NPFMC to Discuss Observer Coverage, Other Fisheries Issues at Next Meeting
Observer coverage, Aleutian Islands golden king crab, vessel caps for halibut landings and the release of small sablefish are top items for discussion before the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) meeting in Kodiak June 7-12.
The council has received over three dozen comments to date on the issues.
The council’s Fishery Monitoring and Advisory Committee is to present its report on observer coverage in the 2023 fisheries. Most of the comments regarding observer coverage are from harvesters calling for reduced bycatch from trawlers whose nets catch an abundance of salmon, halibut and snow crab.
One commenter cited an incident of draggers reporting 85,295 individual snow crab as bycatch within seven days in an area closed to crabbing. An observer with Saltwater Inc. urg...
