AK Pollock Industry Success with salmon by-catch avoidance gear recognized and supported by NGOs SEAFOODNEWS.COM by John Sackton Sept. 24, 2014 The Pollock industry has worked for years with the North Pacific Research Foundation to develop gear that reduces bycatch of salmon. Recently The Nature Conservancy was invited to audit the performance of their salmon avoidance gear, to independently certify its effectiveness. This video was produced by the Nature Conservancy, and shared with us via the North Pacific Research Foundation. The project was an example of the industry and The Nature Conservancy working together on a common goal: making the pollock fishery as sustainable as possible through reducing bycatch to the lowest possible levels. The gear takes advantage of different behaviors of salmon and pollock. Salmon are stronger swimmers, as they need to swim upstream in their natal rivers - often through strong currents. The gear modification provides an opening at the lead in the net, which salmon can swim back to, but which pollock cant. Trials documented in the video showed, according to John Gauvin, that the gear modifications allowed 40% of the chinook salmon to swim out of the net, with perhaps 1% to 3% of pollock. Were pretty happy with those results, he said. Of course the gear modifications dont replace other strategies such as cooperative bycatch management and chinook avoidance. As the spokesperson for the Nature Conservancy says, the gear modification is really a last resort - so that if a salmon ends up in a pollock trawl, it has the opportunity to escape. It is worth noting that this kind of effort is non-existant in other pollock fisheries around the world, and is a clear example of Alaska pollock industrys leadership in sustainability. The video was produced by the Nature Conservancy. youtube/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=HBNXJOKEccw#t=0 John Sackton, Editor And Publisher SeafoodNews 1-781-861-1441 Email comments to jsackton@seafood
Posted on: Wed, 24 Sep 2014 18:40:15 +0000
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