By Jon Warrenchuk, Oceana
May 10, 2021
Fishery management discussions are often complex, with acronyms and jargon that can cloud the conversation. Real-world outcomes of fishery decisions, however, are easier to understand and many members of the public are frustrated with the results. Take, for example, the following issues associated with industrial trawling in Alaska. Any one of these could raise the ire of those who appreciate Alaska’s ocean ecosystems and rely on fish for their livelihoods or to fill their freezers:
Tanner crab fisheries remain closed off Kodiak, while bottom-trawlers dragging for arrowtooth flounder kill millions of crab.
A photo circulating on social media of two killer whales, drowned in a trawl net and dead on the back deck of a factory trawler.
Salmon derbies cancelled, subsistence and sportfishing curtailed, and salmon fisheries closed while trawlers killed tens of thousands of king salmon as bycatch.
Trawlers greatly exceeded their sablefish quotas two years in a row without repercussion.
Herring bycatch limits were lifted in the Bering Sea as soon as trawlers exceeded the cap.
Millions of halibut killed as bycatch by bottom-trawlers, while halibut fishermen see their quotas decline and sportfishing charters are limited to keeping a single halibut per client.
Deep-sea corals, sponges, and other living seafloor habitat damaged by trawling that will take decades to recover, if ever.
Trawl cod-ends stuffed with king crab bycatch and trawl impacts to crab habitat that were ignored by fishery managers while the Bristol Bay red king crab stock collapsed, according to a whistleblower complaint filed by a retired fisheries biologist.
A recent study estimated that bottom-trawling disturbance of carbon-storing ocean muds releases as much greenhouse gas emissions as the global airline industry generates burning jet fuel.
A Seattle-based factory trawler company sued the State of Alaska to avoid paying fish landing taxes.
Jon Warrenchuk is the Senior Scientist and Campaign Manager for Oceana. He lives in Juneau, Alaska.
SeafoodNews.com