Fish Factor

Kodiak seiners will be scooping up pollock in their nets starting this week.

You heard right. Seiners have a chance to test the waters to determine if a directed pollock fishery makes sense for that type of gear in the Gulf.

Except for a small jig fishery, the only pollock fishery operating in state waters (out to three miles) is at Prince William Sound where trawlers this year have an 8.5 million pound catch.

“The initial seine opportunity will just run from April 11 through June 8 so we don’t overlap with salmon season. And during that time the harvest will be limited to 500,000 pounds,” said Trent Hartill, a groundfish manager at ADF&G in Kodiak. Pollock weigh three to four pounds on average.

The proposal for the trial pollock fishery got the nod in January from the state Board of Fisheries to operate under a special “commissioner’s permit” Hartill said.

“The purpose of that permit is to test the efficacy of seine gear in catching pollock,” he explained. “If it’s successful, it will provide information for the Board to determine whether they want to pursue a full blown fishery or move in whatever direction they desire.”

Roughly 190 salmon seiners are currently operating out of Kodiak and Hartill said there is lots of interest in giving pollock a try. The dock price in town is 12-14 cents a pound.

“This is the time when they will have to actually get some gear wet. We may have quite a few that come forward and we may have no vessels,” he said. “April 11 is the deadline to sign up so we’ll see.”

Lots of fish news this week from one end of the state to the other. It’s status quo for the Board of Fisheries seats – Governor Parnell has reappointed John Jensen, of Petersburg, Susan Jeffrey of Kodiak and Reed Morisky of Fairbanks to three-year terms that begin July 1. No grumblings over those choices which are expected to be easily confirmed by the Alaska legislature on April 11.

Alaska lawmakers reined in a misuse of dude licenses, originally intended to let tourists experience “a day in the life” of a fisherman. Over time, salmon permit holders, primarily at Bristol Bay, were buying consecutive seven day licenses for $30, half the cost of seasonal crew licenses. In 2005 when the program began, 47 dude licenses were sold; that number jumped to 1,344 in 2012. The estimated lost revenue to the state is more than $285,000. The new law will limit crew to one temporary license per year. It was sponsored by Rep. Paul Seaton of Homer.

Back to the Bay - Sue Aspelund will take the helm as director of the Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association, operated and funded by more than 1,850 salmon driftnetters. She retired in January after six years as Deputy Director of Fish & Game's Commercial Fisheries Division. From 1998 to 2003 Aspelund served as director of Cordova District Fishermen United, which represents Copper River and Prince William Sound harvesters. Her new role will be a sort of homecoming - from 1980 to 2003 Aspelund owned and operated a salmon setnet operation on the Naknek River.

Fishing break - Fishermen way out west got a break when NOAA Fisheries changed course and agreed to relax some restrictions in the western and central Aleutian Islands aimed at protecting the food and habitat needs for Steller sea lions. The Atka mackerel and Pacific cod fisheries have been closed in those regions for three years, at a loss to the industry of $65 million per year. The agency estimates that the proposed fishery management changes would relieve roughly two-thirds of the economic burden imposed on Aleutian Islands’ fishermen by sea lion protection measures that took effect in 2011. New regulations should be set by next January.

NOAA Fisheries also decreed last week that a listing of the Southeast Alaska herring population near Lynn Canal does not warrant an endangered species listing. The Juneau Group of the Sierra Club petitioned NOAA to list that stock in 2007.