Western Gulf of Alaska Pollock Vessel Limitations

The Council took no action on a proposal to limit vessels greater than 58 feet length overall from the Western Gulf of Alaska (GOA) pollock trawl fishery. The action proposed would have either prohibited vessels greater than 58 ft from participating in the Western GOA (Area 610) pollock fishery or created a sideboard limit that would constrain vessels greater than this length to a specific percentage of the Western GOA pollock total allowable catch. Among other reasons, Council members stated they did not wish to exclude a category of vessels that have historically and recently participated in this fishery. Some members were concerned this action had the potential to create spillover impacts in other areas and suggested that the community protections sought in this action would be better addressed through a more holistic consideration of the GOA. Council members felt it important to continue to track the harvesting dynamic between the larger and smaller vessels and requested staff update the discussion paper with current annual catch data when those data become available. Staff contact is Sarah Marrinan.