A delegation from the Scottish Fishermen’s Organisation (SFO) visited the Pacific North-\nWest area of the United States to learn how fisheries managers there have improved\nsustainability by reducing unwanted catches.\n\nSeveral directors and senior executives of the organisation, which is celebrating its 50th\nanniversary this year, travelled to the states of Washington and Alaska in August.\n\nThe visit was planned to coincide with the Alaska pollock “B” season, which takes place from\nearly June to the end of October, depending on quota availability. The fishery is widely\nregarded as one of the best managed in the world and uses a range of innovative\nmanagement tools to limit by-catch of species such as salmon and halibut.\n\nThe SFO first became aware of the tools used in North-West Pacific fisheries when it\nundertook a collaborative pilot project on real time reporting with Dr Tara Marshall of the\nUniversity of Aberdeen and Eric Torgerson of Chordata LLC, a software developer based in\nAlaska that has extensive experience developing systems for bycatch avoidance and\ninformation sharing.\n\nThe project resulted in the development of BATmap (Bycatch Avoidance Tool with mapping),\na bespoke mobile phone app that enables participating skippers to share information on the\nlocation of unwanted catches in real time. The system has been in operation on the west\ncoast of Scotland since 2019 and has been used to report unwanted catches of cod\n(currently on a bycatch quota) and spurdog (prohibited until recently).\n\nScotland is currently undertaking a co-management approach to developing its future catch\npolicy and to assist in this process the SFO is keen to draw on experiences of management in\nfisheries that have developed innovative approaches to sustainability. The aim of the trip\nwas to witness first-hand the co-management approach that has been adopted in recent\nyears in several important fisheries in the North-West Pacific, particularly in relation to\nunwanted catch reduction.\n\nThe exchange was hosted by Dan Martin, Fleet Manager of Bering North LLC, and Karl\nHaflinger, founder and owner of Sea State Inc, the company behind the innovative approach\nto data sharing and by-catch management and regulation in the Alaska pollock fishery. Both\nDan and Karl have participated in previous knowledge exchanges to Scotland and\nunderstand many of the challenges unique to Scottish fisheries. Tara Marshall and Eric\nTorgerson also participated in the exchange.\n\nThe delegation spent two days in Seattle and met various industry and management\norganisations associated with US North-West Pacific fisheries. A number of representatives\nfrom The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), a United States federal agency within\nthe US Department of Commerce. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, also\nparticipated in the discussions.\n\n\n\n \n\nThe delegation also met Sea State Inc in Seattle to learn how real-time by-catch avoidance\nworks in North-West Pacific fisheries, particularly the Alaska pollock fishery.\n\nSea State acts as an information service provider, providing technical support for fishing\ncompanies, and providing data to government to help with policy analyses. Data inputs for\nthe analyses and reports generated by Sea State originate from a variety of sources\nincluding observers, catch accounting, electronic fish tickets, Elogs, VMS, AIS and\nenvironmental data. The outputs provided by Sea State include the tracking of quota\nuptake, real-time closures, weekly fishery summary reports, by-catch risk management,\ndata analyses, and the implementation of fishing co-op agreements.\n\nThe second half of the exchange comprised a visit to Dutch Harbor, Alaska, to experience\nthe Alaska pollock fishery in operation and to meet boat captains, processors and managers\nto discuss the practical implementation of real-time reporting. The delegation visited two\npollock processing plants in Dutch Harbor: Alyeska Seafoods Inc and Westwards Seafoods.\nMembers learned about the various products including frozen fillet and surimi blocks that\nare processed from catches landed directly into the plants. The delegation also learned how\nby-catch was accounted for and dealt with in the processing plants.\n\nThe delegation met three captains during the exchange: Tony Norg of the 34m Bering Rose,\nCalyton Smith of the 40m Progress and Tim Cusick of the 102m catcher-processor\nNorthern Jaeger.\n\n \n\n\n\nEach captain spoke of the move in recent years to sharing data and the importance data\nplays in the management of the fishery. While data sharing may have been a challenging\nconcept when first introduced, the majority of operators now see the value of using data in\nnear real-time to help reduce unwanted catches. This sentiment was echoed in meetings\nwith Tim Cusick (fleet manager for Westward Fishing Company) and Colleen Anderson (coop\nmanager for Unalaska Fleet Cooperative) who further noted that full transparency of by-\ncatch levels across the fleet provides an added incentive to keep within the predefined\nlimits.\n\nThe trip was deemed an overwhelming success and the SFO intends to use the knowledge\ngained to inform discussions with stakeholders and the Scottish Government as it looks to\ndevelop an effective catch policy for Scotland in the coming months. It will also help inform\nthe further development of BATmap (https://info.batmap.co.uk/).\n\nJohn Anderson, Chief Executive of the SFO, said: “We are extremely grateful to our hosts in\nSeattle and Dutch harbour for what was an illuminating and highly valuable learning\njourney. It is clear that the American North-West Pacific fisheries are light years ahead of us\nboth in terms of their co-management approach and in the use of technology and real-time\ndata to manage their mixed fisheries. Their overall management approach is something we\ncan aspire to and gives us much food for thought as we contemplate the Future of Fisheries\nManagement in Scotland and embark on the development of Fisheries Management Plans\n(FMPs).”\n\nPaul Macdonald of the SFO added: “We have been trialling real-time reporting using\nBATmap in the whitefish fishery in Scotland and are already seeing the benefits of that in\nterms of data sharing and improved knowledge of spatial and temporal distribution of\nbycatch species. Seeing the significant progress Sea State and the industry have made in\nmanaging and reducing unwanted catches in the Northwest Pacific has been hugely\nbeneficial and has provided useful insight that we can take back to consider and apply in our\nfisheries.”\n\nPeter Lovie, owner and skipper of the whitefish trawler Endeavour V, said: “An important\npart of a skipper’s job now is avoiding by-catch species to the best of his ability. I have used\nBATmap for a few years and I am now seeing the benefits of data sharing which helps me\navoid catching these by-catch species such as cod and spurdog. While in Alaska it was really\ninteresting to learn how Sea State and the industry have worked closely together in\nreducing by-catch species to a minimum and implementing RTCs when necessary. It was\nalso very interesting to hear firsthand from Alaskan skippers and managers regarding all the\nchanges they have made in recent years (data sharing, onboard cameras, by catch\navoidance) to achieve such a sustainable fishery.”\n\nDan Martin, Fleet Manager of Bering North LLC, stated: “As we all know, fisheries\nmanagement is extremely challenging and fluid. I believe an important component of\nsuccess in this endeavour is being able to provide fishermen and managers the tools and\nregulatory flexibility to meet those challenges. It took time, trust and collaboration for real-\ntime reporting to become what it is today, but it has changed the face of by-catch\nmanagement in the Alaskan pollock fishery. I am proud to have had the opportunity to\nshare my experiences with the SFO and look forward to further exchanges.”\n\nThe SFO is grateful to the Fishmongers’ Company for providing funding through the\nInternational Exchange Grant and to all the government and industry representatives. The\norganisation is also appreciative of all the industry and government representatives in\nSeattle and Alaska who took part in meetings and discussions over the course of the\nexchange.\n\n\n\nThe SFO was officially recognised as a Fish Producer Organisation in 1973, shortly after the\nUK joined the European Economic Community (EEC). Producer Organisations (POs) were\nestablished throughout Europe as part of an initiative to organise the market for fisheries\nproducts within the EEC. A decade or so later, with the development of fish quotas from the\nmid-eighties onwards, many UK POs also took on quota management responsibilities on\nbehalf of their members, a role that has evolved significantly over time.\n\nThe SFO has a proud history at the heart of the fishing industry in Scotland and 50 years on has 140 member\nvessels participating in all the main Scottish fleet segments, which generated a collective\nlanded value of £182 million of fish and shellfish species in 2022, making it the largest PO in\nthe UK and one of the largest in Europe.
