A delegation from the Scottish Fishermen’s Organisation (SFO) visited the Pacific North-West area of the United States to learn how fisheries managers there have improved sustainability by reducing unwanted catches.
Several directors and senior executives of the organisation, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, travelled to the states of Washington and Alaska in August.
The visit was planned to coincide with the Alaska pollock “B” season, which takes place from early June to the end of October, depending on quota availability. The fishery is widely regarded as one of the best managed in the world and uses a range of innovative management tools to limit by-catch of species such as salmon and halibut.
The SFO first became aware of the tools used in North-West Pacific fisheries when it undertook a collaborative pilot project on real time reporting with Dr Tara Marshall of the University of Aberdeen and Eric Torgerson of Chordata LLC, a software developer based in Alaska that has extensive experience developing systems for bycatch avoidance and information sharing.
The project resulted in the development of BATmap (Bycatch Avoidance Tool with mapping), a bespoke mobile phone app that enables participating skippers to share information on the location of unwanted catches in real time. The system has been in operation on the west coast of Scotland since 2019 and has been used to report unwanted catches of cod (currently on a bycatch quota) and spurdog (prohibited until recently).
Scotland is currently undertaking a co-management approach to developing its future catch policy and to assist in this process the SFO is keen to draw on experiences of management in fisheries that have developed innovative approaches to sustainability. The aim of the trip was to witness first-hand the co-management approach that has been adopted in recent years in several important fisheries in the North-West Pacific, particularly in relation to unwanted catch reduction.
The exchange was hosted by Dan Martin, Fleet Manager of Bering North LLC, and Karl Haflinger, founder and owner of Sea State Inc, the company behind the innovative approach to data sharing and by-catch management and regulation in the Alaska pollock fishery. Both Dan and Karl have participated in previous knowledge exchanges to Scotland and understand many of the challenges unique to Scottish fisheries. Tara Marshall and Eric Torgerson also participated in the exchange.
The delegation spent two days in Seattle and met various industry and management organisations associated with US North-West Pacific fisheries. A number of representatives from The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), a United States federal agency within the US Department of Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, also participated in the discussions.
The delegation also met Sea State Inc in Seattle to learn how real-time by-catch avoidance works in North-West Pacific fisheries, particularly the Alaska pollock fishery.
Sea State acts as an information service provider, providing technical support for fishing companies, and providing data to government to help with policy analyses. Data inputs for the analyses and reports generated by Sea State originate from a variety of sources including observers, catch accounting, electronic fish tickets, Elogs, VMS, AIS and environmental data. The outputs provided by Sea State include the tracking of quota uptake, real-time closures, weekly fishery summary reports, by-catch risk management, data analyses, and the implementation of fishing co-op agreements.
The second half of the exchange comprised a visit to Dutch Harbor, Alaska, to experience the Alaska pollock fishery in operation and to meet boat captains, processors and managers to discuss the practical implementation of real-time reporting. The delegation visited two pollock processing plants in Dutch Harbor: Alyeska Seafoods Inc and Westwards Seafoods. Members learned about the various products including frozen fillet and surimi blocks that are processed from catches landed directly into the plants. The delegation also learned how by-catch was accounted for and dealt with in the processing plants.
The delegation met three captains during the exchange: Tony Norg of the 34m Bering Rose, Calyton Smith of the 40m Progress and Tim Thomas of the 102m catcher-processor Northern Jaeger.
Meeting Tim Cusick, fleet manager for Westward Fishing Company.
Each captain spoke of the move in recent years to sharing data and the importance data plays in the management of the fishery. While data sharing may have been a challenging concept when first introduced, the majority of operators now see the value of using data in near real-time to help reduce unwanted catches. This sentiment was echoed in meetings with Tim Cusick (fleet manager for Westward Fishing Company) and Colleen Anderson (coop manager for Unalaska Fleet Cooperative) who further noted that full transparency of by-catch levels across the fleet provides an added incentive to keep within the predefined limits.
The trip was deemed an overwhelming success and the SFO intends to use the knowledge gained to inform discussions with stakeholders and the Scottish Government as it looks to develop an effective catch policy for Scotland in the coming months. It will also help inform the further development of BATmap (https://info.batmap.co.uk/).
John Anderson, Chief Executive of the SFO, said: “We are extremely grateful to our hosts in Seattle and Dutch harbour for what was an illuminating and highly valuable learning journey. It is clear that the American North-West Pacific fisheries are light years ahead of us both in terms of their co-management approach and in the use of technology and real-time data to manage their mixed fisheries. Their overall management approach is something we can aspire to and gives us much food for thought as we contemplate the Future of Fisheries Management in Scotland and embark on the development of Fisheries Management Plans (FMPs).”
Paul Macdonald of the SFO added: “We have been trialling real-time reporting using BATmap in the whitefish fishery in Scotland and are already seeing the benefits of that in terms of data sharing and improved knowledge of spatial and temporal distribution of bycatch species. Seeing the significant progress Sea State and the industry have made in managing and reducing unwanted catches in the Northwest Pacific has been hugely beneficial and has provided useful insight that we can take back to consider and apply in our fisheries.”
Peter Lovie, owner and skipper of the whitefish trawler Endeavour V, said: “An important part of a skipper’s job now is avoiding by-catch species to the best of his ability. I have used BATmap for a few years and I am now seeing the benefits of data sharing which helps me avoid catching these by-catch species such as cod and spurdog. While in Alaska it was really interesting to learn how Sea State and the industry have worked closely together in reducing by-catch species to a minimum and implementing RTCs when necessary. It was also very interesting to hear firsthand from Alaskan skippers and managers regarding all the changes they have made in recent years (data sharing, onboard cameras, by catch avoidance) to achieve such a sustainable fishery.”
Dan Martin, Fleet Manager of Bering North LLC, stated: “As we all know, fisheries management is extremely challenging and fluid. I believe an important component of success in this endeavour is being able to provide fishermen and managers the tools and regulatory flexibility to meet those challenges. It took time, trust and collaboration for real-time reporting to become what it is today, but it has changed the face of by-catch management in the Alaskan pollock fishery. I am proud to have had the opportunity to share my experiences with the SFO and look forward to further exchanges.”
The SFO is grateful to the Fishmongers’ Company for providing funding through the International Exchange Grant and to all the government and industry representatives. The organisation is also appreciative of all the industry and government representatives in Seattle and Alaska who took part in meetings and discussions over the course of the exchange.
