Alaska Seafood Cooperative

Alaska Seafood Cooperative (ASC) is an industry group representing several "freezer trawler" fishing companies that all share the goal of improving the management and ecological stewardship of flatfish and other non-pollock groundfish fisheries in the Bering Sea.Flatfish are managed by the same strict, science-based standards that have made Alaska fisheries globally renowned as among the best managed in the world. Catches are held at or below scientific limits, none of these stocks are overfished, and fishing is strictly regulated to prevent excessive bycatch of other species.Bycatch is a major concern for ASC and fishery managers. Bycatch limits are placed on the mortality of incidental catch of species like halibut and crab and if any of these limits are reached, the flatfish fisheries will be closed regardless of how much is left of their quota.From its inception, ASC worked with the North Pacific Fishery Management Council to end the "race for fish and develop a safer, more responsible way to manage the fisheries. The resulting new system (Amendment 80) went into effect in 2008 and divides the groundfish target quotas and bycatch limits among cooperatives like ASC. This new management system makes each group responsible for its own catch and bycatch, and also provides strong incentives for the co-ops to keep bycatch rates low, maximize retention of target catches that can be marketed, and reward those who fish cleanly and efficiently.At industry expense, observer coverage aboard flatfish vessels was doubled from historic levels, resulting in the current standard of 200% coverage for the fleet. New flow scales were adopted that precisely account for everything that is caught. Additionally, fishermen collaborated with Federal scientists to reduce the impact of their nets, resulting in the fleets implementation of modified flatfish trawls that reduce seafloor contact by as much as 90% relative to older gear types.In 2010, the flatfish industry decided to pursue certification under the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), an internationally recognized body that provides third-party, objective certification of sustainable fisheries. MSC certification involves close and ongoing scrutiny through a transparent, science-based process to evaluate soundness of stock assessments, impacts of fishing on target and bycatch species as well as the overall ecosystem, and other metrics of sustainability. The flatfish fisheries were certified under the MSC guidelines in 2010, and this certification was renewed in 2015 and 2020. Additionally, several species of rockfish and Atka mackerel were certified by MSC in 2020.More recently, the ASC has been refining a program of deck sorting under an exempted fishing permit (EFP). This EFP allows for experimental fishing practices to be tested under the supervision of Federal scientists. The deck sorting EFP has allowed for halibut an important bycatch species to be returned to the water much faster than would be the case under normal regulations, greatly reducing halibut mortality. Deck sorting was made part of normal regulations beginning in the 2020 season.