ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Sunday, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council established the first-ever limit on Chinook salmon bycatch in the Gulf of Alaska Pollock fishery. The council voted for a 25,000-fish cap on the bycatch.
If the Pollock fleet in the Gulf of Alaska bypasses the 25,000-fish bycatch limit, the fishery will be shut down.
The 2010 fleet caught more than 51,000 Chinook salmon, an all-time high. The board considered bycatch limits between 15,000 and 30,000, selecting 25,000 because it is higher than the fleet’s 10-year bycatch average.
The board set a limit on Chinook bycatch in the Bering Sea Pollock fishery in 2009, but this is the first to be put in place in the Gulf of Alaska.
