AK Bering Sea, Aleutian Islands Pacific Cod Longline Fishery - MMPA List of Fisheries

U.S. fisheries are classified under the Marine Mammal Protection Act according to the level of incidental mortality or serious injury of marine mammals.

Alaska

Current Classification on the List of Fisheries

Category	III
Estimated Number of Participants	45
Target Species	Pacific cod
Applicable Take Reduction Plans	N/A
Observer Coverage	All participants in the federally-managed commercial groundfish fisheries off Alaska (except catcher vessels delivering unsorted codends to a mothership) are subject to Observer Program requirements. Vessels and processors are placed into one of two observer coverage categories: full coverage category and partial coverage category.
Marine Mammal Species/Stocks Killed or Injured	Northern fur seal, Eastern Pacific; Steller sea lion, Western U.S.

^ Number of participants estimates are based on state and federal fisheries permit data. The estimated number of participants is expressed in terms of the number of active participants in the fishery, when possible. If this information is not available, the estimated number of vessels or persons licensed for a particular fishery is provided. If no recent information is available on the number of participants, then the number from the most recent LOF is used. NOAA Fisheries acknowledges that, in some cases, these estimations may be inflating actual effort.

*Observer coverage levels include the latest information reported in the most current final Stock Assessment Report (SAR).

¹ Indicates the stock or species is driving the classification of the fishery.

Basis for Current Classification

This fishery was proposed for Category II listing because incidental take of resident and transient killer whales more than 1% for this fishery. However, population estimates of both stocks were known to be biased low and NOAA Fisheries had good estimates of incidental take in this fishery as a result of high observer coverage. Therefore, the levels of take were not thought to have a significant effect on the population and the fishery was listed as Category III.

Distribution

Fishing effort in this fishery occurs within the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone of the Eastern Bering Sea and the portion of the North Pacific Ocean adjacent to the Aleutian Islands, which is west of 170°W. long. up to the U.S.-Russian Convention Line of 1867.

Gear Description

This fishery uses longline/set line.

Management

Management measures for the BSAI groundfish fisheries constrain fishing both temporally and spatially. This fishery is federally managed under the BSAI FMP. The authorized gear, fishing season, criteria for determining fishing seasons, and area restrictions by gear type are defined in the regulations implementing the BSAI FMP (50 CFR part 679).

Historical Information

Original Category (Year added to the LOF)	III (1996)
Original Number of Participants	226
Basis for Original Classification	This fishery was proposed for Category II listing because incidental take of resident and transient killer whales more than 1% for this fishery. However, population estimates of both stocks were known to be biased low and NOAA Fisheries had good estimates of incidental take in this fishery as a result of high observer coverage. Therefore, the levels of take were not thought to have a significant effect on the population and the fishery was listed as Category III.
Past Names	AK Bering Sea, Aleutian Islands cod longline (until 2005); AK Bering Sea, Aleutian Islands Groundfish longline/set line (federally regulated waters, including miscellaneous finfish and sablefish) (until 2004); AK southern Bering Sea, Aleutian Islands, and Western Gulf of Alaska sablefish longline/set line (federally regulated waters) (until 2001)
Species/stocks historically documented as killed or injured (but not currently on the list)	Dall’s porpoise, AK; Killer whale, Eastern North Pacific AK resident; Killer whale, GOA, BSAI transient; Ribbon seals, AK; Ringed seal, AK; Spotted seal, AK

Timeline of Changes

2022	Removed spotted seal (AK).
2021	Reclassified to a Category III fishery. One killer whale (Gulf of Alaska, BSAI transient stock) M/SI was driving the Category II classification of this fishery. This killer whale M/SI occurred in 2012, and no additional M/SI have been observed or reported from 2013-2017. Removed killer whale (Eastern North Pacific AK resident), killer whale, (GOA, BSAI transient) and ringed seal (AK).
2020	Added Steller sea lion, Western U.S. Removed Dall’s porpoise, AK.
2019	Added Killer whale, Eastern North Pacific AK resident and Spotted seal, AK.
2016	Reclassified from Category III to Category II based on mortality/serious injury of killer whale (GOA, BSAI transient) in 2012. Added killer whale (GOA, BSAI transient) with superscript "1" based on a serious injury documented in 2012.
2015	Estimated number of participants updated from 154 to 45.
2013	Reclassified from a Category II to a Category III based on the most recent available information, there have been no mortalities or serious injuries of killer whales (AK resident) in the fishery since 2003. Added Northern fur seals (eastern Pacific stock) to list of species/stocks incidentally killed/injured in this fishery based on a mortality/serious injury documented in 2010. Added Dall’s porpoise to list of species/stocks incidentally killed/injured in this fishery based on a mortality/serious injury documented in 2009. Removed Steller sea lions (Western U.S.) from list of species/stocks incidentally killed/injured in this fishery based on no documented mortalities or injuries since 2006. Removed ribbon seals (AK) from list of species/stocks incidentally killed/injured in this fishery based on no documented mortalities or injuries since 2001. Estimated number of participants updated from 54 to 154.
2009	Estimated number of participants updated from 114 to 54.
2008	Removed killer whale (Eastern North Pacific, GOA, Aleutian Islands, and Bering Sea transient stock) from the list of species/stocks incidentally killed/injured in this fishery. NOAA Fisheries performed genetic analyses of killer whales killed/injured in this fishery and determined that the fishery only interacts with the resident stock of killer whales.
2006	Added ribbon seals (AK) and Steller sea lions (Western U.S.) to list of species/stocks incidentally killed/injured in this fishery to update the stocks associated with fisheries delineated on the 2004 LOF. Changed the stock names of the killer whale transient stock from “Eastern North Pacific transient” to "Eastern North Pacific, GOA, Aleutian Islands, and Bering Sea transient,” and the killer whale resident stock from “Eastern North Pacific resident” to "AK resident.” Added a superscript “1” after killer whale (AK resident) and killer whale (Eastern North Pacific, GOA, Aleutian Islands, and Bering Sea transient), indicating that takes of these stocks are driving the classification of this fishery.
2005	Elevated from a Category III to a Category II based on interactions with killer whales (Eastern North Pacific resident and transient stocks). Estimated take of killer whales (Eastern North Pacific resident) was 0.8 animals/year, or 11.11% of PBR (PBR=7.2); and the estimated take of killer whales (Eastern North Pacific transient) was 0.8 animals/year, or 28.57% of PBR (PBR=2.8). Killer whales (Eastern North Pacific resident and transient stocks) added to the list of species/stocks incidentally killed/injured in the fishery based on interactions documented in recent SARs. Renamed from the “AK Bering Sea, Aleutian Islands cod longline fishery” to the "AK Bering Sea, Aleutian Islands Pacific cod longline fishery" to correct an error in 2004 LOF where "Pacific" was mistakenly omitted.
2004	The “AK BSAI Pacific cod longline” fishery was split from the Category III "AK Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Groundfish longline" fishery. The larger fishery was delineated into more discrete fisheries according to area, gear and target species to reflect fisheries as managed under the BSAI Fishery Management Plan (FMP). The newly delineated fishery was listed as a Category III until the completion of analyses of serious injury and mortality in the new fishery, with an estimated 114 participants. The list of marine mammal species/stocks incidentally killed/injured in the larger fishery was also delineated to correspond to the more discrete fisheries listed for the first time in 2004. There were no documented species/stocks incidentally killed/injured in the “AK BSAI Pacific cod longline” fishery.
Changes on the LOF when the “AK BSAI Pacific cod longline” fishery was included in the larger “AK BSAI groundfish longline” fishery
2003	Estimated number of participants updated from 115 to 148.
2001	The fishery was split from the "AK southern Bering Sea, Aleutian Islands, and Western Gulf of Alaska sablefish longline/set line (federally regulated waters)" and listed as one of three separate fisheries to make the LOF consistent with the SARs and observer data for these fisheries. This fishery was named the “AK Bering Sea, Aleutian Islands Groundfish longline/set line (federally regulated waters, including miscellaneous finfish and sablefish)”. Estimated number of participants in the AK BSAI Pacific cod longline fishery was 440.
1999	Dall's porpoise (AK) added to the list of species/stocks incidentally killed/injured in the fishery based on one mortality in the Bering Sea portion of the fishery in 1994 and one mortality in 1995. Estimated number of participants updated from 226 to 762.
1998	Steller sea lion (Western U.S.) and Pacific white-sided dolphin (Central North Pacific) added to the list of species/stocks incidentally killed/injured in the fishery. A Steller sea lion (Western U.S.) was observed killed in the Bering Sea portion of the fishery in 1994 and two were observed killed in the Gulf of Alaska portion of the fishery in 1990 and 1995, respectively. A Pacific white-sided dolphin (Central North Pacific) was observed killed in this fishery in 1995.