Official data shows that pollock boats and other commercial fishermen in the Gulf of Alaska have accidentally caught an estimated 58,336 king salmon this year. This is certainly a record high numbers that could trigger new restrictions. Josh Keaton, a fisheries manager with the National Marine Fisheries Service, told that this is the largest bycatch ever seen, which means a lot of kings are out there to be caught and they ran into a big pack of them.
The main cause of such a high number of bycatch is pollock trawl fishery. Bycatch is a perennial source of conflict between trawlers and people who prize kings — commercial salmon vessels, subsistence users and sport fishermen. The bycatch this year was large enough to attract the attention of fishery managers in the Lower 48 because kings accidentally caught in the Gulf of Alaska might be from endangered stocks from the Lower 48.
Looking into this matter experts believe that the 2010 numbers could lead to new restrictions or regulations designed to lower bycatch, but not immediately. Bycatch already was on the agenda in December for the North Pacific Fishery Management Council but the group planned only to consider a new research. Julie Bonney, director of a groundfish industry group, Groundfish Data Bank, said that salmon bycatch is difficult to control because the fish are always moving around, but the trawl industry does have technologies to reduce it.
