New rules for 2013 will change how observers are placed on fishing boats as small as 40 feet -- and for the first time, they will also be aboard longliners.
Onboard observers have been deployed on larger U.S. vessels since the early 1990s, when fisheries were "Americanized" and all foreign fishing within 200 miles of the U.S. coast ended. Before that, fleets from Japan, Russia, Poland and other nations were tapping Alaska's groundfish and crab resources.
Fishery observers, who are trained and overseen by the Monitoring and Analysis Division of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), do not play an enforcement role; they take biological samples of the catch, track bycatch and collect other data for fishery managers and scientists. Observers are also present in processing plants during fish deliveries. There are about 400 observers working in Alaska's seafood industry.
Observers were originally deployed according to vessel length. Boats less than 60 feet were exempt from coverage; vessels from 60 to 125 feet carried observers 30 percent of the time, and larger vessels had 100 percent coverage.
The "restructured" observer program will expand coverage to vessels "all the way down to 40 feet, and NMFS has the authority to place observers on vessels below that," said Julie Bonney, a trawl industry consultant and director of Alaska Groundfish Data Bank in Kodiak.
"There's never been observer coverage in the IFQ (Individual Fishing Quota) halibut fisheries, so now we'll have information from that sector, as well as all the small vessels," Bonney said. "We all have issues and we all need to work hard to address those. So getting that information will help us understand how we can move forward in the best practices."
Another fisheries first -- for both Alaska and the U.S. -- will be the collection of catch data by video cameras.
"Vessels in the 40- to 57.5-foot sector that are not capable of carrying another person on board can have that as an option," Bonney said.
"It's kind of exciting because electronic monitoring has not been approved in any regional areas in the U.S. as a monitoring tool. So this will really push the envelope to move that technology forward."
The 2013 launch of the retooled observer program depends on getting a $3.8 million jump start from Congress. Alaska is the only state where for more than 20 years, the seafood industry has paid for fishery observer coverage. Democratic Sen. Mark Begich said it's time for the federal government to kick in a little.
"We've been doing it all along with our own money. This is an important national resource: It is a small amount that can be added to make sure we maintain our sustainable fisheries," Begich said.
"The good news is that it has made it through the process to date, which is very positive. They are working under the financial limitations and caps of the budget, so that's good," he added.
Learn more about Alaska's fishery observer program at www.afsc.noaa.gov/FMA/default.htm .
Alaska opinions
A statewide poll of 802 Alaska voters last month asked opinions of various public figures, industries and issues. The poll was done by research powerhouse Strategies 360 for the Bristol Bay Native Corp. and included voters from all demographics and regions.
A sampler: 54 percent said they believe Alaska is heading in the right direction; 27 percent said the economy and jobs is the most important issue facing Alaska today.
The fishing industry got the highest favorable rating at 79 percent, followed by the Alaska gas pipeline at 75 percent, and the oil and gas industry at 66 percent.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski had a 61 percent favorable rating, Gov. Sean Parnell was at 52 percent, Rep. Don Young at 51 percent and Sen. Mark Begich at 48 percent. The Alaska Legislature had a 45 percent favorable rating by voters.
The proposed Pebble project ranked last among voters with an unfavorable rating of 54 percent.
Meanwhile, as exploration at the Pebble site expands, BBNC President and CEO Jason Metrokin said he worries that the state Department of Natural Resources doesn't have the staffing to monitor a project the size of Pebble, along with other big development projects.
"From what we've seen, the DNR has not been able to handle sizeable projects that are on the ... horizon today. The project is expanding, the potential footprint is getting larger, and there is a lot of activity happening in Bristol Bay today. We are not convinced the state is doing its part to monitor this exploration," Metrokin said in an interview.
"But beyond that, if the Pebble project continues to go forward and they get into a permit application phase late next year, is the state prepared to take on that process, knowing that there are several other development projects happening around the state? The DNR should be gearing up and staffing up and resourcing up now in order to prepare for something like that, and we just don't see that happening."
See the voter survey at www.bbnc.net/images/stories/newfolder/release_toplines.pdf
Fish watch
The Southeast red king crab fishery (201,000 pounds) ended on Nov. 13. The Bristol Bay red king crab fishery (7.8 million pounds) wrapped up on Nov. 15.
The halibut fishery ended on Nov. 18. When all the final numbers are tallied, the catch should hit the 30-million-pound target. The industry will find out at the end of November how much halibut might be available in 2012 when preliminary catch limits are unveiled by the International Pacific Halibut Commission in Seattle.
The sablefish (black cod) fishery also ended on Nov. 18. It looks as if nearly 3 million pounds might have been left in the water from the nearly 27-million-pound quota. The Bering Sea 2012 pollock catch is likely to be set at 1.08 million tons, down 180,000 tons from this year.
Laine Welch is a Kodiak-based fisheries journalist. Her Fish Radio programs can be heard on stations around the state. Her column appears Sundays in the Daily News. This material is protected by copyright. For information on reprinting or placing on your website or newsletter, contact msfish@alaska.com.
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