Overview of North Pacific Salmon Bycatch Management Measures

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) recommends management measures for federal fisheries as specified in the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA).  Specifically, these measures balance the national standards related to minimizing bycatch while providing for sustainable fisheries.  The NPFMC has worked closely with stakeholders and a team of scientists through a public process to raise awareness of the critical issues while developing management measures that achieve the MSA objectives.  Chinook salmon bycatch in the Eastern Bering Sea pollock fishery reached an all-time high in 2007 whereas the bycatch of chum salmon was highest in 2005.  Since this time the bycatch has dropped considerably, partly in response to pending regulations (for Chinook salmon) that went into effect this year.  Stakeholder interactions have included extensive outreach to tribes and in rural villages where people depend on salmon for commercial, cultural, and subsistence purposes.  The NPFMC provides coordination of the science and public process behind policy decisions and management actions and continues to work closely with state, and other Federal agencies.  The new Chinook salmon bycatch measures which involve a hard cap are explained and developments designed to minimize chum bycatch are presented.