Intense Opposition from Fleet to GOA Bycatch Management Plan at North Pacific Council
SEAFOODNEWS.COM By Peggy Parker - February 9, 2016
More than 50 skippers and crew of the Gulf of Alaska trawl fleet stopped fishing and flew to Portland to voice their opposition to an alternative that ran counter to what many in the industry had been working on for years.
Alternative 3 was added to the Council’s discussion paper last fall as part of a proposed management structure intended to reduce bycatch, create better accountability for bycatch, increase at-sea monitoring, and improve safety and efficiency for the GOA trawl fleet.
Testimony against Alt 3 ran for two days at the Advisory Panel and before the Council, much of it from skippers who would have been fishing if prices were higher and, in some cases, bycatch was lower. Nevertheless, the trip to Portland from Dutch Harbor, Kodiak, or King Cove by a majority of the fleet to register their opposition to the new proposal, was a rare event.
Most opposition focused on...
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