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For decades, the North Pacific trawl fleet has dumped millions of pounds of salmon, halibut, sablefish and crab while targeting pollock, sole and flounder. The North Pacific Fisheries Management Council, or NPFMC, which works under the umbrella of the Department of Commerce and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, aka NOAA, has allowed this to happen; and has facilitated this waste by allowing various sectors of the trawl fleet to exceed bycatch limits, or by raising bycatch caps in-season, to prevent a trawl shut-down. |
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Much of the bycatch — dead marine life tossed overboard — is much more valuable, pound for pound, than the fish being targeted.
Many fish and crab stocks in the North Pacific Ocean are in a precipitous downward spiral and the thousands of Alaskans who depend on a healthy and productive marine/ocean environment for food or income have seen their ability to harvest salmon, halibut, sablefish and crab decimated.
Because of the scale of harvest involved in the trawl fisheries, 100% observer coverage should be required of every vessel and each tow made. Yet observer coverage for much of the fleet is nowhere near the 100% threshold. For example, trawl captains in the Gulf of Alaska are allowed to “self-report” their bycatch 85% of the time — their observer coverage is only 15%. |
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