participated in the comprehensive overview
on bycatch.
STEPHANIE MADSEN, Executive Director
At-Sea Processors Association (APA)
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Participated in the comprehensive overview
on bycatch.
JULIE BONNEY, Vice-President
Alaska Groundfish Data Bank
Kodiak Chamber of Commerce
Kodiak, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Participated in the comprehensive overview
on bycatch.
LINDA BEHNKEN, Executive Director
Alaska Longline Fishermen's Association (ALFA)
Sitka, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Participated in the comprehensive overview
on bycatch.
ACTION NARRATIVE
10:02:15 AM
CHAIR LOUISE STUTES called the House Special Committee on
Fisheries meeting to order at 10:02 a.m. Representatives
Stutes, Neuman, Eastman, and Fansler were present at the call to
order. Representatives Tarr, Chenault and Kreiss-Tomkins
arrived as the meeting was in progress.
10:03:00 AM
^PRESENTATION: "Bycatch"
PRESENTATION: "BYCATCH"
CHAIR STUTES announced that the only order of business would be
a comprehensive presentation from state and federal agencies, as
well as related private industry, on the topic of "bycatch."
10:04:05 AM
GLENN MERRILL, Assistant Regional Administrator, National Marine
Fisheries Service (NMFS), described and defined bycatch as held
in the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act
(MSA), 1976, quoting, "... fish which are harvested in a
fishery, but are not sold or kept for personal use, or includes
economic discards and regulatory discards ...". Bycatch is a
standard occurrence in all fisheries, both sport and commercial,
regardless of gear type, area fished, or time of harvest, but
the amount and type of bycatch varies. The economic discard
bycatch is made up of fish which are of poor quality, don't
represent a marketable species, or for other reasons, and is a
representatively small category. The majority of discard
bycatch are regulatory discards meaning they are caught on a
gear type that is not allowed for the species, are taken out of
season, do not meet size requirements, or due to other state or
federal regulations. He explained that two management
considerations are applied to bycatch situations: the benefits
and costs to fishermen, and the impacts on fish stocks.
Reducing bycatch can increase the harvest for some fishermen as
well as reduce stock impacts; however, it generally represents a
trade off because reducing the bycatch of a comingled species
often causes a reduced harvest of the target fishery. Also, the
cost of reducing bycatch in one fishery may not be offset by the
ability to substantially improve a stock. The MSA requires the
minimization of bycatch and bycatch mortality. Thus, anytime a
federal action is adopted, ten required considerations are
applied, four of which, as stated in the act, establish measures
for: minimizing bycatch and bycatch mortality to the extent
practicable; achieving the optimum yield from each fishery; fair
and equitable allocation; and sustained participation of
communities.
10:08:02 AM
MR. MERRILL said the main types of bycatch that occur in
Alaska's federal fisheries are groundfish bycatch, which is
basically the catch of anything except halibut, salmon, herring,
and shellfish; halibut bycatch; and salmon bycatch, particularly
Chinook salmon. He referred to the committee handout, titled,
"NOAA Fisheries Alaska Region, Alaska State Legislature House
Fisheries Committee Presentation: Bycatch, March 9, 2016," the
page labeled, "2016 Groundfish Catch by Gear in Federal
Fisheries Off Alaska," and the bar graphs indicating metric ton
levels of groundfish by gear type to illustrate the bycatch in
relation to the retained catch. He pointed out that, of the
roughly two million metric tons taken by the trawl fisheries, 98
percent of the catch is retained. Discards include pollock, and
arrowtooth flounder, as well as non-marketable species such as
skates, sculpins, and some species of rockfish. The hook-and-
line gear fishery harvested about 150,000 metric tons and
retained 81 percent of the catch. The discards in this gear
type include Pacific cod, and sablefish. The pot gear fishery
harvested about 50,000 metric tons, and retained 96 percent of
the catch. The overall percentage of bycatch represents a
minimal proportion of the catch discarded on an annual basis, he
said. He reviewed the subsequent page of the handout labeled,
"2003-2016 Halibut Bycatch Of Alaska," which provided a line
chart of the metric tons of halibut taken in the Bering Sea
Aleutian Island (BSAI) and Gulf of Alaska (GOA) trawl and hook-
and-line fisheries, as well as a line charting the halibut
bycatch for the time period graphed. The indications are that
halibut bycatch is at an all-time low, slightly less than 4,000
metric tons, which, he said, can be attributed to a number of
management actions that have been implemented by NMFS and the
North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC), as well as
industry initiatives. On the continuing page of the handout, he
reviewed a pie chart, labeled, "2016 Halibut Bycatch as a
Percentage of All Halibut Catch," illustrating the federal
allotment of the halibut catch by category percentages: bycatch
17, commercial landings 60, recreational 17, personal use and
subsistence 3, and waste in commercial landings 3.
MR. MERRILL said the genetic composition of Chinook salmon
bycatch is of particular interest, and an annual review focuses
on identifying the origins of the stock. He directed attention
to a map in the handout labeled, "Chinook Salmon Genetic
Composition Areas," illustrating the specific locales used to
define the origins of each of the genetically unique Chinook
salmon stocks taken as bycatch in the Alaskan fisheries. The
line graph and pie chart on the subsequent page, labeled, "2003-
2016 Gulf of Alaska Chinook Salmon Bycatch," provided a line
graph to illustrate the number of Chinook bycatch that occurred
in the GOA. The last few years have seen reductions in the
bycatch levels, which he attributed to management practices and
fleet efforts. The pie chart, on the same page, provided
percentages of genetic composition estimates from the 2014
pollock fishery for Chinook salmon bycatch taken in the GOA
pollock fishery, and reported that approximately 6 percent of
the bycatch have been determined as bound for other areas,
outside of the gulf. Roughly 5 percent are from fish
originating in the Kodiak and Cook Inlet Rivers. Nearly 80
percent of the bycatch represent stocks out of British Columbia,
the Lower 48, or Southeast Alaska.
10:14:31 AM
MR. MERRILL said the story of Chinook in the Bering Sea is
significantly different, and turned to the handout page labeled,
"2003-1016 Bering Sea Chinook Salmon Bycatch," to review a line
graph and pie chart reflecting the findings for the origins of
salmon taken in the Bering Sea. He pointed out that about 44
percent of all Chinook salmon caught are bound for the river
systems of coastal, Western Alaska and the Yukon River. The
proportion of the bycatch associated with the pollock fishery
shows that less than 3 percent of Chinook and 1 percent of chum
salmon are returning to the watersheds of Western Alaska and the
Yukon River. He said controls are placed on halibut and salmon
bycatch using regulatory and non-regulatory measures. The
regulatory measures include the following: use of bycatch caps
to close or modify the fisheries; closure of areas based on
migration patterns; specific gear limitations for some
fisheries; catch share management practices to allocate quota to
individual fishermen and eliminate the need for fleet members to
"race for fish," which encourages information sharing and better
fishing practices; Bering Sea bycatch caps linked to Western
Alaska returns to provide management flexibility based on stock
abundance; issuance of experimental fishing permits to allow
deck sorting of catch to get the halibut back into the sea
quickly, within 20-30 minutes, which reduces mortality; and
constant communication with the fleet to aide vessels in
avoiding bycatch hot spots and unify the fishing effort. The
industry is also involved in an effort, through voluntary
cooperatives, to avoid reaching bycatch caps and having a
fishery shut down. Voluntary measures practiced by the fleet
include use of special gear with excluder devices, as well as
standing down when bycatch species are in high abundance.
10:19:33 AM
MR. MERRILL discussed measures being considered to continue
lowering bycatch numbers, which include: linking halibut
bycatch caps to abundance reports; regulating deck sorting of
halibut in all waters off of Alaska; improving fleet
communications regarding bycatch hot spots; encouraging
additional industry efforts for voluntary cooperatives and stand
down practices; facilitating catch-share programs supported by
the NPFMC; and constantly evaluating the performance. The
annual reports provide a constant flow of information in order
to affect improvements. He directed attention to the final page
of the handout to invite the members and the public to visit the
listed websites.
The committee took an at-ease from 10:21 a.m. to 10:22 a.m.
10:22:53 AM
CHRIS OLIVER, Executive Director, North Pacific Fishery
Management Council (NPFMC), said the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act (MSA), 1976, is the over-arching
law for managing fisheries in federal waters by establishing the
200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone, and the system of
regional councils comprised of fishermen and government agency
representatives to develop fishery regulations for their
specific areas, as subject to approval and implementation by the
federal government, such as the National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS). He highlighted two of the MSA national
standards for use in the bycatch context being discussed: 1)
prevent overfishing while achieving optimum yield from the
fishery, and 2) minimize bycatch and bycatch mortality. Meeting
these two standards requires a delicate balancing act, he said,
and creates a constant tension for achievement in both trawl and
hook-and-line fleets.
10:24:58 AM
MR. OLIVER explained the structure, function, and process under
which the NPFMC operates. It seats 11 voting members, six of
whom are from Alaska, notably the commissioner of the Alaska
Department of Fish & Game (ADF&G). He said the council meets 5-
6 times per year, concurrent with its advisory groups, which
include an industry advisory panel, a scientific and statistical
committee, and numerous other committees which provide advice on
issues, not unlike the Board of Fisheries. He directed
attention to the committee packet handout titled, "The North
Pacific Council and Recent Measures to Minimize Halibut and
Salmon Bycatch, A presentation for the Alaska House Fisheries
Committee," the page labeled "Council membership," and pointed
out the make-up of the current membership. Reviewing who
manages the fisheries of Alaska, he said salmon are under state
purview, crab is a collaboration of federal and state oversight,
groundfish are under federal purview, and halibut are governed
under an international treaty between the U.S. and Canada.
10:26:28 AM
MR. OLIVER stressed the critical elements of the ecosystem based
approach to fisheries in the North Pacific, which is
conservative and imposes strict target catch and bycatch limits.
An important component of managing the effort is the
comprehensive observer program. In 2015, the Bering Sea and
Aleutian Islands (BSAI) and the Gulf of Alaska (GOA)
groundfish/halibut fisheries implemented a mandatory full
coverage observer program, at a cost to industry of $15 million.
Certain vessels are allowed to operate under partial coverage.
Electronic monitoring is being implemented as an alternative on
some longline and pot catcher vessels. He explained that
bycatch controls impose caps on prohibited species, which are a
fundamental key to the management process. The council also
encourages industry efforts to reduce bycatch through gear
modifications, communications, and fleet agreements.
10:28:39 AM
MR. OLIVER spoke specifically to the BSAI salmon bycatch and
said the Bering Sea pollock fishery is under a 60,000 Chinook
salmon limit, with an incentive plan, implemented in 2011, to
remain below 47,591. Modifications were made in April 2015,
which included imposing more stringent incentive plan
requirements to include salmon excluder devices, and lowering
bycatch caps in years of low Chinook abundance. He said these
changes were coupled with the previous BSAI provisions that
included 100 percent observer coverage, complete census of all
salmon species by observers, increased genetic sampling for
stock of origin in both the BSAI and GOA fisheries, annual
reports to the council on genetic stock of origin results from
the fisheries, and annual reports on effectiveness of the
incentive programs, to include a third party audit. The GOA
pollock fishery imposes a 25,000 Chinook salmon bycatch limit,
which is apportioned between the central and western regulatory
areas. Additionally, a separate 7,500 Chinook salmon bycatch
limit is imposed on the non-pollock fisheries in the GOA.
10:30:40 AM
MR. OLIVER said the council took action in June, 2012, to reduce
the existing halibut prohibited species catch (PSC) mortality
limits in the gulf, which saw the trawl and catcher vessel (CV)
longline sector limits decrease by 15 percent over the course of
three years, 2014-2016, and the catcher processor (CP) longline
sector decrease by 7 percent in one year. The current limits
are now at 266 metric tons for hook and line and 1,706 metric
tons for trawl gear, apportioned seasonally, among deep-water
and shallow-water species, he said.
10:32:07 AM
MR. OLIVER explained that the BSAI halibut bycatch measures were
significantly addressed in June, 2015, when the council reduced
the PSC limits for all the groundfish sectors, across the board,
by 21 percent. The message was clear that the council has long
held bycatch caps, and the effort now is to significantly reduce
the bycatch levels. The industry groups have managed to
implement measures to meet the new standard, he reported.
Additional steps related to the Bering Sea halibut include:
establishment of an over-arching framework to improve
coordination between the International Pacific Halibut
Commission (IPHC) with the council; exploration of abundance-
based halibut PSC limits in the BSAI; annual reports from the
trawl flatfish fishery on fleet requirements to achieve reduced
halibut bycatch; improved methodology for assessing halibut
bycatch discard mortality rates (DMRs) in the groundfish
fisheries; and deck sorting of trawl caught halibut to reduce
bycatch mortality. Finishing, he directed attention to the
penultimate page of the handout, labeled, "PSC Bycatch Limits,"
to provide a summary of the bycatch cap limits broken down by
species and distribution between gear types.
The committee took a brief at-ease at 10:34 a.m.
10:35:12 AM
SAM COTTEN, Commissioner, Alaska Department of Fish & Game
(ADF&G), expressed appreciation for the comprehensive overview
being presented and offered the following clarifications and
comments: The definition of bycatch should be clearly
differentiated from incidental-catch, which is legal, although
subject to limitations; the terms are often incorrectly
interchanged. Six of the eleven voting members on the council
represent the U.S., although the goals for balanced fisheries
are a shared concern. Many areas of Alaska are dependent on the
groundfish harvests, although a high percentage is taken by
fishermen who identify as "other than" Alaskan resident. The
proportion of Chinook salmon in the Gulf of Alaska (GOA) that
originate in Alaskan watersheds is about 20 percent. The catch
of fish from Southeast Alaska (SE) have generally originated in
hatcheries. The bycatch Chinook salmon taken in the Bering Sea
is only 5 percent of the overall harvest, but 50 percent of
those are Alaska bound fish. He recalled that Chinook salmon
bycatch limits were not imposed in the gulf or the Bering Sea,
until a spike occurred in the early 2000's, which resulted in
about 120,000 Chinook salmon being taken in one season. Data
and statistics abound showing that only about 3 percent of the
salmon bycatch represent fish bound for the rivers of Western
Alaska, although 50 percent of the salmon bycatch are Alaska
bound fish.
10:40:00 AM
TRENT HARTILL, Federal Fisheries Coordinator, said two types of
fisheries occur in state waters. The first are the guideline
harvest fisheries (GHL), which are regulated under the purview
of ADF&G through the Alaska Board of Fisheries regulatory
process, and have the following characteristics: typically no
salmon or halibut bycatch limits are imposed, with the exception
of Prince William Sound pollock fishery; the state does not
administer a groundfish observer program to track bycatch; GHL
fisheries are small in scale and effort; the state prohibits
non-pelagic trawling in most state waters, which serves to
alleviate the incidents of bycatch; and the state has limited
longline and trawl GHL fisheries. The second type are the
parallel fisheries, which have the following characteristics:
regulated and operated under federal purview but occur in state
waters; salmon and halibut bycatch taken in state waters accrue
to the overall federal bycatch limits; all participating vessels
are subject to federal observer program requirements; and the
state has jurisdiction to modify the regulations, but the
management structure is established by the North Pacific Fishery
Management Council (NPFMC) and implemented by the National
Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). The department recently
proposed an element that was adopted by the council, which
allows flexibility to the state for mitigation of Chinook salmon
bycatch limits.
10:44:08 AM
MR. HARTILL directed attention to the committee handout, titled,
"Salmon and Halibut Bycatch in State Managed Fisheries, House
Fisheries Special Committee, March 9, 2017," and the page
labeled, "Guideline Harvest Level and Sablefish Quota
Fisheries," to point out the Alaska map showing the fishery
areas, gear types fished, and the allowed limits. The areas are
designated as Southeast (SE), Prince William Sound (PWS), and
Cook Inlet. In the SE, the longline effort prosecutes the
demersal shelf rockfish (DSR), Pacific cod, and sablefish. The
catch allowance is comparatively low to federal fisheries and
trawl gear is prohibited. Although there are no bycatch limits
in SE, many of the members of the fleet hold an individual fish
quota (IFQ) for halibut, which serves as a mitigating factor for
many of the halibut caught. Trawl gear is prohibited. In PWS,
openings for longline allow the taking of sablefish, and Pacific
cod, and also impose no halibut bycatch limits due to the
prevalence of IFQ's. The trawl fleet is allowed to take 9.4
million pounds of pollock and a limit of 3,773 pounds of salmon
bycatch has been set for the 2017 season. The Cook Inlet area
hosts one longline fishery that harvests about 50,000 pounds,
has no halibut bycatch limit, with nearly 100 percent of the
participants holding an IFQ, and non-pelagic trawl gear is
prohibited.
MR. HARTILL referred to the final page of the handout labeled,
"State Managed Parallel Fisheries," to point out the Alaska map
of the parallel fishery areas and indicating the gear types used
and limits allowed. Parallel fisheries are conducted in four
areas: Kodiak, Bering Sea Aleutian Islands (BSAI), South Alaska
Peninsula, and Chignik. The Kodiak area hosts two fisheries:
longline for Pacific cod, and a trawl effort for pollock using
non-pelagic gear. The BSAI area also hosts two fisheries:
longline for Pacific cod, and trawl for pollock, Pacific cod,
and Atka mackerel. Non-pelagic trawl gear is allowed in limited
state waters for specific areas of this fishery. The South
Alaska Peninsula area fishery directly reflects that of the
BSAI, save the presence of Atka mackerel. The Chignik area
hosts a longline fishery for Pacific cod, and a trawl fishery
for pollock. The non-pelagic trawl gear is prohibited in the
Chignik fishery.
10:49:14 AM
COMMISSIONER COTTEN added that non-pelagic trawl fisheries
typically prosecute cod, yellow fin sole, or arrowtooth
flounder, using a net that comes in contact with the sea floor.
The pelagic gear is used in the mid-waters for catching pollock.
The committee took a brief at-ease at 10:49 a.m.
10:49:45 AM
CHRIS WOODLEY, Executive Director, Groundfish Forum, Inc.,
provided an overview of the Amendment 80 Sector, paraphrasing
from a prepared statement, which read as follows [original
punctuation provided with some modifications, relating to the
committee handout titled, "Amendment 80 Fisheries & Halibut
Bycatch Management"]:
Thank you for the opportunity to discuss how our fleet
creates economic activity in Alaska, and how our fleet
has been addressing the issue of halibut bycatch in
the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands.
Slide 2: Groundfish Forum is a trade association
representing five companies who operate 19 trawl-
catcher processor vessels.
This fleet of US flagged vessels catch, process and
freeze various flatfish, Atka mackerel, Pacific Ocean
perch, and Pacific cod in the federally managed
fisheries of the Bering Sea, Aleutian Islands and Gulf
of Alaska.
For the rest of this presentation I will be referring
to this fleet by its industry name: "The Amendment 80
Sector"
The A80 Sector meets the highest sustainability
standards in the world and boasts sustainability
labeling from the Marine Stewardship Council as well
as the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institutes RFM
certifications.
Slide 3: In conducting these fisheries, the A80
Sector makes over 550 port calls a year to Alaskan
communities where we deliver processed catch for
further transportation to international and domestic
markets. In the most recently available statistics
from the 2015 NOAA fisheries economic safe reports,
the A80 Sector spent nearly $60 million in Alaska in
2015. More specifically the A80 Sector:
Purchased $38 million in fuel & $2.2 million in
provisions
Conducted $4.5 million in maintenance and repair work
in Alaskan shipyards.
Paid over $3 million in fishery landing taxes.
These offload activities in Alaskan ports generate
another round of economic activity, indirectly or
inducing 2,900 maritime support sector jobs in Alaska.
These are year round family wage jobs that include
longshore and stevedoring work, cold storage,
warehousing, transportation, freight and shipping.
Slide 4: A80 fisheries are among the best managed in
the world. All catch is weighed on computerized flow
scales. Each vessel carries a minimum of 2 federal
fishery observers, 100% of the time. Observers sample
each haul to determine species composition of both
target and bycatch species. Raw catch records, catch
production records, and bycatch records are reported
daily to national marine fisheries service and are
separately tracked by a private data management
company which allows our fleet to react and respond to
real time on the grounds information.
Slide 5: It is because of this extraordinary level of
management, monitoring and oversight, that we have
exceptional catch and bycatch accountability. As
such, we can state with full confidence and accuracy
both our target catch and bycatch numbers.
So despite the fact that halibut live and co-mingle
with our target catch, halibut bycatch accounts for
less than one half of 1% of our total catch.
While halibut is a small fraction of our overall
catch, the management of halibut bycatch is as
important, if not more important, than the management
of our target species.
Slide 6: So what is the state of halibut bycatch? Is
it going up? Is it going down?
In an overall assessment provided by the International
Pacific Halibut Commission in January of 2017, halibut
bycatch was reported to be at its lowest level since
the full Americanization of the federal groundfish
fisheries in the late 1980's.
Halibut bycatch has been declining most significantly
in the Bering Sea and Aleutian island fisheries -
where the Amendment 80 fleet has played a critical
part in this reduction.
Slide 7: A80 companies, captains and crew work
extremely hard to reduce halibut. I'd like to draw
your attention to three key components of this
reduction:
Our ability to successfully manage halibut bycatch has
been largely due to a cooperative fishery management
structure created by the 2008 rationalization of our
fishery - known as the "Amendment 80 Program" (A80)
Prior to the A80 Program, vessels within our fleet
were given a common quota (or target and prohibited
species catch) and each vessel would race to harvest
as much fish as quickly as possible. As a result of
this race, our fisheries were routinely shutdown due
to our fleet exceeding our common halibut bycatch
pool.
Today, catch and bycatch are allocated down to the
specific vessel level. Because vessels are no longer
in a race, our captains can slow down, behave
cooperatively, share information and avoid halibut by
moving on.
Slide 8: The second major component of our success
has been the ability to modify our fishing gear.
Gear experimentation has allowed us to reduce gear
contact with the bottom by 90% and to develop halibut
excluders that allow halibut to swim free from our
nets.
One note: when you use a halibut excluder you can
also lose up to 30% of your target catch. As such it
can be an effective tool, but only under the right
conditions on the fishing grounds.
Slide 9: Step one was to avoid halibut from getting
into the net. Step two was to modify the gear to
minimize halibut that weren't avoided.
So what happens when halibut still get caught in our
nets?
Halibut is a prohibited species catch, which means
when it is brought aboard, we are required to discard
it as soon as possible after a NMFS observers can
measure and sex the fish.
Before 2015, A80 vessels were required to dump our
nets directly into "live tanks" where all catch and
bycatch would remain until they were removed from the
tanks to begin sorting, processing or discarding.
Because of the timeframe involved, halibut could be on
board for hours before they were discarded - mostly
dead. Under this system, NMFS estimated that 85% of
halibut brought aboard our vessels was discarded as
dead.
Slide 10: In 2015, the A80 Sector resurrected an
experiment bycatch handling process which allows the
sorting, measuring, sexing and discarding of halibut
to occur from the decks of our boats (instead of from
the factory). This activity occurs within the first
20 minutes of the nets being brought aboard when the
halibut are still very lively.
This permitted program, known as deck sorting,
requires an additional 1 - 2 fishery observers, as
well as additional electronic monitoring and reporting
requirements.
Since 2015 we have expanded the number of A80 vessels
participating in the program as well as the fisheries
we are using deck sorting in. In 2017 we anticipate
further participation in deck-sorting and further use
of the program in all our fisheries (weather and other
factors permitting).
Slide 11: Results: We have had solid success with
the deck sorting program. In pursuing this program we
have found that we can, on average, deck sort 85% of
the halibut that comes on board and that the mortality
rate for deck-sorted fish can be reduced down to 45%
(instead of 85%).
We continue to modify aspects of the program to allow
for the maximum adaptation and utilization by our
fleet, but we anticipate that deck sorting won't
become a regulatory measure for at least another year
or two.
Closing: The A80 fleet has been extremely responsive
to the NPFMC's halibut bycatch reduction measures.
Most of these bycatch reductions measures were
intended to ensure that additional halibut would be
available for commercial harvest by halibut fishermen
from coastal communities (notably St. Paul) along the
Bering Sea coast.
NMFS reported in December 2016 the A80 Sector had
reduced our halibut bycatch by over 35% from the most
recent five-year average.
We are proud of these results and continue to work
closely with Bering Sea halibut fishermen and the
council to minimize our bycatch to the extent
practicable. However, it is critical to understand
that avoiding halibut, using halibut excluders, and
deck sorting halibut each come with significant
impacts to our fleet's operations and costs.
Increases in fuel consumption, increases in observer
and monitoring costs, lost fishing time, reductions in
factory efficiency brought about by deck sorting, and
additional management costs are just a few notable
examples of how reducing halibut bycatch has
operational impacts to the A80 fleet.
The committee took a brief at-ease at 11:03 a.m.
11:03:42 AM
BRENT PAINE, Executive Director, United Catcher Boats
Association, directed attention to the committee handout titled,
"Rational Bycatch Management-Using Bycatch Reduction Agreements
to Minimize Salmon Bycatch in the Bering Sea Catcher Vessel
Trawl Pollock Fishery, March 9, 2017," page 2, to illustrate the
location of the pollock fishery with color gradations to
indicate the metric tons harvested during the 2016 "A", or
winter, season of the Bering Sea pollock fishery. He said the
Bering Sea catcher vessel (CV) pollock fishery is governed under
the American Fisheries Act (AFA), 1998, which rationalized the
pollock fishery. The fleet consists of 91 shore-based CVs,
which deliver pollock to six shore based cooperatives located in
the communities of Dutch Harbor, Akutan, Beaver Inlet, Sand
Point, and King Cove. The fleet also has 19 mothership-based
CVs, which deliver to three at-sea processors.
11:06:07 AM
MR. PAINE said that, in the pollock fishery, salmon are a
prohibited species catch (PSC), which today applies to both
Chinook and chum salmon. Between 1995 and 2010, Chinook bycatch
regulations were based on a trigger closure that caused the
fleet to reposition. However, beginning in 2011, a hard cap was
allocated between the sectors, as adopted by the North Pacific
Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) and implemented by National
Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS); Amendment 91. The chum salmon
were managed under a combination of time and area closures and
triggered closures. Beginning in 2017, the council adopted
Amendment 110, and the chum Chinook salmon bycatch are now
managed together.
11:07:13 AM
MR. PAINE explained that the rationalized fishery structure is
key for the pollock fishery to operate cooperatively for salmon
bycatch reduction. Each cooperative has an inter-cooperative
agreement (ICA), which is a written agreement, across all
sectors, governing the pollock fishery participants. Within
each ICA, rolling hot spot (RHS) agreements exist. The RHS
agreements were first effected in the early 2000's. He directed
attention to the handout page 7, labeled, "Rolling Hot Spot
Closures, High bycatch areas identified by Sea State," with a
sector map showing gradation color markers to indicate how RHS
areas are tracked. Every week a data company, Sea State,
provides the fleet with comprehensive updates. Areas showing
high rates of bycatch are closed, as per the ICA. Vessels that
have demonstrated low rates of bycatch may continue to fish,
having proven that they are able to minimize bycatch. He said
another tool that is used are fixed area closures. Certain
areas can be predicted to have high rates of bycatch, and the
fixed area closure is imposed, proactively, based on the
multiple years of bycatch data. He directed attention to the
handout, page 9, labeled, "Chinook Conservation Area - Fixed
Closure ICA," and the map illustrating a fixed closure sector.
11:09:31 AM
MR. PAINE said another key to bycatch reduction is the 100
percent at-sea observer and shore-side, offloading monitoring
requirement. The high level of coverage means the salmon counts
provided to the data base are actual census numbers versus
estimates. The CV and catcher processor owners pay a monthly
fee to contract the observer coverage. Further, the CVs are
required to release electronic data to Sea State for
compilation, which includes the catch data gathered by the NMFS
observer and the ADF&G fish tickets. Also provided to Sea State
is the data from the vessel monitoring system (VMS), which is
required by participants and provides a constant location link
to know where a boat is fishing.
11:10:25 AM
MR. PAINE explained the effect of Amendment 91, which
incentivizes the cooperatives to avoid Chinook salmon bycatch by
utilizing the approach of offering a carrot versus using a
stick. Thus, the hard cap was established and the concept of
offering IPAs was implemented. The hard cap percentage share is
60,000 Chinook salmon, and the incentives are geared to keep the
number under 47,591. The incentives to minimize Chinook salmon
catch and penalties for catching, are realized at the individual
vessel level. He pointed out that the crucial point has been to
incentivize vessels to avoid Chinook salmon bycatch at all
levels of abundance in all years. Under a straight hard cap
approach, the vessels will fish to the allowed limit, but the
IPAs promote the practice of avoidance altogether, which results
in minimal take of all non-target species. The incentives must
influence fishing decisions at levels below the hard cap, he
stressed, in order to hold bycatch to a performance standard of
47,591.
11:12:36 AM
MR. PAINE described the Salmon Savings Incentive Plan (SSIP)
inshore sector, which the fleet submits annually to the NPFMC,
as a plan for managing its Chinook salmon allotment. Each
vessel receives a base cap allocation (BCA) representing its
share of the 47,591 performance standard to be met. A vessel's
BCA is made pro rata to its pollock allocation. Thus individual
vessels may receive a catch allowance as high as 2,000 while
others have a limit of 70. The BCA is the target that the
vessel will strive to stay below. The primary incentive is that
a vessel receives a salmon savings credit (SSC) for use in
future years for annual bycatch levels that fall below its BCA.
He explained that the SSCs serve to bridge the gap between the
performance standard and the hard cap at the individual vessel
level. The SSCs are the primary incentive of the program, and
are earned at the rate of one credit for every three salmon
avoided below a vessel's BCA. Although the credits are for use
in future years, they can only be banked for three years, after
which they expire.
11:15:36 AM
MR. PAINE summarized that the SSIP guarantees that no more than
21,750 Chinook salmon will be caught in any year. To administer
the SSIP, a secure web-accessible database is required in order
for up-to-date information to be available to all of the co-op
participants. He directed attention to committee handout, page
29, labeled, "Salmon Excluder," and the illustration of the
required device in use on all vessels. Continuing to page 30,
labeled, "Results of the Pollock CV Efforts to Minimize Chinook
Salmon Bycatch, From NMFS Dec. 2016," containing a bar graph and
inset summary, he pointed out that the AFA Inshore cooperative
had a total 2016 Chinook salmon catch limit of 33,390, but took
only 30 percent of that number, or 10,026. The total bycatch
for all entities was 37 percent lower than the overall
allocation: 60,000 allowed, 21,920 taken. He said this is an
indication of how well the program is working. Finally, turning
to page 31, labeled, "BSAI Trawl Chinook Salmon Incidental
Catch," he reviewed the history of the bycatch numbers from
2005-2016, to stress the recent trend of lower bycatch rates.
The committee took a brief at-ease at 11:17 a.m.
11:17:53 AM
STEPHANIE MADSEN, Executive Director, At-Sea Processors
Association (APA), said APA is a fleet of large, catcher
processor (CP) vessels that catch fish and process the catch on-
board. The fleet operates exclusively in federal fisheries and
is not involved in the parallel fisheries that occur in Alaskan
waters. The Pollock Conservation Cooperative structure allows
rational management of the target species as well as the
bycatch. The fleet is partnered and owned by several of the
community development quota (CDQ) groups, including: Norton
Sound, Coastal Villages, and the Central Bering Sea Fisherman's
Association.
11:20:02 AM
MS. MADSEN explained that pollock, a cousin to cod, provides a
flaky, white, mild flavored meat. The Alaska pollock is the
largest fishery in the U.S., and the largest certified
sustainable fishery in the world. The fishery is certified by
the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI) program and the
Marine Stewardship Council (MSC). She said the vessels operate
under the federal requirement for two, onboard observers, as
well as with flow scales, and on-board cameras. The fleet was
formed under the American Fisheries Act (AFA), 1998, which
directed the formation and structure of the cooperatives. The
AFA maintains an informational database for compiling reports on
the fisheries, which are available to any interested party. The
information provides a high level of transparency for the fleets
operational practices and accountability.
11:21:40 AM
MS. MADSEN said the bycatch rulings that govern the fleet are
Amendment 91, implemented in 2011, and Amendment 110,
implemented in 2017. The regulatory section closures were
recognized as not being particularly effective in avoiding
bycatch species, thus the North Pacific Fishery Management
Council (NPFMC) invoked a program that provided the industry
with particular objectives; however, it was left in the hands of
the association to design an effective approach, and adopt
management practices for the fleet, to attain the goals. The
fleet strives to be good performers and remain in operation
throughout the season. Hard caps do exist, she said, providing
a low abundance limit, performance standard limit, and an
absolute limit. However, these act as backdrops that aren't
expected to be reached, especially the absolute limit of 17,040,
which, if attained, would shut down the fishery. The
performance standard limit, 13,516, is used for managerial
purposes, but if it is reached for three out of seven years, it
will become the hard cap. The possibility provides a primary
incentive for the fleet to avoid bycatch and remain below the
performance standard limit. The 2017 season has been identified
by ADF&G as a low abundance year, and the fleet will be
correspondingly managed under the limit of 9,462.
11:24:00 AM
MS. MADSEN explained the incentive plan agreement (IPA) that the
CP association adopted, as a means to provide the incentives
necessary to achieve the goals and objectives of Amendments 91
and 110. The IPA fleet contract was submitted to, and approved
by, National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). The IPA was
initially adopted in 2011, but has undergone some modifications
to comply with Amendment 110, which requires all vessels to
utilize salmon excluder devices at designated times of salmon
abundance. She reviewed the primary components of the IPA plan,
which include: data gathering, monitoring, reporting,
information sharing; identification of bycatch avoidance areas;
fishing area prohibitions for vessels with poor bycatch
performance; A-season closed area and conditional B-season
closed areas; vessel outlier penalties; and gear research on
salmon excluders. The other important component is
accountability, she stressed. Every year APA must demonstrate
to the NPFMC that the mechanisms in the IPA are working. A key
aspect of the fleet's communication system is the 10 Chinook
salmon alert. This alert is received by herself and every
member of the fleet, whenever 10 Chinook salmon are caught by a
single vessel. The other vessels can easily determine the
locale of the alert, and avoid the "hot spot" area. Although
technology has been devised and implemented to avoid Chinook
salmon entering the nets, it is not yet possible to determine
whether any have been caught until the net is brought on board
the vessel and the fish are out of the water, she said.
11:27:23 AM
MS. MADSEN directed attention to the committee handout, titled,
"House Special Committee on Fisheries, Innovative approach to
reducing bycatch, March 9, 2017," page 10, labeled "2015 CP IPA
results - A-season Bycatch Avoidance Areas," and the map
illustrating the identified bycatch avoidance areas (BAAs) and
the restrictions observed by the CP sector. In weeks of high
bycatch reports, vessels with poor avoidance performance records
were subject to exclusion to these areas. Some weeks of the
season saw up to seven vessels being denied fishing privileges.
She used the subsequent page, labeled, "A-season Chinook
Conservation Area; B-season Chinook Conservation Areas," to
locate and describe two areas identified for closure: 1) An
area of 735 square mile is closed to all pollock fishing, 100
percent of the time, during the A-season. The sector is a known
Chinook salmon abundance area. 2) An area of 1,295 square miles
is closed to CP pollock fishing in the second half of October
depending on the bycatch rate reported for September. If the
September Chinook salmon bycatch exceeds 1.5 fish per 100 tons
of pollock, the suspension is invoked.
11:28:34 AM
MS. MADSEN explained the outlier program APA designed to
identify a vessel that operates outside the normal range of the
others. Reminding the committee that the fleet fishes two
seasons per year, she said, if a vessel is identified as an
outlier during three seasons, the penalties imposed are
exclusion from known avoidance areas, and exclusion from any
conditional, in-season closures. However, she reported, the APA
has not identified any boat in the fleet with standard
deviations over three seasons to require the measure be invoked.
Vessels have successfully changed bycatch behavior when initial
indications of deviation have been called to their attention.
11:29:33 AM
MS. MADSEN explained that new gear technologies for avoiding
bycatch are continually being sought. Fish behavior is factored
into the prototypes, such as Chinook salmon being stronger
swimmers than pollock, and that salmon are light sensitive.
However, it is understood that fishing for pollock in the same
area where salmon are abundant will never be a possibility. The
fleet is also cooperating with the genetic, stock composition
analysis being conducted by the governing agencies, and every
tenth Chinook salmon brought on board is sampled to provide the
required data. She directed attention to the committee handout
page, labeled, "Genetic Stock Composition Analysis of the
Chinook Salmon Bycatch from 2015 BS Pollock Trawl Fishery; BSAI
Chinook Bycatch by Year," the graph illustrating the data
analysis, and pointed out the origins of the bycatch salmon
stocks.
11:31:16 AM
MS. MADSEN said the vessels participate in the food bank program
and any edible bycatch salmon is donated to Sea Share for
distribution to schools and community support centers, such as
Bean's Café in Anchorage, and the Glory Hole in Juneau. Ms.
Madsen summarized the three measures being taken by the fleet to
avoid bycatch: fleet bycatch caps allocated to individual
vessels; observation of rolling hot spot avoidance areas; and
seasonal closures. The challenge is for APA to demonstrate that
the measures being implemented are adequate. Notable success
points proving the industry is operating with good faith efforts
include the practice of vessels relocating to avoid high risk
areas, the data statistics that indicate a trend of lower
Chinook salmon bycatch, and the development/implementation of
technological innovations such as the salmon excluders. Finally,
she acknowledged that the presentation did not address halibut
bycatch as the pollock fleet is a pelagic trawl fishery and
seldom encounters halibut, although guidelines do exist.
The committee took an at-ease from 11:33 a.m. to 11:35 a.m.
11:35:51 AM
JULIE BONNEY, Vice-President, Alaska Groundfish Data Bank,
Kodiak Chamber of Commerce, described the Kodiak, Gulf of Alaska
(GOA) sustainable trawl fisheries fleet characteristics as
follows: comprised of 38-40 vessels, mostly in the 80 foot
range with many being family-owned and employing a locally based
crew; many have the experience of working in a cooperative
fleet, from a history of work with groups such as the Bering Sea
pollock fleet; and the catch is delivered to six shore-side
processors, which comprises about 60 percent of the total Kodiak
port landings. The trawl fisheries are sustainably managed for
species of pollock, cod, rockfish, and flatfish, which are under
federal purview and regulated through the North Pacific Fishery
Management Council (NPFMC). The pollock, cod, and flatfish
catch are certified by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) and
Alaska Responsible Fisheries Management (RFM) programs. The
fish are taken in high volume of species that represent a low
economic value. The harvest activity provides a fishery that
operates nearly year-round. The fishery exerts a significant
economic impact on Kodiak, as reported in a McDowell Group
analysis, compiled for the Kodiak Island Borough and City of
Kodiak, in May 2016. She reviewed the report highlights, which
indicated the following: the port of Kodiak is ranked as number
three in the nation by value and number two by volume; the
groundfish harvesting and processing accounts for almost 20
percent of all employment in Kodiak; groundfish fishing and
processing accounts for most jobs, more income, and more impact
on the Kodiak economy than any other fishery providing 2,000
jobs, $111 million in labor income, and $187 million in total
seafood output for the Kodiak economy; year-round fisheries
create year-round resident jobs with about 50 percent of
processing workers, 1,390, claiming Kodiak residency, and
Kodiak's year-round fisheries and shore-based processors lead
the state in employing the highest percentage of local
residents.
11:39:04 AM
MS. BONNEY said the ability to manage bycatch and achieve total
allowable catch depends directly on the fishery management
system, and she reviewed the approaches taken in the gulf versus
the Bering Sea. The gulf trawl management encourages fishing
vessels to race against each other for access to the target fish
of pollock or cod, while subject to constraining fleet-wide
bycatch caps on halibut and Chinook salmon. There are no
individual vessel accountability requirements for bycatch, nor
any incentives to slow the fishery and encourage working
together as a fleet. In the Bering Sea trawl management sector,
both target species allowances and bycatch caps are allocated to
co-ops so no individual vessel is racing for catch. The co-ops
have formal agreements and penalties to control behavior and
include incentives for all participants to collaborate as a
fleet to minimize bycatch. The GOA trawl industry operates
under bycatch restrictions for Chinook salmon and halibut, but
without formal cooperative management. If the limits are
reached, the fisheries are closed to all participants and can
remain closed for the season or the entire year. The recent
bycatch regulations affecting the GOA trawlers include a Chinook
salmon bycatch limit for the pollock fisheries, implemented
2012; Chinook salmon bycatch limit for the non-pollock
fisheries, implemented 2015; and reduction of the halibut
bycatch limit by 15 percent implemented over a three-year
period, 2014-2016.
11:41:31 AM
MS. BONNEY explained the efforts taken by the Kodiak trawlers to
address the bycatch issue. The group advocated for the Central
Gulf Rockfish Co-op management program, effective 2007 with a
sunset in 2021, which was designed within the NPFMC process to
meet multiple objectives for minimizing bycatch, fishery
stability, and increased community benefits. Advocacy efforts
were extended for a similar program, at the council, with
bycatch objectives for the trawl cod, pollock, and flatfish
fisheries. The initiative was begun in 2012 but died in 2016.
11:42:07 AM
MS. BONNEY directed attention to the committee handout, titled,
"Kodiak Trawlers - Bycatch Minimization Efforts," the page
labeled, "Rockfish Program Results," and reviewed the line graph
tracking the halibut catch since 1996. She noted that a six
fold decrease has occurred under the cooperative program.
Additional efforts have included the design of a halibut
excluder device for the cod trawl fishery. It uses fish
morphology to separate the catch, allowing flatfish and halibut
to escape through narrow, side slots, while retaining the
cylindrical shaped fish. The test fishery on the device
indicated a 57 percent reduction in halibut bycatch and it's now
widely used in the GOA and Bering Sea trawl cod fisheries. A
salmon excluder for the pollock fishery was tested on two boats,
over four seasons, 2013-2014, resulting in a salmon escapement
of 33-54 percent. To continue the effort for addressing the
issue, the fleet purchased two video systems to monitor the
excluder devices. The systems are loaned to fishermen to allow
them to observe how the excluders are working on their vessel
gear. The skippers are also trying out an LED light attraction
approach for salmon.
11:44:35 AM
MS. BONNEY reported that another effort being promoted is
voluntary hot spot reporting and signal alerts for the pollock
fisheries. The program replicates what is already in regulation
in the Bering Sea. There is an ad hoc process to allocate both
pollock and Chinook salmon to participating vessels to stop the
race for fish. The allocations are aggregated at the processor
level to create the co-ops. The voluntary agreements include
bycatch reporting requirements and individual vessel performance
standards. Implementation requires that multiple fleet meetings
be held, which can be extremely contentious as well as time
consuming. She said the allocation agreement requires a 100
percent consensus by the fishery participants, and that may be a
difficult achievement, as a vessel captain may decide it's in
his best interest to race for higher catches even though the
fishery may be closed early due to the bycatch cap. These
agreements are tenuous and uncertain as a long-term fishery
management structure and do not cover all the groundfish
fisheries.
11:45:56 AM
MS. BONNEY described the consequences of fishery closures due to
bycatch. Referring to examples that occurred in 2015, she
explained that the cod and flatfish fisheries closed on May 3
for the remainder of the year due to newly imposed salmon caps
for the non-pollock fisheries. However, an emergency rule
promulgated through the council, allowed the fisheries to be
reopened on August 10. The potential foregone revenue from the
lost harvest was about $4.6 million in ex-vessel value and $11.3
million in first wholesale value. She said the 2016 arrowtooth
flounder fisheries were closed for 120 days due to the
attainment of halibut bycatch limits. The arrowtooth flounder
has good potential in the marketplace but the ability for the
industry to provide a steady product supply is too unpredictable
to get it off the ground.
11:47:11 AM
MS. BONNEY reported on the 2017 bycatch caps to date: In the
Central Gulf of Alaska (CGOA) pollock fishery - 47 percent of
limit has been taken while only 32 percent of the CGOA pollock
quota has been caught. Three pollock seasons remain to be
harvested. When the cap is hit, the fishery is closed for the
year. In the Gulf of Alaska cod/flatfish fishery - 55 percent
of the limit has been taken, all by the Western Gulf cod
fishery, leaving 45 percent, which may not be enough to support
the Central Gulf trawl fishery's needs for the Pacific cod
fishery and year-round flatfish fisheries. She stressed that
early closures mean the trawl fisheries do not reach their total
allowable catches resulting in impacts to harvesters,
processors, coastal communities, and the State of Alaska in
terms of foregone tax revenue.
11:48:28 AM
MS. BONNEY stated that the limited access system "race for fish"
fails to reward conscientious fishermen and favors fishermen who
catch the greatest amount of fish in the shortest amount of
time, regardless of bycatch performance. Frustration exists
within the fleet dependent on the GOA trawl fisheries, all of
whom have experienced the benefits of cooperative management in
the Bering Sea trawl fisheries and the Central Gulf Rockfish
Program. The fleet has termed it "co-op envy." The
participants continue to do the best they can based on the cards
they have been dealt, she finished, and said, "At this point we
believe it is a solvable problem."
The committee took a brief at-ease at 11:49 a.m.
11:49:56 AM
LINDA BEHNKEN, Executive Director, Alaska Longline Fishermen's
Association (ALFA), reviewed the origination of ALFA, stating
that it was founded in 1978 to end foreign overfishing and
promote Alaskan fisheries. The membership extends to fishermen
who longline for halibut and sablefish, as well as troll, seine,
and gillnet for salmon, and extends to those pursuing crab and
shrimp. The association is involved in fisheries management at
the state, federal and international levels. The ALFA mission
is to promote sustainable fisheries and thriving fishing
communities through policy advocacy, collaborative research, and
the young fishermen's initiative.
11:51:11 AM
MS. BEHNKEN focusing on collaborative research, she said ALFA's
fishery conservation network was formed to empower stewardship
innovation through continuous research and collaboration. The
fishery conservation measures combine the problem-solving genius
of fishermen with the rigors of science, which includes:
innovative solutions that improve resource and fishery
viability; sharing data, mentoring young fishermen; and
increasing the viability of small-boat fishermen to keep them
competitive. A number of fishery conservation projects are
ongoing, which include: rockfish reporting, bathymetric
mapping, electronic monitoring, fleet fuel efficiency, and the
Southeast Alaska sperm whale avoidance project to reduce marine
mammal depredation on longline gear.
11:52:41 AM
MS. BEHNKEN said that salmon and halibut are target species for
the fleet, but the management of rockfish bycatch poses a
concern; although it's an allowable catch with specific caps.
Thus, in 2009 the Alaska Board of Fisheries (BOF) challenged
commercial and charter fishermen to voluntarily unite in an
effort to avoid rockfish bycatch. Rockfish are a long-lived
species, up to 120 years, and are slow to recover when over
fished. Overfishing has triggered fishery closures on the west
coast of British Columbia (BC). The ALFA fleet proactively took
steps to ensure the health of the rockfish stock by adopting
voluntary measures. The association asked the fishermen to
provide rockfish bycatch information via fish ticket/log book
reports, and the data has provided useful maps of where the hot
spots exist in the fishery. The analysis of the information
allowed the fishermen to avoid hot spots and minimize the
bycatch. She provided illustrations of the maps used by the
fleet captains, which are detailed with specific information for
catch avoidance. [The color coded maps are available in the
committee handout, titled "Alaska Longline FISHERMEN'S
ASSOCIATION," pages 9-16, and include the bathymetric charts.]
The maps are based on the seafloor structure, taking into
consideration temperature changes, and other variables. The log
book data and bathymetric mapping provides fishermen with tools
to visualize benthic structure, control rockfish bycatch, and
improve fishing efficiency. The vessels must purchase the
appropriate software to take advantage of the contour mapping
for effective fishing. Finishing, she said that in three years,
members have reduced rockfish bycatch by 20 percent in the
halibut fishery and 6 percent in the sablefish fishery. The
current focus is to maintain rockfish bycatch at or below the
permitted levels and at this time, with the available mapping
tools, the rockfish stocks are considered to be healthy.
12:00:40 PM
CHAIR STUTES thanked the presenters and solicited written
questions from committee members for distribution to, and
responses from, the participants.
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the House
Special Committee on Fisheries meeting was adjourned at 12:00
a.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| Bycatch presentation - list of presenters.pdf |
HFSH 3/9/2017 10:00:00 AM |
Bycatch |
| NMFS Merrill Presentation.pdf |
HFSH 3/9/2017 10:00:00 AM |
Bycatch |
| NPFMC Oliver Witherell Presentation.pdf |
HFSH 3/9/2017 10:00:00 AM |
Bycatch |
| DFG Cotten Hartill Presentation.pdf |
HFSH 3/9/2017 10:00:00 AM |
Bycatch |
| Groundfish Forum Inc. Woodley Presentation.pdf |
HFSH 3/9/2017 10:00:00 AM |
Bycatch |
| UCB Paine Presentation.pdf |
HFSH 3/9/2017 10:00:00 AM |
Bycatch |
| At-Sea Processors Assoc. Madsen Presentation.pdf |
HFSH 3/9/2017 10:00:00 AM |
Bycatch |
| AGDB Bonney Presentation.pdf |
HFSH 3/9/2017 10:00:00 AM |
Bycatch |
| ALFA Behnken Presentation.pdf |
HFSH 3/9/2017 10:00:00 AM |
Bycatch |