Sunday, October 17, 2010

The Extinction of King Salmon? A Scandalous PSC Report

We are witnessing the wholesale destruction of the Alaska King Salmon. Unless the trawlers are held back the King Salmon will become extinct. Over 25,000 King Salmon in one week destroyed in the pelagic trawl fishery.
Click report to enlarge.

http://www.fakr.noaa.gov/2010/car120_goa.pdf

At the last NPFMC meeting, not one dragger would admit to the killing of Tanner crab. If asked, I suppose those same perjurous characters would say that with their pelagic gear on, they never kill King Salmon either. The US Coast Guard representative had so little knowledge of the gear type that when asked if the CG could tell pelagic gear from bottom gear, he stated that it was clear in the regs that more than 20 crab on a trawler deck would constitute bottom trawl gear. Where the hell is the gear specifications that the rest of us have to comply with? If pelagic is truly pelagic, it should be illegal for it to have chafing gear as part of the net. Afterall, if you are not on bottom, why need the protection from chafe? Trawling remains a shell (game) fishery.

Keep yer flippers wet.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

disgusting

Anonymous said...

Truly sickening what this gear group is doing...them cheap fish sticks come at the painful expense of anything unfortunate enough to be in their way. As bad as this is, one can be certain that this info will be mentioned @ the December NPFMC meetings, and some restraint placed on these indiscriminate killers. The question is, will the council continue to dismiss this destructive behavior as an acceptable cost to all others?