1999 

 OUR LIVING OCEANS 



Pink scallop. 



lated by the ADFG through monitoring of recent 

 catch trends. The abalone fishery was closed in 

 1996 following 1 5 years of decline, due in part to 

 overharvests and now to sea otter predation. I he 

 fishery will remain closed until a rebuilding pro- 

 gram is developed. Commercial catch peaked at 

 82 t in 1977 and the 1994-96 recent average yield 

 was only S t. 



The dive fisheries in Southeast Alaska are de- 

 veloping actively. The red sea urchin fisher\' has 

 grown fi'om a 1994-96 recent average yield of 660 

 t to a 2,265 t (5,000,000-pound) harvest in just 2 

 years following the implementation of a fishery 

 management plan and extensive stock assessment 

 surveys funded largely by the industry and local 

 governments. The sea cucumber fishery, now in 

 its 8th year of sustained harvests imder a conser- 

 vative management regime, has become an estab- 

 lished source of winter income for over 400 divers 

 dividing an annual yield of 450 t (1,000,000 

 pounds). The geoduck clam fishery has the po- 

 tential to double in size over the coming years due 

 to industry sponsored exploration for new clam 

 beds. 



A key factor in the successful development of 

 dive fisheries is a regional policy to require exter- 

 nal funds for new fisheries. Also significant is a 



moratorium on entry to dive fisheries, creating a 

 limited and known number of permit holders with 

 a clear stake in the future of the resource. An ex- 

 panding sea otter population, reintroduced in the 

 mid 1960's following extirpation by the turn of 

 the 20th centur\-, may play the ultimate card in 

 the future of nearshore dive fisheries for sea ur- 

 chin, sea cucumber, and abalone, as well as for 

 some lOungeness crab grounds. .Significant los.ses 

 to all of these fisheries have occurred in the past 5 

 years. 



The amount of nearshore resources harvested 

 by the subsistence and recreational fisheries off 

 Alaska has been difficult to compile because of the 

 state's wide geographical expanse and remoteness 

 of such fishing activities. Excluding the recreational 

 and subsistence catches of Pacific salmon and Pa- 

 cific halibut, the total 1 994—96 recent average yield 

 was at least 10,200 t for the nearshore resource 

 complex (Table 21-6). The recreational catch was 

 probabh' 5% of the total. Ihe component of the 

 resources that are the most important are the in- 

 vertebrates: although a wide variety of groundflsh 

 and other species are harvested incidentally to 

 salmon and Pacific halibut fisheries. 



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