Canadian commercial fishers are required to return non-target species like steelhead and Chinook to the water with the least possible harm. Don’t Alaskan fishers do this, too?
Answer
Unlike Canadian seine fishers, fishers in Alaska are not required to return bycatch species to the water with the least possible harm. Nor are they required to report the number of steelhead and chinook they release. Further, there is no independent monitoring of fisheries in Alaska as is required for many Canadian fisheries. Alaskan bycatch is most often sorted when the load is delivered, hours, or even a day or more, after the fish were caught and killed.
