Salmon industry advocacy group SalmonState is calling on the Alaska State Board of Fisheries to limit or eliminate the Prince William Sound pollock pelagic trawl fishery – the only such fishery managed by the state.
The state board will consider four separate proposals that would either add further restrictions on the state-managed pollock fishery or eliminate it entirely at its annual meeting in Cordova, Alaska, taking place 10 to 16 December.
“The number of proposals and the diversity of proposal authors should serve as a clear message to the board that the issue of whether bottom trawling should be allowed in Prince William Sound is a high priority for Alaskans,” SalmonState Executive Director Tim Bristol said in a statement. “The board has an opportunity to lead on this issue; a lot of people will be watching to see what happens in Cordova.”
The Prince William Sound pollock pelagic trawl fishery has had an average ex-vessel value of roughly USD 1 million (EUR 951,888) annually in recent years, with about 15 vessels participating in the fishery. Current regulations limit bycatch to 5 percent of the total round weight of pollock harvested. According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G), 96 percent of pollock landings had some salmon bycatch from 2021 to 2023.
ADF&G has officially opposed all four of the proposals highlighted by SalmonState that would further limit or end the pollock trawl fishery in its recommendations to the state board. The four proposals are also opposed by the Kodiak-based Alaska Whitefish Trawlers Association (AWTA), which claims its members rely on Prince William Sound as the first fishery of the year.
“Our coastal communities and fishing businesses need stability right now as they try to weather the storm and make it through these challenging times,” the association said in public comments on the proposals. “AWTA members rely on the PWS pollock fishery, and we ask the board to support our operations and not take actions that needlessly hurt our fishery and community.”
One of the proposals – submitted by the Alaska Outdoor Council – would ban pollock trawling in Prince William Sound unless vessels can conduct operations without their gear contacting the seafloor habitat or collecting king salmon as bycatch.
“My knowledge of the seabed makes clear that the damage trawlers do to bycatch is just part of the problem,” marine ecologist Dennis Lees said in a statement through SalmonState. “Dragging on the seafloor does considerable damage to the basic ecosystems that support not only the resources trawlers intend to harvest but also other associated fisheries and the ability of those infaunal systems to support those fisheries resources. Trawlers’ destruction of the ocean floor and the cascading impacts of that destruction is a well-documented problem, and it boggles the mind that regulators continue to ignore it."
ADF&G claims the seafloor contact ban would be difficult to enforce in its recommendation against the proposal. The Alaska Wildlife Troopers is neutral on the proposal, but it does note that contact with the seabed is currently prohibited under state law.
In its comments, AWTA said its members do not operate their gear on the bottom since it would rip up their nets.
“Operators are not going to chance ripping up their net by allowing the net to get too close to the bottom,” the association noted.
The Chenaga IRA Council, meanwhile, has proposed requiring onboard observers for the fishery – a requirement that ADF&G said it does not have the capacity to meet.
A separate proposal submitted by the Chenaga IRA Council would totally close the trawl fishery.
“The department opposes this proposal,” ADF&G noted in its recommendations. “This would eliminate fishing opportunity on a stock where there are no conservation concerns and where a portion of the stock has been harvested sustainably for many years.”
“Closing the fishery would result in a USD 1 million loss of annual revenue from directed pollock landings,” AWTA noted in its comments. “If the pollock fishery is closed, there are concerns that predation by pollock on juvenile pink salmon would increase. This unintended consequence would negatively impact salmon fisheries and hatchery operations in PWS.”
