Greenpeace

Action Needed

North Pacific Fishery Management Council discusses more fish deaths!

11 December 10, 2007

We need all your help. I am asking that you please send a message to the North Pacific Fishery Management Council’s (NPFMC) Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) that our information, our science and our opinions should be considered. Anyway, here is some information I learned last week during the NPFMC’s meeting here in Anchorage. It might be confusing, but so is a lot of information they produce.

I will try to explain them, but if you don’t understand them, let me know or check the web site of the Council  … http://www.fakr.noaa.gov/npfmc/ and look around. Anyway, here goes.

The pacific cod fishery is on the decline in the Gulf of Alaska, as well as in the Bering Sea. To that fishery, a quota is set for halibut by catch. Without using the actual numbers, because we are talking hundreds of thousands of metric tons, I will use an example. Let us say the quota for the pacific cod in the Gulf of Alaska is 1000 pounds. This is just an example. The actual quota of Pacific cod in the Gulf of Alaska is set in 1996 was 68,000 metric tons. The total allowable catch quota for that year was 65,000 mt. Now, the rest are not actual numbers because I just want to get a point across. In order to catch that amount, 68,000 metric tons there is going to be by catch, or fish that are caught and discarded or thrown away. So this is an example of what happened at the NPFMC’s Advisory Panel on Friday. Again, its an example. The Cod is going down in numbers. So a lower quota was set for how much cod can be caught. As I mentioned earlier, a set amount of halibut by catch was also determined. Since the cod is declining, the fishing industry wants to transfer a portion of the by catch amount from the cod fishery into another fishery; for example, yellow-fin sole. Rather than decrease the amount of halibut to be killed in the cod fishery, lets move a percentage of the kill into another fishery, just to make sure we can still kill that same amount of halibut. Does that make any sense? Do you see the moral dilemma here? Like I said, it is really confusing, so if you don’t see it, not to worry.

Now here is where I would like to ask your help. This is an ACTION.

I sent an email to the Chairperson of the NPFMC’s Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC). This committee is made up of scientists and PhD’s to over see the “best available science” needs of the Great Pacific Northwest/Bering Sea fishery and its health of the ecosystem. I asked her if we can have 15 minutes of their time to view and discuss our findings of the Canyons last summer. This is what she told me: “We have seen your DVD. Unless there is something new, we can skip the presentation this time. You did show it during the evening last October, and most of the Committee saw it.” That is a paraphrase. If you want to see her actual email response, just ask. Anyway, since she has admitted to having seen our work, I want to ask for your help. Please send her and email asking her what she thought of our work on the Canyons. Here is her name and email as well as that of other SSC members.

1. Pat Livingston, Chair                pat.livingston@noaa.gov

2. Dr. George Hunt                    geohunt2@u.washington.edu

3. Ken Pitcher                            ken.pitcher@fishgame.state.ak.us

4. Dr. Gordon Kruse                    gordon.kruse@uaf.edu

I ask you to send each of these people an email asking them what they thought of our Canyons work. I would like to get as many emails going to them as possible. Please help. Ms. Livingston said they saw our work, so they should have an opinion.

Thank you very much.

George Pletnikoff