A range of alternatives that still includes a potential "hard cap" on Alaska chum salmon bycatch for Alaska pollock trawlers is being moved forward for consideration by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC), which regulates and sets quotas for fisheries in federal waters off Alaska.
The alternatives approved by council members Monday for further analysis are aimed at minimizing the bycatch of western Alaska-origin chum salmon in the Bering Sea pollock fishery.
Bycatch is the non-targeted fish caught while commercial fishermen are harvesting a different species.
