US fisheries managers have increased the total allowable catch (TAC) for pollock and Pacific cod in the 2011 groundfish fisheries, which begin in January in the Bering Sea, Aleutian Islands and Gulf of Alaska.
For the Eastern Bering Sea, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, meeting in Anchorage, approved a harvest of 1.25 million tonnes of pollock, up from 813,000 tonnes this year.
For the Pacific cod fishery in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands, the council raised the TAC to 227,950 tonnes for 2011, up from 168,780 tonnes allowed for harvest this year.
Pacific Ocean perch in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands, was allocated a harvest of 24,700 tonnes, up from18,860 this year, but the council lowered the allowable harvest for yellowfin sole and Atka mackerel.
For 2010, the yellowfin sole commercial fishery was allocated 219,000 tonnes, but in 2011 this will drop to 196,000 tonnes. The Atka mackerel allowable harvest for 2010 was 74,000 tonnes, but in the coming year it will be lowered to 53,080 tonnes.
In the Gulf of Alaska, the federal council approved a total allowable harvest of 96,215 tonnes of pollock, 65,100 tonnes of Pacific cod, 34,317 tonnes of Arrowtooth flounder, 16,997 tonnes of Pacific Ocean perch, and 11,290 tonnes of sablefish.
This year the allowable catch for pollock was 75,500 tonnes, Pacific cod was 59,563 tonnes, Arrowtooth flounder was 43,000 tonnes, Pacific Ocean perch was 17,584 tonnes, and sablefish was 10,370 tonnes.
The council's action must still be approved by US secretary of commerce Gary Locke.
[Source: Bristol Bay Times]
