A new rule implemented by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council has put a limit on the number of Chinook salmon that can be killed as bycatch in the Central and Western Gulf of Alaska bottom trawl fisheries.
The fisheries that target rockfish, cod and flatfish now cannot catch more than 7,500 Chinook salmon as bycatch, or will have to stop fishing for the season.
The rule also requires that all Chinook salmon caught by bottom trawlers be delivered to a processing facility where an observer can count the number of salmon and collect scientific data or biological samples. This brings the total number of Chinook salmon that can be killed by the groundfish fisheries each year in the Gulf of Alaska to 32,500 salmon.
Chinook salmon abundance has been declining for over 50 years in Alaska and on the entire Pacific coast.
“Chinook salmon are in trouble, and one way to ensure these salmon have a chance to return to our rivers to spawn is to avoid having them dragged up by bottom trawlers,” said Jon Warrenchuk, Senior Scientist and Campaign Manager for Oceana.
