Members of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) Groundfish Plan Team last week recommended a sharply higher acceptable biological catch (ABC) for Alaska pollock in the Eastern Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands following data showing a healthy short-term outlook for the stock, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Stock Assessment Scientist Jim Ianelli told IntraFish.
The team's recommendation, which requires the NPFMC's Scientific and Statistical Committee approval, is for an overall ABC of 2.8 million metric tons for 2017, up 33.9
