US harvesters are getting closer to knowing how much Alaska pollock they will be allowed to catch in the Bering Sea next year based on the early stages of the quota-setting process for the fishery.
A North Pacific Fishery Management (NPFMC) council plan team on Thursday approved a preliminary recommendation on the acceptable biological catch (ABC) for the Eastern Bering Sea pollock fishery at nearly 2.275 million metric tons, a 19 percent jump from the previous year's ABC.
The ABC sets the upper limit for the annual total allowable catch specifications (TAC), and is the maximum amount of fish stock that can be harvested without impacting the biomass.
