Two Kodiak trawlers caught 2,000 king salmon. Now, a whole fishery is closed.

A trawl alloy sits astatine nan dock successful Kodiak this summer. (Photo by Nathaniel Herz/Northern Journal)

Federal managers shut down a awesome Alaska fishery Wednesday aft 2 Kodiak-based boats targeting whitefish caught immoderate 2,000 king salmon — an unintentional harvest that drew near-instant condemnation from advocates who want amended protections for nan struggling species.

The Kodiak-based trawl fleet has caught conscionable complete one-fourth of its seasonal quota of pollock — a whitefish that’s typically processed into items for illustration food sticks, food pies and surimi, nan paste utilized to make clone crab. 

But astir 20 boats will now beryllium forced to extremity their play weeks earlier its Nov. 1 closure, pinch hundreds of jobs astatine shore-based processing plants besides successful jeopardy, to make judge nan fleet doesn’t transcend its yearly headdress connected its unintentional king salmon harvest — immoderate 18,000 fish.

“From a organization perspective, it’s huge,” said Julie Bonney, who runs a waste and acquisition group, the Alaska Groundfish Data Bank, that represents nan trawlers and processing companies. “Nobody’s happy astir nan closure, but they understand nan reason.”

The incident is judge to tie much scrutiny connected nan rumor of bycatch — nan manufacture word for nan unintended harvest, typically of salmon aliases halibut, by boats targeting different species.

Tribal advocates and conservation groups, for nan past respective years, person been making progressively urgent pleas to managers to ace down connected bycatch by trawl vessels, which tin scoop up salmon successful nan nets they resistance done nan h2o targeting pollock and different lower-value species.

Those groups’ attraction has mostly been connected bycatch by pollock trawlers successful nan Bering Sea.

The salmon caught Sunday were harvested utilizing nan aforesaid type of nets utilized by trawlers successful nan Bering Sea, but successful a different area of nan ocean, nan cardinal Gulf of Alaska.

Most of nan salmon caught arsenic bycatch successful nan gulf are from British Columbia and nan U.S. West Coast, according to genetic information published by national scientists.

But immoderate besides travel from neighboring Alaska rivers, peculiarly successful Southeast Alaska but besides successful mini proportions from nan Copper and Kenai rivers. 

King salmon successful galore of those Alaska rivers person struggled successful caller years — forcing closures and restrictions connected different fishermen, and moreover a petition to database Gulf of Alaska kings arsenic endangered.

The 2 Kodiak trawlers caught nan salmon Sunday. Bonney and national managers declined to place nan 2 vessels, but a co-owner of 1 of them, nan Evie Grace, confirmed that it had harvested much than 1,200 kings successful an arena he called a “lightning strike.”

Up to that constituent successful nan season, nan astir king salmon that nan Evie Grace had caught successful a azygous travel was 53, and its full harvested complete 11 trips was 270, said Kent Helligso, 69. The alloy is owned by a Kodiak-based family partnership, pinch immoderate of Helligso’s grandchildren moving arsenic his family’s 5th procreation successful nan industry, he said.

“Weather was coming up, and they group and made a tow retired and yea — astir apt towed measurement excessively long, we decidedly cognize that now,” he said. “But it was conscionable benignant of unlucky, luck of nan draw.”

Bycatch successful nan cardinal Gulf trawl fishery is managed nether a analyzable national model successful which only a information of vessels person their salmon bycatch numbers independently verified.

Because some of nan 2 vessels progressive successful Sunday’s incident had their counts verified, their numbers were extrapolated retired to nan unverified vessels, putting nan full fleet complete its yearly limit of 18,316 fish, said Josh Keaton, a apical national head pinch nan National Marine Fisheries Service. 

That’s nan first clip nan yearly headdress has been deed since it went into spot successful 2012, said Bonney.

The general closure wasn’t issued until Wednesday morning, but nan fleet stopped sportfishing successful nan meantime, knowing nan headdress was astatine consequence of being exceeded, Keaton added.

“I do deliberation it’s important to admit that nan fleet voluntarily stood down,” he said. “They attraction arsenic overmuch astir these information arsenic we did.”

Data from processing companies that covers nan trawlers’ full harvest, which hasn’t been independently verified, shows that nan fleet’s full king salmon bycatch for nan play is still nether 13,000, according to Helligso. 

But national managers trust only connected nan verified information for their closure decision, according to Keaton of nan National Marine Fisheries Service.

Next year, he added, caller national rules involving onboard video cameras should consequence successful a overmuch larger fraction of nan fleet having its drawback numbers independently verified.

Each of nan salmon caught by nan 2 vessels has besides been genetically sampled, Keaton said.

The information that comes backmost could supply immoderate caller accusation to managers, he added — shedding ray connected whether nan kings mixing pinch a azygous schoolhouse of pollock travel from a azygous population, aliases aggregate areas.

In nan meantime, fishermen and processing companies are still trying to benignant retired whether nan Kodiak trawl fleet could move to different fisheries. 

But amid an economic crisis in Alaska’s seafood industry, it’s not clear that sportfishing for different disposable species, for illustration rockfish, will pencil out, said Bonney.

“I person a emotion there’s going to beryllium immoderate beautiful hurting checkbooks present shortly,” she said.

Nathaniel Herz welcomes tips at natherz@gmail.com or (907) 793-0312. This article was originally published in Northern Journal, a newsletter from Herz. Subscribe astatine this link.