Dan Hull, Chairman
David Witherell, Executive Director
SUBJECT: title
Salmon Bycatch - Pollock ICA/IPA Reports; Update on Salmon Genetics and BSAI salmon Adult Equivalency (AEQ)
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STAFF CONTACT: Diana Stram (NPFMC)
ACTION REQUIRED: recommended action
• Review Pollock IPA reports
• Review Salmon Bycatch genetics
• Review Update on Bering Sea salmon bycatch Adult Equivalency analysis
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BACKGROUND:
Bering Sea Chinook salmon Incentive Plan Agreements annual reports
Under regulations implementing the Amendment 91 Bering Sea Chinook salmon bycatch management program, annual reports are required of each IPA entity and are provided to the Council at the April Council meeting. Regulations at 50 CFR 679.21(f)(13) stipulate that IPA entities report annually on the following:
• Incentive measures in effect in the previous year;
• How incentive measures affected individual vessels;
• How incentive measures affected salmon savings beyond current levels;
• IPA amendments approved by NMFS since the last annual report and the reasons for amendments;
• Sub-allocations to each participating vessel;
• Number of Chinook PSC and amount of pollock (mt) at the start of each fishing season;
• Number of Chinook PSC and amount of pollock (mt) caught at the end of each season;
• In-season transfers among entities of Chinook salmon PSC or pollock among AFA cooperatives;
• Transfers among IPA vessels; and amount of pollock (mt) transferred.
Regulations promulgated under Amendment 110 also incorporated chum salmon bycatch reporting under the IPAs in lieu of the exemption to the Chum Salmon Savings Area previously enacted under Amendment 84. Some description of how chum salmon will be managed under the IPAs should be included in reports from the IPAs. Reports from each of the three IPAs (for at-sea catcher processors, motherships, and inshore vessels) are attached under this agenda item.
Salmon bycatch stock composition
Three genetics reports are attached to this agenda item that evaluate the stock of origin of Chinook and chum salmon caught as bycatch in the 2016 fishing year for the BSAI and GOA pollock fisheries, the GOA rockfish (and arrowtooth) CV trawl fishery, and the GOA non-pollock CP trawl fisheries. Staff from NMFS AFSC Auke Bay Laboratory will be available to present these results.
Bering Sea Chinook Salmon Adult Equivalency (AEQ) update
As requested by the Council in 2016, staff have updated the Bering Sea Chinook salmon AEQ analysis using recent Chinook salmon prohibited species catch (PSC) and length composition data collected by observers from the pollock fishery along with genetics as summarized in annual reports from Auke Bay Laboratory. The length data were converted to age composition estimates using the same strata configurations and available age data from the previous analyses. These estimates were then applied to the same model to arrive at adult equivalency (AEQ) estimates (and estimated uncertainty). These were applied to the latest available genetics data (by A and B seasons) to estimate AEQ to regional origins. Finally, these estimates are compared with the recent run-size estimates provided by ADFG. Results indicate that the ratio of AEQ relative to regional run strengths for coastal west Alaska and Yukon river stocks remains low since Amendments 91 and 110 went into effect.
SeaShare Report
Also attached under this agenda item is the annual report from SeaShare, which receives donations from Alaska fisheries under the Prohibited Species Donation program. The Executive Director, Jim Harmon, will be at the meeting if you wish to receive a presentation.