Frozen halibut supplies threatened as Bering Sea cuts may doom fleet
SEAFOODNEWS.COM [News Tribune] By Lee van der Voo - December 11, 2014 -
A struggle in Alaska over shrinking supplies of halibut is threatening the iconic centerpiece fish.
When the international commission earlier this year slashed the halibut boats’ catch by one-third in the Bering Sea, it was counting on the American council, which regulates trawlers, to reduce the trawling boats’ allowable bycatch by the same amount.
That didn’t happen. The council instead has called for voluntary cutbacks. Some council members argue voluntary measures get results faster in an environment where the pace of rule-making can be slow. But the American council typically avoids curtailing trawlers, reasoning that it makes no sense to reduce the pollock, cod, sole and flounder fisheries that are so economically valuable to protect the comparatively tiny landings of halibut and other smaller fisheries.
“Shutting down a big-money fishery like pollock to save a few halibut is just not going to happen," said Per Odegaard, president of the Fishing Vessel Owners Association, a trade group based in Seattle. “The contributions, the lobbying and stuff, it's kind of a David and Goliath thing.”
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