NPFMC – Fishermens News

NPFMC Moves Toward Decision on Minimizing Chum Salmon Bycatch

19Feb

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NPFMC Moves Toward Decision on Minimizing Chum Salmon Bycatch

Federal fisheries managers meeting in Anchorage in early February heard testimony from more than 150 people regarding minimizing chum salmon bycatch in commercial fisheries. In addition, some 260 written comments were submitted on the topic by pollock fishery participants, Community Development Quota groups, communities, tribal leaders and subsistence harvesters. All suggested modifications in several proposed alternatives aimed at bycatch minimization, with the suggested modifications were based on information from the preliminary draft Environmental Impact Statement and recommendations from the council's advisory panel, Scientific and Statistical Committee and public testimony. Along with changes to existing alternatives, the council added new options for further evaluation....

Federal Fisheries Board Takes Up Chum Salmon Bycatch Issues

12Feb

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Federal Fisheries Board Takes Up Chum Salmon Bycatch Issues

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council held a special meeting in Anchorage this week focused on two issues: a second review of the chum salmon bycatch analysis and appendices last reviewed in April 2024; and 2025 harvest specifications for Cook Inlet salmon. The meeting is being held in the Egan Center in downtown Anchorage. Several dozen people have already testified at this special meeting, which was scheduled to run through Tuesday, Feb. 11. The five options being considered by the council range from Alternative 1, keeping the status quo, to Alternative 5, which calls for an in-season prohibited species cap on total chum salmon. In advance of the meeting, the council received some 238 comments from commercial and subsistence fishermen, communities and fisheries organizati...

NPFMC Plans Special Council Meeting in Anchorage

18Dec

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NPFMC Plans Special Council Meeting in Anchorage

Members of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council are planning a special council meeting in February at the Egan Center in downtown Anchorage to focus on two issues: a second review of a chum salmon bycatch analysis that the council last reviewed in April, and harvest specifications for Cook Inlet salmon. The council is scheduled to meet Feb. 6-12 to address Cook Inlet salmon harvest specifications and begin staff presentations on the chum salmon bycatch analysis on Feb. 7. The council noted that because this is a special issue meeting it won’t take up a full range of agency reports as it usually does, nor does it plan to take up staff tasking. Instead, the agenda items are to be resumed at the April council meeting, which is also scheduled to be held at Anchorage’s Egan Ce...

Research Team Designs Technology to Measure Carbon Dioxide in Oceans

4Dec

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Research Team Designs Technology to Measure Carbon Dioxide in Oceans

New technology developed by University of Alaska Fairbanks researchers and their industry partners would enable an unmanned underwater vehicle to measure carbon dioxide in the ocean, to help develop climate change adaptation plans. The design is now available to the scientific community, researchers at UAF's International Arctic Research Center said Nov. 26. The design was first published in the journal Ocean Science on Oct. 29. Over the past six years, a team from the UAF International Arctic Research Center (IARC) and private companies developed a way to equip an autonomous underwater vehicle called a Seaglider, with a sensor that monitors carbon dioxide. The sensor communicates with a satellite to provide high spatial and temporal resolution data for weeks at a time. This c...

NPFMC to Take Final Action on Charter Halibut Annual Management Measures

6Nov

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NPFMC to Take Final Action on Charter Halibut Annual Management Measures

Final action on charter halibut annual management measures is on the agenda, along with reports on groundfish specifications for the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands and Gulf of Alaska when the North Pacific Fishery Management Council meets in Anchorage Dec. 5-10. The meeting is being held at the Egan Center and via Zoom. Contact information for the Zoom link is posted on the Council’s website: https://meetings.npfmc.org/Meeting/Details/3066. There are also Zoom links to the Council’s Advisory Panel, which meets from Dec. 3-6 and the Scientific and Statistical Committee meeting from Dec. 2-4, both also at the Egan Center. In addition, the Crab Plan Team meets virtually on Dec. 5. Proposed groundfish harvest specifications for both 2025 and 2026 are typically set to match the final ...

NPFMC Opens Comment Period for October Meeting in Anchorage

11Sep

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NPFMC Opens Comment Period for October Meeting in Anchorage

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council has opened the public comment period for items on its agenda for the council’s next meeting, scheduled for Sept. 30 through Oct. 8 at the Egan Center in Anchorage. All comments submitted are to be reviewed and then visible online after the deadline closes. The council and its advisory panel will also take in-person and remote oral testimony during their meetings, which will also be broadcast on Zoom. Anyone intending to give oral testimony remotely must be connected to the meeting, either through zoom on their device or using a designated call-in phone number provided by the council in its meeting notice. Major issues listed on the agenda range from Bering Sea/Aleutian Island crab specifications for Bristol Bay red king crab Tanner ...

ABSC’s Goen Appointed to Fishery Management Council

28Aug

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ABSC’s Goen Appointed to Fishery Management Council

Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers Executive Director Jamie Goen has been appointed to a Washington State seat on the North Pacific Fishery Management Council to serve the remaining two-year term vacated by the May 5 death of Kenny Down, who had been a voting member of the council since 2015. The appointment was announced Aug. 21 by the U.S. Department of Commerce. The crab sector of the commercial fisheries industry heralded Goen’s appointment as a positive step for the crab fishery. While employed at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for 15 years, she focused on fishing quote programs, including implementation of the Trawl Rationalization Program. Before going to work for ABSC, Goen worked with the International Pacific Halibut Commission, overseeing the commission...

NPFMC to Discuss Observer Coverage, Other Fisheries Issues at Next Meeting

5Jun

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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...

NPFMC Approves Revisions of Salmon Bycatch Proposals for Another Staff Analysis

10Apr

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NPFMC Approves Revisions of Salmon Bycatch Proposals for Another Staff Analysis

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) on April 8 approved a lengthy revised list of alternatives for staff to analyze as part of a process where final action is still a year away. As council member Andy Mezirow noted during the meeting, the analyzed document is expected to come back before the council in the fall and final action is expected in April 2025. “This is not an action we are taking that will change anything,” said Mezirow, a charter vessel operator from Homer whose last council meeting before leaving office is set for June in Kodiak. “When the Board of Fisheries meets, they make a decision, but here it takes more time. “How can we do a better job of communicating that?” Mezirow asked fellow council members. “Is there a better way of communicating we ...

Wash. Governor Nominates Conservationist for Seat on NPFMC

27Mar

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Wash. Governor Nominates Conservationist for Seat on NPFMC

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on March 22 nominated Becca Robbins-Gisclair, senior director of Arctic Programs for the Ocean Conservancy, to one of two obligatory Washington state seats on the North Pacific Fishery Management Council. The governor said Robbins-Gisclair was his first choice, noting her work with Alaska tribes and grassroots organizations to protect a region that is on the frontlines of global climate change. She also serves as a domestic advisor for the North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission and the Bering Sea Fishery Advisory Body, and has worked for several Alaska organizations as a natural resources advisor. Robbins-Gisclair resides on Coast Salish lands in Bellingham, Wash. In his letter of recommendation to NOAA Fisheries Assistant Administrator for Fish...