Pollock vessels work in dress rehearsal of new bycatch caps

摘要

Facing the certainty of hard salmon by catch caps next year, some pollock vessels are holding a dress rehearsal this spring. Last year, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council instituted a hard cap on Chinook salmon bycatch within the pollock fishery that goes into effect in 2011. Each individual boat will be allocated a number of salmon based on their pollock quota. If they catch more than that number of salmon, they will have to stop fishing. Though the total bycatch number is set at 60,000 Chinook, the new rule aims to keep the average bycatch at 47,591 or fewer through the use of industry-developed incentive plans.