As the king crab fisheries open up, the Bering Sea pollock fishery is winding down.
According to the National Marine Fisheries Service, the factory trawlers and motherships that make up the offshore sector have taken all of their annual allocation. Meanwhile, the catcher vessels that comprise the inshore sector are at 96 percent of their yearly quota. Nearly 700,000 metric tons of pollock had been taken through October 6.
While a few of the catcher vessels that deliver fish to Unalaska processing plants are still wrapping up, many crews went home in September.
Jay Cox is the skipper on the Morning Star, a catcher vessel that delivers to Unisea. He says that fishing was initially good, but slowed some as the season progressed. Much of the fleet had to travel 500 miles out to fill up, and some vessels even came close to the Russian line.
"You’d see the Russian boats across the border on the AIS," says Cox.
