National report neglects Alaska fisheries

ANCHORAGE -- A report released Wednesday that is roundly critical of American fisheries management fails to take into account solutions employed by Alaska fisheries, which are models of successful, science-based fishery management.

"It's irresponsible for yet another organization to make sweeping, sky-is-falling generalizations about alleged mismanagement of the nation's fisheries while ignoring -- again -- the considerable evidence to the contrary here in the North Pacific," Marine Conservation Alliance Executive Director Ron Clarke said.

The omission of Alaskan fisheries from the report is a considerable oversight. Alaska fisheries are the source of more than half the seafood consumed in the United States.

The report, published by the Marine Fish Conservation Network, a Washington, D.C.-based company, draws nationwide conclusions based on the problems caused by fisheries operating in New England and the northeastern United States. Among these problems are the issues of overfishing and bycatching.

Overfishing is the sustained, concentrated fishing of a depleted area that often results in permanent damage to the environment. The report calls overfishing "a fundamental problem in fish management that has been inadequately addressed for too long."

Bycatching is a similarly damaging practice that involves the inadvertent capture of fish that are unfit for consumption or even other kinds of animals such as seabirds. This phenomenon is believed to have contributed to the decline of the endangered wandering albatross, among other species. The MFCN states that "fishing should continue only as long as the waste of unwanted marine wildlife is kept to an absolute minimum."

However, Clarke claims that these issues have been more than adequately addressed by Alaska fisheries. "In more than 25 years of regional council system management in the North Pacific, no groundfish species are overfished, bycatch and discard rates are low and getting lower, incidental catch of seabirds has been dramatically reduced, rationalization is eliminating the 'race for fish,' and the vessel monitoring and onboard observer programs -- standard operating practices in these fisheries -- are models of responsible management," a press release from MCA states.

Among the other factors contributing to the success of North Pacific fisheries management are conservative quotas placed on the catch of targeted and non-targeted species, ecosystem-based management principles, and an open-ended process of public input.

According to Clarke, most of the practices suggested by the MFCN study are already in use at multiple Alaska facilities. "It looks like their conclusions are based on the time-tested principles of successful fisheries management in the North Pacific," Clarke said. "They should have looked into the situation here to see how well those recommendations are already in practice."

Upon consideration, Clarke noted that there is only a minimal gap between the goal of the MFCN and his own organization; he simply feels that Alaska and North Pacific fisheries don't deserve the same criticism as their Atlantic counterparts.

"We agree wholeheartedly with some of the Marine Fish Conservation Network report's conclusions. The practices they recommend are already employed and have been firmly in place here for years," Clarke said.

The Marine Conservation Alliance was established in 2001 by fishing associations, communities, Community Development Quota groups, harvesters, processors, and support sector businesses to promote the sustainable use of North Pacific marine resources by present and future generations. The MCA supports research and public education about the fishery resources of the North Pacific, and seeks practical solutions to resource use questions to both protect the marine environment and minimize adverse impacts on the North Pacific fishing community.

For more information on the practices employed by Alaskan fisheries, contact Ron Clarke at 523-0731 or visit MCA's Web site at http://www.

marineconservationalliance.org.