Unalaska, AK – Last week, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council groundfish plan team met in Seattle and set the allowable biological catch for eastern Bering Sea walleye pollock at 1.276 million metrics tons. That's a 57% increase from the 2010 ABC, which was set at 813,000 metric tons.

The team acted on the recommendations made in the National Marine Fisheries Service stock assessment report, which was posted earlier this month. In addition to suggesting an ABC of 1.267 million metric tons, the assessment also determined that the projected total biomass of Bering Sea pollock more than doubled over the past year, jumping from 4.6 million metric tons to 9.6 million. Pollock has experienced a downturn since 2006, when the quota dropped from about 1.5 million metric tons to just over 800,000 in 2009 and 2010.

The ABC determines the upper threshold for next year's pollock quota. The total allowable catch can be equal to the ABC, or it can be somewhat lower. Now, the groundfish plan team will offer that number to the Council's Scientific and Statistical Committee, which will then propose next years final catch levels. The Council will be meeting from December 6 through December 13 in Anchorage. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke will sign off on the final quota.