Reducing Chinook salmon bycatch in the walleye pollock fishery in the Bering Sea

• Andy Seitz

• Early life of history of juvenile salmon
• Salmon shark migration in the North Pacific

Current mitigation measures aimed at reducing the bycatch of Chinook salmon in the walleye pollock fishery in the Bering Sea rely on closures of areas with high Chinook salmon catch. However, these areas with high bycatch can only be identified after fishing has occurred. If Chinook salmon distribution in the Bering Sea could be predicted, pollock fishermen could avoid areas with high Chinook salmon abundance before fishing in these areas, thereby reducing bycatch. To accomplish this, I propose to merge multiple data sources to create a Species Distribution Model (SDM) for Chinook salmon in the Bering Sea. The SDM will combine observations of Chinook salmon occurrence with environmental variables to understand their movements and predict their distribution in the Bering Sea throughout the year. Once built, the SDM can then be used to determine overlap with the pollock fishery and will be used to explore whether there are consistent combinations of environmental conditions and pollock fishing practices where Chinook salmon bycatch is likely to be high and can therefore be avoided by pollock fishermen.

• Fishery Biologist, Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game, Division of Commercial Fisheries