The Council received a final report on the exempted fishing permit for testing salmon excluder devices in the EBS pollock fisheries. The excluder tested in this EFP employs an ‘over and under” (O/U) design that achieved successful escapement (33-54%) in the GOA pollock fishery during previous trials. Three vessels were used and testing spanned the 2015 A season, the 2015 B season and the 2016 A season. Overall salmon escapement rates were lower than in the GOA (3-18% across the three vessels.) Previous flapper-type excluders used in the EBS pollock fishery had achieved higher escapement rates than the new O/U design. Lower performance was related to a variety of factors including higher catch rates and fish flow through net differences between the GOA and EBS pollock fisheries. Further refinement of the O/U design for use in the Bering Sea is likely to occur in subsequent experiments. Staff contact is Diana Stram.
North Pacific Fishery Management Council
Managing our Nation's Fisheries off the Coast of Alaska
