Alaskan Snow Crab Season Canceled

[z987k]

Just curious, what's the bottom trawler/salmon link? Is it a food source/supply issue?

The salmon by-catch from the bottom trawlers is obscene. They also throw them all back dead.

For example, from last month, the observed(20% observation rate) by-catch only in the gulf was 14,120 individual crab, 105,821lbs Halibut, 1308 kings in one week. That's dead thrown back waste.

The Halibut and Crab are getting descimated at a higher rate than King Salmon, but kings have already been more or less wiped out, so they don't have as much by-catch of them anymore. 1308 kings was more kings than made it up the yukon river this whole year.

 

[def90]

The salmon by-catch from the bottom trawlers is obscene. They also throw them all back dead.

For example, from last month, the observed(20% observation rate) by-catch only in the gulf was 14,120 individual crab, 105,821lbs Halibut, 1308 kings in one week. That's dead thrown back waste.

The Halibut and Crab are getting descimated at a higher rate than King Salmon, but kings have already been more or less wiped out, so they don't have as much by-catch of them anymore. 1308 kings was more kings than made it up the yukon river this whole year.

I wouldn't have expected salmon to be bottom feeders, would have expected them to be hanging out with the other pelagic fish.

 

[z987k]

I wouldn't have expected salmon to be bottom feeders, would have expected them to be hanging out with the other pelagic fish.

They routinely get pelagic rockfish, sharks, orcas, seals, sea lions and turtles as well. It's rather indiscriminate.

Altogether it's about 141 million pounds of wasted fish every year.

 

[gbflyer]

Make those assholes bring the bycatch to market. End of bycatch.

 

[cuerro viejo]

Don’t know. Just know he’s been there since he was born in 1985 and I trust what he says.

happened in the early 1980s too. Betting Russia’s over harvested againnnnn

 

[z987k]

Make those assholes bring the bycatch to market. End of bycatch.

What they do is a felony in state waters. If one of those boats ever comes ashore in Alaska, I hope our AG has the balls to arrest the entire crew, seize the vessel and sink it.

What's really infuriating is the economic value of the bycatch is over 50x the fish they're targeting. We have Alaskan fishermen that are no longer allowed to fish because the quotas are all filled up (and then some, they routinely go wildly over their quota, no fine either) from by catch, the fisheries are collapsing and local fishermen are left screwed.

The whole fleet is based out of state so not a dime goes to Alaska.

 

[kwackkillncrew]

Trawlers are the scum of the earth. Just watch a couple videos if you want to see how devastating they are.

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[Kenai_dtracker]

What they do is a felony in state waters. If one of those boats ever comes ashore in Alaska, I hope our AG has the balls to arrest the entire crew, seize the vessel and sink it.

What's really infuriating is the economic value of the bycatch is over 50x the fish they're targeting. We have Alaskan fishermen that are no longer allowed to fish because the quotas are all filled up (and then some, they routinely go wildly over their quota, no fine either) from by catch, the fisheries are collapsing and local fishermen are left screwed.

The whole fleet is based out of state so not a dime goes to Alaska.

I worked as an observer in AK out of Kodiak and Dutch in 2001 and 2002, on bottom trawlers, pelagic trawlers and P-cod longliners. The longliners were pretty clean fishery, but yes, they did have halibut by catch, however, they were prohibited from letting halibut go through the crucifier. Circle hooks were required and they needed to do a hook twist or break the gangion for safe release. Bottom trawling has always been a dirty fishery on both coast, unfortunately.

For the pelagic pollock fishery, we did se king salmon bycatch, as well as some salmon sharks. These large midwater trawls are not made for bouncing off the bottom though. There are no protective cookies or rollers, and the foot rope is just that, a heavy poly line that will snag anything if it touches the substrate.

To bad about the Alaska crab fishery. I loved my time out there and saw some amazing places out on the Aleutian chain.

 

[AKBC]

What they do is a felony in state waters. If one of those boats ever comes ashore in Alaska, I hope our AG has the balls to arrest the entire crew, seize the vessel and sink it.

What's really infuriating is the economic value of the bycatch is over 50x the fish they're targeting. We have Alaskan fishermen that are no longer allowed to fish because the quotas are all filled up (and then some, they routinely go wildly over their quota, no fine either) from by catch, the fisheries are collapsing and local fishermen are left screwed.

The whole fleet is based out of state so not a dime goes to Alaska.

There are a bunch based in Kodiak.

 

[Zhem]

The salmon by-catch from the bottom trawlers is obscene. They also throw them all back dead.

For example, from last month, the observed(20% observation rate) by-catch only in the gulf was 14,120 individual crab, 105,821lbs Halibut, 1308 kings in one week. That's dead thrown back waste.

The Halibut and Crab are getting descimated at a higher rate than King Salmon, but kings have already been more or less wiped out, so they don't have as much by-catch of them anymore. 1308 kings was more kings than made it up the yukon river this whole year.

Wow...those are some crazy numbers.

 

[AZGUY]

Wow this is why I asked, I had no idea. Thanks for all of the info everybody.

 

[z987k]

There are a bunch based in Kodiak.

I didn't think a single Amendment 80 boat is based in Alaska.

 

[AKBC]

I didn't think a single Amendment 80 boat is based in Alaska.

I thought you were referring broadly to draggers and there are more than just the Amendment 80 fleet. It seems that these Alaska trawl fisheries are divided in such a way so as to obscure the total bycatch in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska. There are bycatch limits for different fleets, different areas, different gear types, and different species and unless you're in the business it is hard to figure out the total impact. Additionally, the bycatch limits are sometimes ignored and they just keep fishing.

 

[Laelkhunter]

On a similar subject, in September 2022 a pogie (menhaden) trawling boat off the Louisiana coast caught too much fish in the net to get it aboard. The ship couldn't haul it aboard, so they just cut the net free, and let it drift away. All of the catch in the net died, with an estimated 1 million pounds of fish in it. All wasted, nothing recovered. A large rotting mess that is still drifting out in the Gulf. Damn shame !!!

 

[z987k]

I thought you were referring broadly to draggers and there are more than just the Amendment 80 fleet. It seems that these Alaska trawl fisheries are divided in such a way so as to obscure the total bycatch in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska. There are bycatch limits for different fleets, different areas, different gear types, and different species and unless you're in the business it is hard to figure out the total impact. Additionally, the bycatch limits are sometimes ignored and they just keep fishing.

Ya, I know there's more than just the A80 fleet, but they're the worst offender by a large margin.

And ya, they typically do go right past their limits and they don't even get fined. So there's not incentive to not do that.

 

[Pro953]

What species and generally targeted by the trawlers? Just curious.


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[z987k]

What species and generally targeted by the trawlers? Just curious.


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Pollock and cod.

It's your McDonald's fish sandwich(McD owns some of the trawlers). And they say it's sustainably caught. It's very much not.
It's also the fake crab garbage they put in American sushi rolls and other places they need 25 cent a pound bland white fish. Fish sticks and other fish mush breaded/fried products.