Federal managers move 700 tons of unused Atka mackerel to Bering Sea trawlers

Federal fishery managers are moving 700 metric tons of Atka mackerel set aside for boats that catch the fish by accident to the Amendment 80 trawl fleet in the Bering Sea and Eastern Aleutians, under a temporary rule set for publication Friday, Oct. 16.

Amendment 80 vessels are trawl catcher-processors that target groundfish other than pollock in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands. This year all of them belong to a single cooperative, which holds the sector's entire allocation.

The rule raises the cooperative's 2026 Atka mackerel allocation in the Bering Sea and Eastern Aleutians from 32,819 tons to 33,519 tons. It cuts the incidental catch allowance, the share set aside for other trawl and non-trawl boats that catch Atka mackerel while targeting other species, from 800 tons to 100. The area's overall 2026 catch limit stays at 41,731 tons.

Those other boats had caught 66 tons of their 800-ton allowance, according to the National Marine Fisheries Service's latest weekly catch report. The trawl account in the area stood at 27,767 of 36,283 tons, with about 8,500 tons left and 2,527 caught in the most recent week. Trawl quotas farther west, in the Central and Western Aleutians, are effectively full.

The agency's Alaska regional administrator found that 700 tons of the allowance won't be harvested, based on current catch and the cooperative's harvest capacity and stated fishing plans. "This action is necessary to allow the 2026 total allowable catch (TAC) of Atka mackerel in the BS/EAI to be fully harvested," the rule says. It runs through Dec. 31.

NMFS skipped advance notice and public comment, saying the catch data it relied on only became available Oct. 12. The agency has made similar Atka mackerel reallocations in the Bering Sea and Eastern Aleutians in many years since at least 2014, according to its information bulletins.