Alaska’s pollock fishery – the country’s largest and most lucrative fishery – has been scrambling to get ready for the season’s opening day on 20 January in the midst of the government shutdown.
Typically, large vessels steam out of Seattle, Washington, in early January to scoop up millions of pounds of pollock that have an average first wholesale value of around USD 1 billion (EUR 868.2 million). But the fishery is managed by the National Marine Fisheries Service, which has been largely paralyzed by the shutdown.
With the season just around the corner, the pollock fleet has been unsure whether they will get the federal observers, inspections, and permits required to go fishing. Brent Paine, the executive director of Seattle-based United Catch Boats, said people in the industry have been working around the clock, but the situation is looking up.
“I’ve probably spent the better part of the last two days working on this issue, and for the pollock fishery in the Bering Sea, things are looking pretty good,” Paine told SeafoodSource.
All pollock vessels require the presence of NMFS observers, who were originally deemed non-essential personnel, putting the fishery at risk. However, Paine said observers have been issued their tools and will be ready for the opening.
For the larger catcher-processor vessels, on-board scales and other catch monitoring equipment require annual federal inspection prior to operation, and many ships waiting on inspections were stuck in purgatory. Jim Gilmore, the director of public affairs for the At-sea Processors Association, said it looks like inspections will go forward this week.
“Over the weekend, we were informed that inspection of catch monitoring equipment for all our vessels should occur this week, after all,” Gilmore said, adding: “I'm not hearing of other impediments, but that could change. The uncertainty is unwelcome, but we are in better shape now than we were at the end of last week.”
Paine added that it appears U.S. Coast Guard safety inspections, which are required every two years, will be available in Dutch Harbor despite the shutdown, and a source said some civilian Coast Guard employees were providing inspections at the docks in Seattle.
The final hurdle for many boats is getting cooperative permits for about 75 trawl vessels that fish for pollock. Permit applications were accepted and processed by the NMFS in December, but had not been issued at the time of the shutdown. Paine said the permits should come through before 20 January.
“What we’re hearing is that NMFS’ Alaska region is starting to bring some employees back online in Juneau to get these permit applications processed. That’s the good news, but we still haven’t got the permits,” Paine said.
Another fleet of around 19 boats that fishes for other Bering Sea groundfish like cod, sole and mackerel was also waiting on the permits, but a source familiar with that fishery seemed confident the permits would come through.
On the other side of the country, Chris Brown, the president of the Seafood Harvesters of America, seemed more frustrated than his colleagues in the Alaska fisheries. He said smaller East Coast groundfish fishermen pulling up skate, fluke, and whiting often switch permits to stay in the fish. The shutdown, however, means there is no one around to process their requests.
“It’s entirely unnecessary and really not appreciated. Fishing is hard enough and we shouldn’t be having to deal with this nonsense … Every day your boat is tied to the dock you’re losing tens of thousands of dollars,” Brown said.
On the East Coast, Brown said the industry doesn't enjoy the clout of the larger fisheries like Bering Sea pollock, whose lobbyists in Washington D.C. can pull strings and get permits and inspections done even during the shutdown.
“Those kinds of fisheries are a feature of the West Coast. Out here in New England, we’re more mom-and-pop, smaller boats, but that doesn’t mean our needs aren’t just as important,” Brown said.
