FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 10, 2007

 (Sitka, Alaska)- Today the North Pacific Fishery Management Council voted to close the northern Bering Sea to bottom trawl fishing as part of a commitment under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation & Management Act to protect "essential fish habitat" from impacts caused by fishing. Bottom trawling involves dragging large nets fixed with heavy tires, chains and other hardware across the bottom of the ocean and is widely considered destructive to the physical structure and marine life on the seafloor. The North Pacific Council established a northern boundary for bottom trawling that prevents movement of those fleets into new grounds where sensitive marine mammals and seabirds feed and migrate. Yup'ik and Inupiaq villages along the Bering Sea coast, Nunivak Island, St. Lawrence Island, King and Diomede Islands are dependent on the region for subsistence harvesting and small-scale local fisheries. Over 25 Bering Sea tribal governments and Native organizations requested the bottom trawl closure.

"We are honored to work with the many communities to achieve this important step in protecting our way of life and the health of the ocean that is at the heart of our culture," said Muriel Morse, tribal member of the Native Village of Koyuk and western Alaska outreach coordinator for the Alaska Marine Conservation Council.

In addition to the northern bottom trawl boundary, federal fishery managers also considered a future management arrangement in the event that rising ocean temperatures cause a major redistribution of commercially valuable fish species into the northern area. Specifically, they stipulated that before they would consider allowing bottom trawling beyond the northern boundary, they will establish protections in the northern area for marine mammals, species listed under the Endangered Species Act, crab populations and areas important for subsistence. It is anticipated that subsistence areas would be delineated through a tribal consultation process. This plan will be developed over two years. Following these protections, there would be research conducted in the remaining area to evaluate the effects of trawling on that habitat. 

Villages on Nunivak Island and Nelson Island and around Kuskokwim Bay expressed strong concern that the bottom trawl boundary comes too close to their communities and overlaps with historical hunting and fishing grounds. The North Pacific Fishery Management Council agreed to reconsider that segment of the boundary in four years. During this time, the tribes can develop a proposal for where to redraw the line.

Among a rich array of marine life, the northern area protected by the bottom trawl boundary is a migratory pathway for halibut, salmon, herring, walrus, bowhead whales, and ice seals. Walrus and seals use the sea ice as a winter platform for feeding, resting and pupping. The entire population of spectacled eiders, listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, winters in open water leads within the pack ice south of St. Lawrence Island. Walrus and eiders dive to the seafloor to feed on clams and other animals that would be harmed if bottom trawling were permitted in those offshore areas.

The North Pacific Council chose to limit bottom trawling to those areas of the southern Bering Sea where it has historically occurred. "Freezing the footprint" is a precautionary measure to ensure this fishery does not expand into untrawled habitats without an explicit plan for how to strictly limit bottom trawling to those areas where impact would be minimal.

"Creating a northern boundary for bottom trawl fisheries will prevent damage to this unique part of the Bering Sea. Bottom trawling is not compatible with subsistence practices or the sensitive marine life in the region," said Dorothy Childers, program director for the Alaska Marine Conservation Council. " The Bering Sea faces diminishing sea ice and other uncertain changes caused by global warming. Now more than ever, it is important to prevent the introduction of new sources of impact like bottom trawling in the sensitive northern region."

A map depicting the northern boundary can be found at:

http://www.fakr.noaa.gov/npfmc/current_issues/BSHC/BSHC407alts.pdf

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Tribal Governments and Native Organizations who sent resolutions or letters requesting the northern bottom trawl boundary are:

Yukon/Kuskokwim Delta:
Goodnews Bay
Eek
Kwigillingok
Tuntutuliak
Kwinhagak
Kongiganak
Kipnuk
Chefornak
Nightmute
Toksook Bay
Tununak
Newtok
Emmonak
Chevak

Nunivak Island:
Mekoryuk

Norton Sound, St. Lawrence Island, Bering Strait:
Elim
Shaktoolik
Stebbins
White Mountain
Gambell
Savoonga
Teller
King Island
Wales

Organizations:
Association of Village Council Presidents
Kawerak, Inc.
Eskimo Walrus Commission