February 12, 2025
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE : Contact: david.witherell@noaa.gov, diana.evans@noaa.gov, 907-271-2815
NPFMC’s press release on chum salmon bycatch in the Bering Sea pollock fishery
At its February special meeting, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) received significant feedback and testimony from more than 150 people, including Tribal leaders and members, Community Development Quota (CDQ) groups, Alaska communities, and pollock fishery participants that helped inform modifications to measures being considered to reduce the bycatch of western Alaska chum salmon. The Council’s modifications were based on information from the preliminary draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and recommendations from the SSC, the Advisory Panel, and public testimony.
The Council approved changes to the existing alternatives and included new options for further evaluation including:
- Modifying an alternative to provide an inseason corridor closure to focus on minimizing bycatch on western Alaska chum salmon stocks. The new options for evaluation include a larger overall area as well as more discrete closures (than the previous analysis).
- Additional analysis of potential impacts and options for the CDQ sector should their CDQ pollock be fished on catcher vessels (instead of catcher-processors) in the future
Annual genetic sampling by fishery observers certified by the National Marine Fisheries Service shows the Bering Sea pollock fishery intercepts predominantly hatchery origin Russia and Asia chum, but the Council is focused on management actions that could minimize bycatch of western Alaska origin chum salmon, as returns of these fish have declined substantially in recent years and reduced or eliminated in-river harvest opportunities. Salmon are integral to the cultural, nutritional, economic, and spiritual well-being of western and interior Alaska residents, families and communities throught the region that are experiencing severe negative impacts from continued low salmon returns.
Available science indicates recent declines in chum salmon populations across many regions of the North Pacific, including Canada, Japan, Russia, Korea, and the U.S., appear to be driven by warmer water temperatures in both the marine and freshwater environments which impact juvenile surivival, prey availability and quality, metabolism and growth rates, and reproductive rates. However, western Alaska chum salmon are also taken as bycatch in the Bering Sea pollock trawl fishery, reducing the amount of salmon that return to western and interior Alaska rivers, and the Council is considering action to address these impacts.
The analysis also highlighted recent bycatch performance in the pollock fishery, and noted that while there are numerous variables involved in chum interactions in the fishery, the fleet has reduced its chum bycatch by nearly 95% over the past four years under existing salmon avoidance plans.
The next required step will be to formally publish the draft EIS as required by Federal law, after staff completes the environmental, social and cultural, and economic analysis of alternatives and options that were revised at this meeting.
Multiple alternatives can be selected, and the full description of the alternatives and options is available here. The Council will review the draft EIS and take final action to recommend a preferred alternative (or alternatives) to NOAA at a future meeting, with implementation by the National Marine Fisheries Service still anticipated in 2027.
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North Pacific Fishery Management Council is one of eight regional councils established by the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act in 1976 (MSA) to manage fisheries in the 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone, 3 miles off the coast of Alaska. Per the MSA, the 11 voting members serving on the Council are made of up people appointed by the Secretary of Commerce, and the state marine fisheries commissioners from Alaska, Washington, and Oregon as well as the Regional Director of the National Marine Fisheries Service. Federal fisheries decisions must be consistent with the Magnuson-Stevens Act and other federal laws.The Council, along with the advisory bodies, were formed so federal fishery management decisions could be made at a regional level, emphasizing public input.