Head of NOAA Fisheries Recommends Higher Halibut Catch Limits in Beleaguered Saint Paul Region NMFS has recommended that the International Pacific Halibut Commission consider setting a higher quota for the major halibut fishing zone 4CDE in the northern and eastern Bering Sea. In a letter sent to IPHC commissioners and the group’s executive director Bruce Leaman, NMFS Assistant Administrator Eileen Sobeck cites a few reasons why the 2015 harvest level in that area should be increased despite scientific advice to further lower catch limits in the region, which accounts for 55 percent of the fishing grounds managed by the IPHC. According to Peggy Parker the letter is unusual in that NMFS rarely offers advice or recommendations on halibut catch limits, just as Canada's Department of Fisheries and Oceans does not engage in catch limit recommendations. The IPHC will take up the issue at their annual meeting next week in Vancouver. Alaska’s recently elected Governor Bill Walker will focus on fish protection and access as part of a “fish first “policy. The plan will also prioritize adequate funding for the ADF&G and fisheries science and continue to base fishery management decisions on science not politics. In other news Norwegian fishery scientists are studying what conditions are needed in order to preserve Barents Sea snow crab so they can be sold into the live market. “Snow crabs will be the Barents Sea’s biggest resource,” said Senior Scientist Sten Siikavuopio at the Nofima research institute. Meanwhile, SeaPak will focus on easy-to-prepare dinner ideas in their campaign to raise frozen shrimp and seafood consumption among consumers for the upcoming Lenten season. “During the season of Lent, we want to make it as easy as possible to bring the taste of the coast to the table and to share it with family and friends,” said Daryl Miller, Director of Marketing, SeaPak Shrimp & Seafood Co. Finally, sales were down again for McDonald’s in December to close out what may have been the worst year for its US operations in company history. The company will report its full-year results before the market opens tomorrow, where it is expected to report its first decline in domestic system wide sales in decades.