NPFMC To Discuss Salmon Bycatch in April 2023
NPFMC To Discuss Salmon Bycatch in April 2023
Photo by Terese Schomogyi/KRITFC.
The North Pacific Fishery Management Council is the regional federal fishery management council tasked with overseeing and regulating federal marine fisheries 3–200 miles off the coast of Alaska. Among other fisheries, it manages the Eastern Bering Sea commercial pollock trawl fleet – including the Chinook, chum, and other salmon species incidentally caught and discarded as bycatch by these vessels.
Tribes and allies across Alaska have been pushing the Council to reduce salmon bycatch for years with little success. Most recently, we have been working at the Council’s Salmon Bycatch Committee to work on collaborating and discussing solutions to salmon bycatch with pollock industry representatives, researchers, and Council members. Yet until this point, Chinook salmon bycatch continues (and 2023 Chinook salmon bycatch has already surpassed that of 2022), and there are no regulations to implement any limit on the amount of chum salmon that can be taken and wasted as bycatch.
Despite our work and repeated testimonies, the Council has taken little concrete, comprehensive to protect the declining salmon populations returning to Western and Interior Alaskan rivers and communities – but we feel we are getting closer to action taking place. During the first week of April 2023, the NPFMC members will be meeting again and discussing next steps for salmon bycatch management – and they need to hear from you!
WHAT: The NPFMC will be discussing salmon bycatch during agenda item C2, including hearing new preliminary genetics analyses of Chinook and chum salmon bycatch, which may tell us about just how many bycaught salmon could have returned to and spawned in our Western Alaska rivers. The NPFMC bodies will also hear a report from the Salmon Bycatch Committee’s March 20-21 meeting, in which the Committee agreed upon a purpose and need statement for management action to reduce Western Alaska chum salmon bycatch, and outlined some non-consensus alternatives for this action (including a bycatch cap). We are continuing to push the Council to reduce both Chinook and chum salmon bycatch to prioritize and protect subsistence fishing communities and the salmon we depend on for our ways of life.
WHEN: Written public comments must be submitted by April 3, 2023 at 5:00pm AKT, and the NPFMC meets April 3-11, at the Anchorage Hilton Hotel and via Zoom. Salmon bycatch is on the agenda at the Advisory Panel (AP; April 5-7) and Council (April 6-11). NPFMC meeting schedules are fluid, but it is likely that testimony on salmon bycatch (agenda item D1) will happen at the AP on April 5-6 and at the Council on April 7-9.
HOW IT WORKS: The AP convenes before the Council to review the agenda (including written public comments) and propose initial motions for the Council to consider. The Council has the ultimate authority in management issues. Public testimony (in-person or remotely via Zoom on your computer or by phone) is heard by both the AP and Council after all presentations and reports at the end of each agenda item. Individuals are given 3 minutes to testify, and those testifying on behalf of Tribes, organizations, or companies are given 6 minutes.
WHAT YOU CAN DO: Write to or testify before the AP and Council urging them to take regulatory management action to reduce Western Alaska Chinook and chum salmon bycatch! This post will be updated as more information on the Council and our asks become available.
WHY YOU SHOULD DO IT: It is critical that the AP and Council hear from you about your experiences on your river, in your community, and how salmon bycatch is affecting your well-being. The Council has management authority over fisheries that impact our way of life, food security, cultural well-being, and ecosystem health, and they need to hear from you. If salmon bycatch is allowed to continue without meaningful, regulatory restrictions, such as a cap on salmon bycatch, our salmon and the well-being of our communities will continue to suffer from unprecedented salmon declines.
It is critical that the Council members responsible for managing bycatch – which directly affects your way of life – hear from you!
To submit a written comment by April 3 at 5:00pm AKT:
Navigate to the online meeting agenda.
Scroll down to item C2: Salmon Bycatch Reports.
Click on the “Comment Now” button.
Fill out your information, including email. (Don’t have an email? Call Terese Schomogyi at 907-545-7388 to troubleshoot.)
Write in your public comment or attach a separate file with your written comment.
Confirm you’re not a robot and submit!
Read KRITFC’s written comment submitted to the Council here.
To provide oral testimony at the AP (likely April 5-6):
NOTE: You will only be able to sign-up to testify once the AP meeting begins on April 5.
Navigate to the online meeting agenda.
Scroll down to item C2: Salmon Bycatch Reports.
Click on the “Comment Now” button.
Click on the “AP Sign-Up” tab.
Fill out your information, including email. (Don’t have an email? Call Terese Schomogyi at 907-545-7388 to troubleshoot.)
Optional: Attach any separate written comments, pictures, or presentations you have to go along with your verbal testimony.
Confirm you’re not a robot and submit!
When it’s time to give your testimony, join the AP meeting in-person at the Anchorage Hilton Hotel (500 W 3rd Ave, Anchorage, AK 99501), join via Zoom with video here, or dial +1-253-215-8782 and enter Meeting ID: 886 7161 2019.
Oral testimony is taken in the order listed. If in-person, when your name is called, approach the microphone to speak. If on Zoom, when your name is called, unmute by pressing the button on your computer or pressing *6 on your phone. The AP will circle back to you if you are not available the first time your name is called.
To get live text updates on the AP’s schedule, text “NPFMC” to 1-833-237-1598. We encourage everyone to do this because NPFMC meeting timing changes often, and it’s good to know when to join to hear about this issue!
To provide oral testimony at the Council (like April 7-9):
NOTE: You will only be able to sign-up to testify once the Council meeting begins on April 6.
Navigate to the online meeting agenda.
Scroll down to item C2: Salmon Bycatch Reports.
Click on the “Comment Now” button.
Click on the “Council Sign-Up” tab.
Fill out your information, including email. (Don’t have an email? Call Terese Schomogyi at 907-545-7388 to troubleshoot.)
Optional: Attach any separate written comments, pictures, or presentations you have to go along with your verbal testimony.
Confirm you’re not a robot and submit!
When it’s time to give your testimony, join the Council meeting in-person at the Anchorage Hilton Hotel (500 W 3rd Ave, Anchorage, AK 99501), join via Zoom with video here, or dial +1-253-215-8782 and enter Meeting ID: 814 5113 0091.
Oral testimony is taken in the order listed. If in-person, when your name is called, approach the microphone to speak. If on Zoom, when your name is called, unmute by pressing the button on your computer or pressing *6 on your phone. The Council will circle back to you if you are not available the first time your name is called.
To get live text updates on the Council’s schedule, text “NPFMC” to 1-833-237-1598. We encourage everyone to do this because NPFMC meeting timing changes often, and it’s good to know when to join to hear about this issue!
Wondering what you should say in your testimony? The most important thing you can do is to speak from your heart. You are the only one who knows your experience and your connection with salmon – and you are an expert in that. Tell the Council why you want them to take action to protect Western Alaska salmon and what it means to you to not be able to harvest abundant salmon. Here are some ideas to guide your testimony:
Share your name and community/river you live and fish in. Share about your connection with salmon.
Urge the Council to act quickly to further reduce Chinook and chum salmon bycatch, with a goal of zero Western Alaska salmon bycatch.
Tell the Council that action to reduce chum salmon bycatch is urgently needed in light of severely depressed chum salmon populations in Western Alaska for the third year in a row in 2022. At this point in our multi-species salmon crisis in Western Alaska, every fish that makes it to our nets or our spawning grounds counts, and the Council cannot delay action. Describe the inequity our subsistence communities face as they are unable to fish while the pollock fishery can catch and discard chum salmon without restrictions.
Urge the Council to take regulatory action at this meeting to reduce Western Alaska chum salmon bycatch, starting with initiating an analysis of the alternatives carried forward by the Salmon Bycatch Committee.
Tell the Council to include Traditional and Indigenous Knowledge in any analysis or discussion paper about bycatch management measures, and to work with Tribes to develop these measures.
REMEMBER: If you are speaking as in individual, you will only have 3 minutes to testify. If you are speaking on behalf of your Tribe, city, or organization, you will have 6 minutes. We suggest planning your testimony in advance or setting a timer to avoid being cut off in the middle of your words.
Have questions about the NPFMC or need help navigating this process? Reach out to Terese Schomogyi at 907-545-7388 or terese@kritfc.org.
Quyana, Tsen’ahn, Thank you for sharing your voice and advocating for our salmon and traditional ways of life.