According to a report the Aleutian Islands district will open to commercial fishing tomorrow, only to close a day and a half later on Thursday. Trent Hartill, a biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, said that this is probably the latest opening that they have had as in previous years it’s usually early to mid-March.
The information revealed that the state-waters fishery opens up as soon as the federal A season closes. That happened late this year, with the fishery only closing to the catcher-vessel trawl sector this Saturday. According to Hartill there are a various reasons behind such decision, including a much higher total allowable catch and a lack of processors in Adak.
The press release states that the vessels participating in the state-waters fishery will be able to harvest approximately 5,500 metric tons this A season, and then about half of that in the B season that comes later in the year. The total harvest level is determined by taking 3% of the acceptable biological catch. So far, only three vessels have registered to fish Pacific cod in state waters – a lower number than usual.
