A federal inquiry into the extremely large quantity of Bering Sea and Aleutian killer whales that were found dead this summer found that the majority but not all deaths were caused through entanglement with fishing gear.
The NOA’s Alaska Fisheries Science Center on Friday published details regarding fatalities within the Bering Sea and Aleutians that have prompted an outrage against fishing practices for seafood.
Nine killer whales caught in bottom-trawling gear Six were killed by these entanglements. Two others had already died before they were rescued according to the study. Another whale was severely injured in the gear entanglement, but managed to escape alive, according to the agency.
Apart from the whales discovered in bottom-trawl gears There were two additional instances with dead killer whales trapped in different types of gear for fishing.
The bottom-trawling equipment that caught the nine whales known as orcas, came from vessels belonging to what is called the Amendment 80 fleet which is roughly 20 large vessels that capture and then process fish. Catcher-processors utilize nets for trawling that scour the ocean floor to catch Atka mackerel and yellowfin soles, as well as rock sole, and other species of flatfish. They don’t harvest pollock, the fish which makes up the largest amount of the harvested Alaska seafood.
In the other two instances in the other two cases, a dead killer whale was discovered in an trawl equipment used by an encrusted vessel to harvest pollock, according to the agency. The whale was found to be dead prior to the time it was entangled.
The pollock harvesters of Alaska do not employ bottom-trawl equipment; Instead their nets catch the fish from waters located in the middle of the ocean’s depths.
The 11th incident was an unidentified whale that was found dead in the longline gear that was that was used by the NOAA Fisheries vessel to conduct an annual survey of groundfish and sablefish. This was the first fatal whale death in the thirty years since NOAA Fisheries has been conducting the survey, according to the agency.
The genetic analysis of the samples from eight whales found that all were belonging to the Eastern North Pacific resident stock which is the largest in Alaska’s whale populations. The majority of the whales were female The agency stated.
The total amount of killer whales killed was significantly higher than the previous years’ figures, it was not sufficient to cause negative effects on the population The study found.
“Given the significant amount of catches that are incidental to killer whales by 2023, we decided it was crucial to act as fast as we could to determine if these catches are an issue for conservation in any of the killer whale populations,” said Robert Foy director of the Alaska Fisheries Science Center. This is why the center accelerated genetic analysis to understand the possible impacts that could be affecting Alaska’s various species of killer whales.
According to Jon Warrenchuk, a senior scientist from Oceana, an environmental group Oceana the findings raise several additional questions. The the deaths of killer whales have been rising in the trawl fishing industry.
“We’re way past the time to analysis of the negative effects of bottom fishing on the coast of Alaska,” Warrenchuk said.
He also noted that the flatfish caught by the vessels that were involved in the deaths are typically less expensive and are of lesser value. “The incident occurred in the process of harvesting this fish with a low value raises into question the worth of this fishery is worth the expense of killing these whales” the official said.
Warrenchuk suggested that the trawlers in whale entanglements were hunting sablefish which is a much superior species to flatfish that account for the majority of the harvests of the vessels. The vessels under Amendment 80 in previous years were banned from pursuing the sablefish. However, this has changed in recent years and they now have rights to quotas for some of the more valuable fish the sablefish, he said.
Oceana has requested more information on the specific dates and locations of the whale incident
Some critics on Bering Sea trawling practices have stated that the killer whale deaths may be related to fishing discards of fish caught as bycatch. The whales have identified vessels as sources of food, critics claim.
Particularly, they have highlighted a method of fishing that is known as ” halibut deck sorting,” in which the Amendment 80 trawl vessels are permitted to return halibut caught in the course of fishing to the sea, without being counted against their catch limits provided that the fish are returned in a timely manner and is in good condition. But a recent report presented by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council has shown a significant decrease from 2020 on the number of instances of killer whales eating Amendment 80 trawler discards.
There are additional concerns regarding the bycatch of halibut from those who are part of the Amendment 80 fleet. In the last week NOAA Fisheries enacted a new regulation which could lower the halibut catch cap for the fleet. The new rule replaces the set limit of 1 745 tonnes by one that could be reduced up to 35% lower than that amount when halibut population is low.
This article was originally published in Alaska Beacon and is republished here with permission.
