This week, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council will decide whether to mount a new crackdown on salmon bycatch in the Bering Sea's biggest fishery.

The pollock fleet could be asked to fish earlier in the year to avoid salmon. And they may face tighter limits on the number of salmon they can take without shutting down their season.

For the last four years, the hard limit on Chinook salmon has been 60,000 fish. The council is considering a plan to lower that cap by 25 to 60 percent in years when the Chinook aren't doing well.

Salmon runs have recently hit rock bottom in western Alaska -- triggering subsistence shutdowns and making each salmon seem more valuable to the fishermen who rely on them.

According to genetic research, more than half of the Chinook salmon that gets taken as bycatch comes from Western Alaskan rivers. But it’s not clear how many salmon would be saved and sent back there if the new restrictions on commercial pollock fishing went through.

Staff members for the NPFMC weren't able to calculate that impact as part of an environmental review. The full results will be presented to the scientists and industry stakeholders who sit on the NFPMC this week during their meeting in Anchorage.

The council is expected to take a final vote on Friday.