Scientists: Reduce Bering Sea pollock quota

Scientists at the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council’s Groundfish Plan Team meeting in Seattle on Tuesday recommended setting the 2010 Bering Sea pollock quota at 813,000 metric tons, which would be slightly less than the 2009 quota.

The council is scheduled to decide on the 2010 quota at its meeting in Anchorage, Alaska, from 7 to 15 December.

Last year’s pollock spawning biomass was at its lowest level since 1980. As a result, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration set the 2009 Bering Sea pollock quota at 815,000 metric tons, down 19 percent from the 2008 quota and 46 percent from the 2006 quota.

Released in September, the results of NOAA’s bottom trawl and mid-water acoustic surveys of Bering Sea pollock were discouraging. The surveys revealed that the pollock spawning biomass has dipped below target levels, as fewer young fish entered the population between 2001 and 2005.

“The 2009 survey data presented in September indicated that the 2008 two-year projection for biomass would likely be revised downward after further analysis, and that has proven true,” said Doug DeMaster, director of NOAA’s Alaska Fisheries Science Center. “These adjustments demonstrate that our data collection and analyses are as up-to-date as possible and provide NOAA Fisheries and the council with information vital for responsive fisheries management.”

Bering Sea pollock is the United States’ largest fishery and one of the world’s biggest fisheries.

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