Alaska groundfish management: is it precautionary and sustainable? Fisheries off Alaska account for around half of total U.S. harvests and are the state's No. 1 private-sector employer.

• Author: Pohl, John
• Position: View II: NOAA Oceanographer

Concern is growing over the state of the world's fisheries. A suite of human activities--unsustainable fishing practices, pollution and destruction of habitat--are threatening the ocean's capacity to provide food, maintain water quality and adjust to disturbances. (1) Although fishing is just one of the human activities impacting the world's marine ecosystems, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and U.S. National Academy of Sciences consider it the most serious. (2)

Fisheries--commercial, recreational and subsistence--are cornerstones in the Alaska economy and culture. Fisheries off Alaska account for around half of total U.S. harvests and are the state's No. 1 private-sector employer. (3) Add in the unquantifiable--the aesthetics of intact fisheries and ecosystems as a visitor attraction, and more importantly, the ecological services provided by healthy, flexible ecosystems--and the value of vibrant Alaska fisheries is even clearer. (4)

What, then, is the status of Alaska's marine fisheries? Are they being managed in a precautionary, sustainable fashion?

THE NORTH PACIFIC FISHERY MANAGEMENT COUNCIL

While salmon are the most recognizable Alaska fish, the bulk of Alaska fisheries consist of groundfish, such as pollock, Pacific cod, Atka mackerel, and various flatfish and rockfish species. (5) These fisheries fall under federal management of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), from 3 to 200 miles offshore.

The Fishery Conservation Act of 1976 (commonly known as the Magnuson-Stevens Act) is the primary legislation providing comprehensive federal authority in managing fisheries in the EEZ. It mandates a fishery-management framework that assigns advisory oversight for domestic fisheries to eight regional fishery management councils, under the governance of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). (6)

Alaskan groundfish fisheries fall under the management of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC). This council is comprised of delegates with working knowledge of Alaska's fisheries and marine ecosystems, representing commercial and recreational user groups, state and federal agencies, and the public. The delegates serve as a democratic decision-making body that is advised by fishery scientists, user groups and environmental organizations. The council members and advisors work together to develop fishery management plans (FMPs) and regulations for the fisheries. Their suggested plans and regulations are sent to the U.S. Secretary of Commerce for approval. The secretary has the final authority in approving or denying the recommendations, however, that authority is usually delegated to NMFS. (7)

HOW ALASKA GROUNDFISH FISHERIES MANAGEMENT WORKS

Representatives of NMFS and the council assert that Alaska's groundfish fisheries remain relatively healthy as a result of well thought out science and strict annual catch limits. (8) Each target stock is assigned three harvest levels: the Over-Fishing Level (OFL), the Acceptable Biological Catch (ABC), and the Total Allowable Catch (TAC). The OFL defines the unacceptable, unsustainable harvest. The ABC defines the acceptable degree of harvest from a biological perspective. The TAC is essentially the annual catch limit for the fishery, and is set at, or below, the ABC and includes social and economic considerations. Finally, the catch of all species combined is limited by an additional overall "optimum yield" cap which offers additional precautionary insulation. (9)

Many factors temper the NPFMC's deliberations in setting its annual catch limits, but science weighs in heavily. In the 30 years since the Fisheries Conservation Act was initiated, the North Pacific Council has never set a catch limit exceeding the recommendations of its Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC), which is comprised of more than a dozen prominent fisheries and marine scientists. (10,11)

Their decisions consider natural mortality of target fish caused by predation from marine mammals, seabirds and other fish species, and factor this information into the annual stock assessment analysis by which individual species annual catch limits are based. (12) Decisions are further informed by an ecosystem considerations report that supplements the annual stock assessment and fishery-evaluation report. This chapter provides an annual assessment of the ecosystem, a review of literature in the discipline of ecosystem-based management, updates regarding ongoing research, local observations from coastal dwellers and fishermen, and any new information concerning the status of habitat, marine mammals, seabirds or other...