fish4all
Well-Known Member
SEAFOOD.COM NEWS by John Sackton - Feb 6, 2009 - For the next few years, salmon by-catch avoidance is going to be a big factor in the pollock industry.
This year, ramping up full scale production has been plagued by reports of poor roe quality and especially, larger than normal chinook salmon bycatch.
At the N. Pacific Council meeting yesterday, the first three weeks of the pollock season had resulted in 6,268 chinook taken along with 28,152 tons of pollock, at a rate of 0.23 chinook per metric ton of pollock. This rate is similar to the 2007 rate that resulted in a bycatch of over 120,000 chinook.
The council is debating various plans to put a cap on total chinook salmon bycatch, and the industry is proposing incentive based bycatch avoidance schemes, which have worked extremely well in other situations.
But the fishing has been start, stop, move -- meaning that the production cannot get going smoothly.
This year, ramping up full scale production has been plagued by reports of poor roe quality and especially, larger than normal chinook salmon bycatch.
At the N. Pacific Council meeting yesterday, the first three weeks of the pollock season had resulted in 6,268 chinook taken along with 28,152 tons of pollock, at a rate of 0.23 chinook per metric ton of pollock. This rate is similar to the 2007 rate that resulted in a bycatch of over 120,000 chinook.
The council is debating various plans to put a cap on total chinook salmon bycatch, and the industry is proposing incentive based bycatch avoidance schemes, which have worked extremely well in other situations.
But the fishing has been start, stop, move -- meaning that the production cannot get going smoothly.
