trawlers

Regulatory area 521, in the central Bering Sea just northwest of the Pribilof Islands, recorded the highest bycatch totals for nearly  all prohibited species for the week ending March 14.  Onboard observers reported 61000 bairdi crab, nearly 80,000 opilio crab, 771 king salmon, and ninety one thousand pounds of halibut mortality in that area.  The 168 red king crab caught there put it just behind area 509 north of False Pass, which recorded 252.  Pelagic, or midwater, trawlers caught most of the salmon, while non-pelagic, or bottom, trawlers were responsible for the majority of the halibut

The commercial halibut quota for the IFQ longline fishery in Alaska dipped about ten percent overall for 2020, to just over 17 million pounds. Though halibut can’t be targeted until March 14, around 1.4 million pounds have already been killed incidentally in other fisheries that are already open, according to data from onboard observers compiled by the National Marine Fisheries Service. 

As the 2019 fishing seasons throughout Alaska begin to wind down, halibut bycatch mortality for the year to date is already higher than all of 2018 and 2017.  Onboard observers have recorded seven million, four hundred forty thousand pounds of halibut mortality across all fisheries for 2019 until the week ending October 26.  The total recorded mortality for all of 2018 was seven million two hundred sixty thousand pounds, and 2017 ended with seven million four hundred seventeen thousand pounds.  Since the National Marine Fisheries Service began reporting data in their current format in 201

Incidental catch of halibut, salmon, and crab was down across all fisheries and almost all gear types during the week ending October 19.  Halibut mortality rose slightly in the pot fishery targeting sablefish, from nine hundred and four pounds the previous week to two thousand two hundred twenty seven pounds.  In all other fisheries, it dropped, adding up to one hundred fifty one thousand pounds.  Just under one hundred forty seven thousand pounds of that came from the non-pelagic,

***CORRECTION:  A previous version of this piece overstated the amount of king salmon caught as bycatch to date in 2019.  The correct number is twenty-nine thousand five hundred thirty two.  KBBI regrets the error***

Incidental catch of bairdi, opilio, and king crab remained low across the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands regulatory areas for the week ending July 27.  Less than three thousand crab were caught across all gear types.  King salmon bycatch stood at 62 fish for the week, while all other salmon species accounted for 18,971 fish.  About half of the non-chinook were caught in statistical area 517 north of False Pass just west of the entranc

Bycatch of prohibited species in the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands regulatory areas continued to be relatively low this week across all fisheries, according to the update by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) covering the week of July 6.  Only fifty kings and two thousand non-king salmon were caught incidentally. The bycatch of crab has also been low, only five thousand total animals.