AK HR6

Urges the North Pacific Fishery Management Council to amend the Gulf of Alaska groundfish fisheries management plan to allow prohibited species catch limits based on the abundance of those species rather than fixed caps.

Calls for expeditious implementation of a Chinook salmon bycatch cap to limit the number of Chinook salmon harvested as bycatch in the Gulf of Alaska, where incidental catch rates reached 40,320 in 2007 and 51,258 in 2010.

Notes that current halibut bycatch caps are fixed at 2,000 metric tons for trawl fisheries and 300 metric tons for longline fisheries regardless of species abundance, and have not been revised for nearly two decades.

Cites declining Gulf of Alaska halibut populations over the past decade and a dramatic increase in the percentage of prohibited species caught relative to the total allowable catch for targeted halibut fisheries.

Requests the Governor to encourage his appointees to the North Pacific Fishery Management Council to prioritize addressing these bycatch management issues.