CAPTAIN’S LOG

Wild Alaska Cruises and Sport Fishing

3 months ago

Yep, I’m a broken record, and will be until somehow we change the trawler’s tune...

TRAWLERS LAST WEEK WASTED HERRING BYCATCH AT A RATE OF 1 POUND EVERY 2.017 SECONDS.

The trawl fleet in the Bering Sea / Aleutian Islands(BSAI) reported dumping 136 metric tons(299,828 lbs) of herring during the last week of data collection 3/14/2021 through 3/20/2021.

And we wonder why are halibut are growing more slowly...

Please make a public comment to help reduce or end this bycath wastage!

Public comments are being accepted in section C2 of the following link. A comment takes less than 5 minutes to make and can be anonymous!

Please share, thanks!

Comment link: meetings.npfmc.org/Meeting/Details/1945

Source: www.fisheries.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/akro/car120_psc_bsai_with_cdq2021.html. #captainlarry ... See MoreSee Less

Wild Alaska Cruises and Sport Fishing

3 months ago

I’m often asked- “Where are all the King Salmon?

Did you know that the King bycatch limit for trawlers in the Bering Sea / Aleutian Islands(BSAI) is set at 60,000 individual Kings for 2021?

That means that if the trawlers *only* waste 59,999 Kings this year, they're doing a "good job" in the eyes of NMFS and the North Council....

Also note that this does NOT include the additional 30,000(approx) Kings which the Gulf of Alaska trawl fleet is allowed to waste in 2021....

"A model of sustainability" - NOAA Fisheries. #captainlarry ... See MoreSee Less

Wild Alaska Cruises and Sport Fishing

3 months ago

Wild Alaska WILL become “Dead Alaska” without intervention.

2020 BYCATCH TALLY FOR FORAGE FISH AND GRENADIER @ 131 MILLION LBS

That's 1 BILLION pounds of *legal* waste every 7.6 years.

And this is just ONE category!

Then we sit back and wonder why we see diminishing returns, low size-at-age, and conflicts for food between humans and marine mammals...
#captainlarry ... See MoreSee Less

Wild Alaska Cruises and Sport Fishing

4 months ago

In 1997, Canada decided it was going to do something about its halibut trawl bycatch. Canada's solution was to require a Fisheries Observer aboard 100% of their trawlers, require that ALL bycatch be brought back to port(to be tallied), and to create an individual "Penalty Box" type system for their trawl fleet. The Penalty Box system created an individual allowable halibut bycatch limit for each boat on each trip. If a boat exceeded their individual limit on a trip, they would be put in the Penalty Box and not allowed to fish for a predetermined amount of time.

This Canadian system reduced the Canadian trawl fleet's halibut bycatch 90% in just two years. By changing their fishing techniques and fishing slightly less "efficiently", the Canadian trawl captains were able to STILL catch 100% of their target species.

Since Canada and the USA share a common biomass of halibut, Canadian regulators and biologists have been begging the US to adopt their system ever since. But to no avail....

Now, 23 years later, the Alaskan trawl fleet is STILL allowed to catch, kill, and dump more halibut each year than the entire rod and reel sector is allowed to retain. The ONLY possible explanation for this is that it is less expensive for the trawl industry to hire lobbyists(to keep halibut bycatch limits artificially high) than it is for the trawl captains to fish more cleanly(which would result in lower profit margins as a result of higher fuel burns and more time at sea).

Unfortunately, WE have all tolerated this waste for far too long. But now....., we're all feeling the sting of reduced limits and habitat destruction.

At SOME point, the directed fisheries as a whole(subsistence, rod & reel, and longline), are going to have stand up together to go all-in to fight for common-sense regulation of bycatch. Our elected officials(especially the governor of Alaska) need to have it made perfectly clear to them that the financial gains of accepting campaign donations from the trawl industry is NOT worth the voter outrage which it will create. Somewhere, there is a tipping point in the minds of politicians, and when we reach that tipping point, common sense shall suddenly prevail.

Please contact your elected officials and Industry Representatives!

The squeaky wheel gets fixed!

Dunleavy phone #(907) 465-3500

Murkowski email: www.murkowski.senate.gov/contact/email

Sullivan phone and email: www.sullivan.senate.gov/contact/email

Don Young phone and email: donyoung.house.gov/contact/

Contact info for NPFMC members: www.npfmc.org/council-members/
Thank you And credit to Stop Alaskan Bycatch #captainlarry ... See MoreSee Less

Wild Alaska Cruises and Sport Fishing

4 months ago

Here is the latest travel update from the Governor for planning your trip to Wild Alaska.
Aaaargh....let freedom ring...
covid19.alaska.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/02.14.21-Health-Advisory-2-International-and-Inters...
#captainlarry ... See MoreSee Less

Wild Alaska Cruises and Sport Fishing

7 months ago

Halibut trawl bycatch(in Alaska) in 2019 wasted about 1.43 million individual halibut.

For perspective, there is an estimated 180,000 bison skulls in this photograph.

If these skulls were halibut, it would take eight of these piles to represent how many individual fish were wasted in 2019.

www.fisheries.noaa.gov/alaska/commercial-fishing/fisheries-catch-and-landings-reports-alaska
#captainlarry ... See MoreSee Less