The advisory panel (AP) of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) is recommending a 19% cut in the 2022 US Bering Sea pollock total allowable catch (TAC) level to 1.111 million metric tons.

Although the TAC level from the AP (see all the recommendations above) will go to the NPFMC for finalizing next week, it's unlikely to change, Jim Ianelli, a National Marine Fisheries Service National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientist who leads the stock assessment team, told Undercurrent News. 

The level of 1.111m is the maximum the TAC could be as it's in line with the acceptable biological catch (ABC) level recommended by the NPFMC's scientific and statistical committee for the eastern Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands fishery. 

For Pacific cod, the recommended TAC in the eastern Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands fishery is 136,466t, an increase of 23% y-o-y. That's based on an ABC of 153,383t. The AP is recommending a 25% hike in the yellowfin sole fishery to 250,000t. Also, the AP is recommending increases in various other Amendment 80 flatfish TACs.    [...]