Is there concern about incidental harvests of non-pollock species (bycatch) in the Alaska pollock fishery?
Alaska pollock constitutes almost 99% of the catch in the Alaska pollock fishery, making it one of the “cleanest” fisheries in the world. The pollock harvest is fully utilized as fillets, surimi seafood, roe and fish meal, and much of the small amounts of incidentally harvested species are utilized as well. In the Alaska groundfish fishery, which includes pollock, cod, flounder and sole, certain non-groundfish species, including salmon, are not allowed to be retained if they are caught incidentally. In the case of salmon, incidental catches can be kept and donated to hunger relief programs. New rules coming into effect could also close the pollock fishery if incidental catches of salmon reach a numerical cap set by fishery managers. Click here for more information about bycatch.