A federal review of Alaska groundfish harvest specifications, now out for public review, examines projected environmental impact of alternative harvest strategies for groundfish fisheries in the Gulf of Alaska, Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands.
Public comment is being accepted through Feb. 12.
Ben Muse, an economist with the Alaska region of National Marine Fisheries Service, said Jan. 8 that this is the first time NOAA Fisheries produced an environmental impact statement on alternative harvest strategies for groundfish, including pollock, Pacific cod, rockfish and flatfish. In past years, the document was an environmental assessment.
Muse said the decision to produce the EIS initially is part of NOAA's effort to steadily improve this annual document.
“An assessment is a document you do when you are confident there won't be significant environmental impacts from an action,” Muse said. “It is a document designed to see if you need an EIS. In this instance, we decided we didn't want to make that conclusion; we didn't want to prejudge the situation. The EIS is designed to survey a range of alternatives, and explain and describe the impacts of those alternatives on the environment.
“There were many more formal activities for public input into the process than in previous years. We had a scoping process right at the start to hear what the public thought the document should look like. This document is designed to look at the whole ecosystem,” Muse said.
Doug Mecum, acting administrator for the Alaska region of NOAA Fisheries, said NOAA Fisheries will review and consider all comments before issuing its record of decision later in February.
The process involves federal fisheries decision makers and the public in an evaluation of environmental, social and economic effects of various harvest strategies in this multi-million dollar harvest of tons of groundfish. Harvest strategies must comply with federal regulations, fishery management plans and the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. The harvest strategies use the best available scientific information to derive the harvest specifications for the groundfish fisheries.
Each year the federal Department of Commerce makes decisions on harvest specifications for groundfish based on recommendations of the North Pacific Fishery management Council. Harvest specifications, while providing for orderly and controlled commercial fishing for groundfish, aim to promote sustainable incomes to the fishing, fish processing and support industries, support sustainable fishing communities and provide sustainable flow of fish products to consumers.
Copies of this year's groundfish EIS can be downloaded electronically from www.fakr.noaa.gov.
Margaret Bauman can be reached at
margie.bauman@alaskajournal.com.
