Laine Welch reports all over the 'net that draggers destruction and waste equal warm and delicious fuzzies for the poor and indigent. "Alaska food banks are the beneficiaries of fish taken as bycatch in the Gulf of Alaska thanks to Kodiak fishermen and local processors." And all this positive spin for 3.7 tenths of one percent of the waste of halibut alone. The story goes on to state that 5000 pounds of halibut and chinook bycatch were donated to Kodiak and 10,000 pounds of halibut and salmon bycatch were donated to Anchorage; the rest of the 4.02 million pounds of halibut and the 20, 983 king salmon were destroyed, wasted and lost. No one knows how many kilotons of other species, not named or counted were destroyed, since they don't have name recognition or official value to make it into the NMFS statistical accounts.
For at least the past two weeks very positive news stories have circulated warm fuzzies, making it seem that bycatch has a valuable other side. Contrarily, the magnitude of the outrageous waste and destruction of the public's resources by a small number of trawlers (about 40) has been neglected by the news media, who, lazy and ill informed, take the easy path and report the most simplistic news story. Shame on Laine Welch and all the simpletons who picked up this story. The painful truth remains untold, except maybe here. They don't even need thirty pieces of silver to sell out the Gulf of Alaska, 3.7 tenths of one percent of their waste is enough.
If we make those donated pounds into meals, we get (at 1/2 pound of donated bycatch per meal), about 30,000 meals. Wow, that is a lot of food for the poor. But what remains untold is that at least 7,908,000 meals are dumped and that is just counting this year's reported halibut PSC. Nevermind the salmon, cod, crab, and everything else.
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As far as keeping all these fish and feeding the masses, think again, most of the halibut wasted by draggers are very small. You can see them sorted into totes for grinding at our local canneries. Six inches long. Total waste. GroundupFish Data Bunk and friends claim small halibut don't count. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
Will Alaska wake up and see the real toll before it is too late for the Gulf? Will the NPFMC do its legal duty to the people of the USA and Alaska and protect these resources? Or will the spin specialists like the Ground(up)fish Data Bank and the 'pugh boys' on GOA draggers destroy one of the last great fishery resources left in the world.
BTW, I hear that NMFS says Wiglaf's figures are not accurate; well of course not, he gets them from NMFS on the web, and NMFS changes them constantly, especially when AGData Bunk calls them, so go figure. And they impugne Wiggy's credibility? Look, almost all NMFS figures are extrapolations based upon few (and far between), skewed and inaccurate observations. If NMFS would become transparent, Wiggy would be forced to get his flippers off this keyboard. He can't wait.
But until that day, Keep Your Flippers Wet,
