Unalaska, AK – A seafood industry publication reports today that Bering Sea pollock quotas will be set lower than previously expected next year. That's based on early data from this year's pollock surveys presented at a European seafood industry conference last week, numbers which suggest the pollock stocks are lower than previously thought.

The article published by Seafood.com News suggests that the 2008 total allowable catch (TAC) for pollock may be set as low as 1 million tons. That's 287,000 tons less than what had been previously projected for next year. To the fishing industry, the difference amounts to about $60 million worth of fish.

National Marine Fisheries Service biologist Jim Ianelli confirmed that his agency's new data do point to a lower TAC, but he wouldn't speculate on how much smaller the quota would be.

This year's limit for Bering Sea pollock is 1.4 million tons, which is historically high for the fishery. But as a difficult fishing season nears its close, it's unlikely fishermen will get all of it. As of the most recent numbers from last week, the pollock fleet has about 100,000 tons to go before it reaches the limit. Fisheries analysts in Unalaska say that as much as half of that could go uncaught, a volume of fish worth more than $15 million.