By Margaret Bauman
Alaska Journal of Commerce

Scientists who advise the North Pacific Fishery Management Council recommended Dec. 8 that the 2009 harvest level for the $1 billion Alaska pollock fishery be set at 815,000 tons, an 18 percent reduction from the 2008 limit of 1 million tons.

The final decision on the 2009 catch will be made in December.

The recommendation from the council's scientific and statistical committee garnered quick support from the Marine Conservation Alliance, a coalition of harvesters, processors and communities involved in the groundfish and crab fisheries.

“MCA supports the council's long tradition of following the recommendations of its scientists, which is why we have a 30-year record of conserving fish stocks,” said David Benton, MCA executive director.

The council as a rule pays close attention to recommendations of its scientific and statistical committee. In this case, Benton said, the committee's recommendation was based on stock surveys that showed a decline in the available pollock biomass, but also found indications that the stock may soon be rebuilding.

Greenpeace, the international environmental group, would prefer that the allowable harvest be reduced to 458,000 tons, and has been arguing its opinion in television advertisements in Alaska and Seattle.

A Dec. 2 letter to the council, signed by Greenpeace USA and a number of other conservation groups and individual marine scientists, urged new measures to reverse the decline of the eastern Bering Sea pollock stocks, which they said has declined an average of 20 percent a year since 2003.

“This is of concern not only for pollock stocks and for the pollock fishery, but also for the broader ecosystem, due to pollock's role as a staple food source for many species of marine mammals, sea birds, and other fish species of economic importance to the region's fishermen,” the group said.

The group urged substantial reductions in the allowable catch, suspension of the roe fishery and establishment of marine reserves. These measures would help reverse the decline of Bering Sea pollock stocks, reduce the amount of fish caught incidentally, and reduce impacts on marine mammals, they said.

The Marine Stewardship Council, an independent third-party certification system, meanwhile, issued a statement Dec. 8 reaffirming that the Alaska pollock fishery remains certified as sustainable.

Under the MSC certification program, independent certifiers using teams of scientists assess the health of the stock, the impact of the fishery on the ecosystem and the management system that oversees the fishery. The Alaska pollock fishery was MSC-certified in 2005 after a rigorous review and must undergo annual audits to assure it continues to meet the MSC standard.

“The Alaska pollock fishery has a reputation as one of the world's best managed fisheries because of both its tracking and reaction to the fluctuations of the fish population,” MSC said in a statement. “In 2008, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, the entity responsible for managing the fishery, took action to reduce the allowable catch to account for the cyclical downturn.”

MSC also noted that pollock harvesting vessels have 100 percent observer coverage, with one or two federal fishery observers on board each vessel to monitor and record catches and conduct scientific research. Observers are also assigned to all pollock onshore processing facilities. Pollock comprise 99.5 percent of what is caught in the net, the council said.