Unalaska, AK – Though a mid-water trawl survey shows that pollock biomass is down almost 50 percent, scientists say pollock stocks are not crashing. National Marine Fisheries Services scientist Jim Ianelli is in charge the pollock stock assessment, which won't be completed and released until next month. He said groups like Greenpeace, which recently sent out a press release saying the fishery is on the brink of collapse, are overreacting.

"What Greenpeace is saying about the stock size is [in reaction to] just one of the surveys," Ianelli said. "In fact in that survey the number of fish is increased, even though the biomass is dropped there are new fish coming into the stock so it's not as doom and gloom as they picture it."

When data from the mid-trawl survey is combined with data from the bottom trawl survey, they show about 4 million tons of pollock in the Bering Sea. Ianelli says that's about 92 percent of the expected biomass. Researchers say the fish are staying lower because of the cold water temperatures, but the surveys do show that biomass is falling. After a hit-or-miss pollock B season, members of the fishing industry in Unalaska have estimated between a 10 to 20 percent cut in quota, but official quota recommendations will not be made until next month.

Greenpeace Oceans Campaign Director John Hocevar said the quota cut should be closer to 50 percent because "any way you want to slice it, the problem is we've been taking a lot more fish out of the Bering Sea than the population can stand."

He said the commercial fishery is endangering other species, like the Stellar sea lions, because it is removing a major prey species.

The 2009 pollock quota will be determined during the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council meeting in December.