On Tuesday, I attended a presentation at the Main Street Tap and Grill in Kenai. The topic was trawl fishing bycatch in Alaska. The place was packed with concerned community members.
The Alaska trawl fishery, which happens in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska, targets pollock, pacific cod, flounder, and rockfish. It is a huge, high volume fishery with approximately 120 vessels participating. Massive factory boats, between 250 and 600 feet in length, deploy a single, conical net that is larger than a football field.
The problem with the fishery is the amount of bycatch that is involved. Even though the fishery targets pollock, cod, flounder, and rockfish, other species caught as bycatch must be discarded.
It’s a terrible waste of an important resource.
During this informational meeting an emphasis was placed on the underreporting of bycatch kill. There are several reasons why the numbers are underreported. The most serious and egregious reason is only one fishery is monitored. The Bering Sea fishery is monitored with on board witnesses and electronic systems. The Gulf of Alaska (Prince William Sound) fishery is not.
Seriously? No monitoring?
Above are the bycatch numbers reported from the 2023 fishing season.
The most recent reported bycatch numbers from the 2024 season are just as staggering.
- 38,751 Chinook salmon
- 48,643 Chum salmon
- 4.5 million pounds of halibut
- 950,680 crabs
- 3 million pounds of herring
- 1 Orca
The Alaska trawl fleet is a massive business that generates billions of dollars. Just because it’s big doesn’t mean the industry can’t change. That was the point of Tuesday night’s presentation. If enough people get involved, reforms can be made.
This is what you can do if you want to get involved.
You can contact your representatives in Washington, D.C. and tell them bycatch in Alaska trawl fisheries must stop.
Or, on a much smaller scale, don’t order fish sandwiches at fast food places. Also, don’t buy fish sticks or imitation crab from the grocery stores. All of these products come from the Alaska trawl fishery. If you have to buy fish I would suggest ones that are caught by long liners, or trollers. Their bycatch is minimal.
For more information about this issue, go to SalmonState.org.
If we wait, it will be too late. It’s time to take back our oceans from factory trawlers.
Happy Easter