The Alaska Seafood Cooperative (AKSC), a group representing Alaska flatfish companies, is developing gear modifications to help boats avoid killer whale entrapments in the flatfish fishery in the Bering Sea.
Led by AKSC science projects managers Sarah Webster and John Gauvin, the modifications are designed to block the net opening to help prevent killer whales from entering the net, while having minimal impact on catch rates for the targeted flatfish.
Last year, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released data on 37 reported killer whale entanglement cases in Alaska over the past three decades, with 20 of those entanglements caused by trawl gear.
