Biological and Economic Yields for Eastern Bering Sea Walleye Pollock under Differing Fishing Regimes

Abstract

Abstract The commercial fishery for walleye pollock (Theragra chalcogramma) in the eastern Bering Sea is the most productive fishery in the United States fishery conservation zone: the total catch exceeded 1 million t in 1982. Historically, this resource has been exploited by foreign distant water fleets; however, there is growing interest among United States fishermen and processors to enter this fishery. Several management strategies have been proposed to facilitate increased domestic participation in this fishery. A bioeconomic simulation was conducted to evaluate the alternative management strategies. The simulation model was an age-structured population model to which economic functions were added. Four alternative fishing regimes were evaluated in the analysis: the current fishery, a fishery directed toward pollock ≳ 36 cm (small fillet), a fishery directed toward pollock ≳ 46 cm (large fillet), and a fishery directed primarily toward small (20-36 cm) pollock for fish paste (surimi). Each fishing re...