Chum salmon bycatch threatens B season pollock

摘要

The Bering Sea trawl fleet posted high, early numbers for one species. Unfortunately, it's not walleye pollock.In just under a month, the fleet took 20,000 chum, triggering about 500 square miles of hotspot closures.If you've been keeping an eye on bycatch over the past few B seasons, you might have a bit of whiplash. In 2011, there were 200,000 chum taken by the end of August. The fleet did better last year, taking about 8,600 chum in the same time period.As I write this, things are changing again. The salmon are corning slower, which means the closures are letting up. Just under half of the pollock allocation has been harvested, and the fish are looking good, if a little small.One thing that probably won't change: a desire for better pricing. I've heard that UniSea is paying 20 percent less than last year.