91 Chinook Salmon Bycatch Management
Purpose and Need
Amendment 91 addressed bycatch in the Bering Sea directed fisheries for pollock and revised BSAI Amendment 84 (implemented on June 22, 2007), which established the salmon bycatch intercooperative agreement allowing the directed fisheries to utilize their internal cooperative structure to reduce salmon bycatch. Historically, the Bering Sea pollock fishery caught up to 95 percent of the Chinook salmon taken as bycatch in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Island groundfish fisheries with a peak of about 122,000 in 2007. Genetic studies indicated that a substantial portion of the Bering Sea Chinook bycatch were members of Western Alaska river stocks. In response to the high rates of bycatch in the fishery the Council and NMFS considered alternative measures to minimize bycatch to the extent practicable while maintaining optimum yield, which mandates a fishery be managed to provide the greatest overall benefit to the Nation. These benefits include ecosystem considerations, recreational opportunity, and subsistence use.
Analysis
In cooperation with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, a 492-page EIS and 225 -page RIR analysis were prepared. Three of the alternatives analyzed explored a hard cap on Chinook salmon PSC limits and the Council favored the alternative that imposed a hard cap PSC limit in combination with an incentive-based program. The EIS analysis included the effects of a PSC on other species including walleye pollock, chum salmon, other groundfish and forage fish, and other marine resources. The Council considered implementation alternatives such as starting with a cap that was a 20% increase in the highest year pre-2007 and gradually meeting the desired PSC limit, but they were rejected because they were not consistent with the purpose and need because it would not reduce bycatch significantly in the first three years of implementation. The Council also considered an alternative to charge a per salmon fee, but the Magnuson-Stevens Act provides NMFS limited authority to impose fees.
Regulation Summary
This innovative regulation is a combination of a hard cap on allowable Chinook salmon bycatch in combination with incentive-based measures to encourage cooperation in establishing an incentive plan agreement (IPA). The Chinook salmon PSC limit available to AFA sectors in the Bering Sea pollock fishery that voluntarily participate in the IPA and meet a minimum performance standard is 60,000; if no IPA is approved by NMFS or if the sectors do not meet minimum standards the PSC limit for BSAI Chinook salmon is 47,591. Additionally, if performance standards are not met in three of seven consecutive years the 47,591 PSC limit will remain in effect for all future years. 70 percent of the PSC limit is allocated for season A and 30 percent is allocated for season B, with further apportionments among the four AFA sectors. Once the PSC limit for Chinook salmon has been met the pollock fishery is closed.
Results
This amendment established the first ever hard cap on the pollock fishery for Chinook salmon PSC. While this was effective in controlling the amount of Chinook salmon PSC, additional caps have been considered to incentivize staying below a second, lower cap. The amendment to Amendment 91 is BSAI groundfish FMP Amendment 110, and is currently a proposed rule published February 3, 2016 (81 FR 5681).