According to NOAA Fisheries it has prepared a draft environmental impact statement that proposes methods of reducing the number of Chinook salmon accidentally caught by Bering Sea pollock fishermen. The authority has now extended the public comment period on this draft. Acting Alaska Regional Administrator Doug Mecum informed that after considering numerous fishing industry requests the authority has extended the comment period for the Draft Environmental Impact Statement on Bering Sea Chinook Salmon Bycatch Management through February 23, 2009.
Mecum also said that the authority want to give the public additional time for comment without delaying the North Pacific Fishery Management Council’s plan to take final action at its April 2009 meeting. In the draft EIS, managers describe ways to limit the accidental salmon ‘bycatch’ in order to conserve Chinook salmon, maintain a healthy ecosystem, and provide maximum benefit to fishermen and communities that depend on Chinook salmon and pollock.
The Bering sea pollock fishery catches up to 95 percent of the Chinook salmon taken as bycatch in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands groundfish fisheries. The draft EIS also reveals projected environmental, social, and economic impacts of four alternatives to minimize Chinook salmon bycatch while still achieving optimum yield in the Bering Sea pollock fishery.
