a carbon fee and dividend program, and her organization is currently soliciting comments on a national climate report. But many other big fishing industry groups and companies remain conspicuously silent on the issue.
Scientists expect species to react differently if the Bering Sea continues warming — with some populations unaffected or even benefiting, according to Bob Foy, the science and research director at the NOAA Fisheries’ But broadly speaking, Foy said, larger rises in temperature will cause more dramatic changes to the ecosystem — and force bigger adaptations from fishermen.
It spent much of its time in December hearing public testimony from fishing industry groups, tribes and conservation organizations — whose representatives fiercely debated whether stricter bycatch limits would help restore stocks of crab and chum salmon. “The real argument here is, ‘We’re hurting, so you’ve got to hurt, too,’” said Brent Paine, executive director of a Bering Sea trawlers group called
And while Goen, from the crabbers group, downplayed climate policy at the forum, she said in a subsequent phone interview that she expects her organization to more seriously consider its role in that debate, though members are currently focused on getting through the current crisis and paying their monthly bills.
If Alaska’s fishing industry could coalesce around specific climate policies, and join with other affected businesses like those in marine tourism, the state’s congressional delegation “would have to stand up and listen,” said Rick Steiner, a longtime Anchorage climate activist and a former professor of marine conservation.
I studied science at UAF and have devoted my career to solutions that move us beyond carbon fuel. The argument that crab metabolism sped up enough to cause this level of population crash is unsupported by the evidence and by the literature. No appropriate source is cited here.
The equation is simple. Natural disaster = more funding for fisheries regulators. Management disaster = management is held accountable.
The same federal scientists are funded by money from the comm fish industry. fisheries Alaska