Fishery Management

As the supply of better-known groundfish has dwindled, the demand for pollock, which is valued for fillets, fish paste, and other products, has increased. Over the years, the pollock fishery off the coast of Alaska has become overcrowded with too many ships chasing too few fish. Last year, Congress eliminated some vessels from the fishery, changed the way that the annual allowable pollock catch was distributed among the various sectors of the fishing industry, and set up a structure for the formation of fishing cooperatives. GAO was required to report on whether the act harmed the market for pollock fillets, including any reduction in their supply. This report provides information on the production of pollock fillets and the actions that affected production for the first and largest of the three 1999 pollock fishing seasons, which ran from January through March 1999. It also includes a historical perspective on the pollock fishery and discusses factors that could affect future production.

GAO noted that: (1) for the January to late March 1999 fishing season, the U.S. production of Bering Sea pollock fillets increased 13 percent, from 33.9 million pounds during the comparable 1998-fishing season to 38.2 million pounds in 1999; (2) the increase is attributable to three main factors; (3) demand for the fillets increased as worldwide groundfish supplies and Russian production of pollock fillets declined; (4) reflecting this increased demand, pollock fillet prices increased by as much as 74 percent in the past year, providing an incentive to produce more fillets; (5) the formation of a fishing cooperative, provided for in the act, guaranteed the cooperative's members a certain amount of fish and effectively ended their race for fish; (6) with the end of the race for fish, cooperative members were able to shift production from surimi, which is faster to produce, to the slower but more profitable production of fillets; (7) although demand for pollock fillets continues to be high, several other factors, such as where pollock fishing will be allowed in the two remaining 1999 pollock fishing seasons, could affect future production and prices; and (8) despite a recent decline in pollock, the fishery is considered to be healthy and in no immediate danger of being overfished.