NOAA describes it as ecosystem based management. It is their shining example of what a great job they do. They manage the groundfish and pollack trawl fisheries for a sustainable catch of the target species while avoiding a total collapse of the ecosystem. The international Halibut Commission manages halibut and they are responsible for accounting for the bycatch in their plans. Similarly, they regard the salmon bycatch in the pollack fishery as a necessary part of the fishery, it is only a political problem. I had hoped that Lubchenco might bring a new awareness about the bycatch issue but it doesn't seem to be the case. In fact beginning next year NOAA research is going to emphasize exploring the Arctic region for potential new fisheries as the ice cap shrinks. After all NOAA is a part of the Department of Commerce



At trawl speeds of 3-4 knots salmon do avoid trawls, the pollack fishery that trawls at a higher speed has the salmon bycatch.

While not the subject of this thread, I heard of another bycatch problem that is of interest. I was told that a can of pink salmon from SE Alaska might contain up to 10% chinook. Apparently the pink seine fishery catches a lot of immature chinook that go to the cannery. This was second hand info so I can't vouch for the accuracy but it makes sense.