"This is a pilot program, as the result of a one-time appropriation," Berceli said. "If the funding continues we will try to continue with the fishery."

The funding was sought by area fishermen and secured by Rep. Bill Thomas, and will go toward sampling and hopefully on-board observers, according to Berceli. It will take place in conjunction with the halibut longline fishery, and allow fishermen to keep all the skate caught, instead of the usual 20 percent as bycatch. Copper River Seafoods will buy the product.

The directed fishery in Kodiak was discontinued because of concerns about stocks and lack of data, according to Nick Sagalkin, area management biologist with the Kodiak office of Fish and Game.

"For a number of years the federal government had skates as part of their 'other' species assemblage," he said. "We allowed targeted fishing in state waters by commissioner's permit, and then once a market developed we did see a large increase in landings. Right around the same time the federal government became increasingly concerned about skate landings."

Skates tend to be long-lived, and have low fecundity and late maturity, and because of that NMFS split skates out of "other" species assemblage, creating a separate Guideline Harvest Level (GHL) and disallowing directed fishing. The state-waters quota is tied to the federal GHL.

"The state basically followed that same guidance, and in about 2006 or so we quit issuing commissioner's permits for directed skate fishing and just allowed bycatch," Sagalkin said.

The difference in the Prince William Sound fishery is basically data about stocks and biomass.

"We have a GHL that was set as a result of our bi-annual trawl survey," Berceli said.

The fishery is short; it opens with halibut on March 21 and closes April 30. It is intended to help provide fishing opportunities in what is generally a slow time of year.

There are two separate GHLs for the two species of skate targeted by the fishery, big skate and longnose skate, and are further separated into two districts, inside and outside. The GHL for the Inside District is 20,000 pounds of big skate and 100,000 pounds of longnose skate. For Outside District waters, the GHL is 30,000 pounds of big skate and 150,000 pounds of longnose skate.

Big skate are the largest skate in North America and are found from Unalaska Island to Baja, Calif. They grow up to 7.9 feet long, although rarely reach more than 6 feet and 200 pounds. Males do not reach maturity and reproduce until age 7-8; females, age 12-13. They are thought to live about 25 years.

Longnose skate are found in the same waters, and are about half the size of big skate, but are more numerous.

The Bering Sea pollock fishery may face increased closures due to a draft environmental impact statement that identifies it as a contributing factor in the recent dramatic decline of Yukon/Kuskokwim Chinook (king) salmon escapements.

The EIS, published in December by the National Marine Fisheries Service, raises the specter of limitations on the Bering Sea pollock fishery if predetermined king salmon bycatch levels are exceeded.

Under the preferred plan, which will be taken up by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council at its March meeting, bycatch caps would be assigned to designated sectors, and once the cap is reached, the sector would close to pollock fishing.

NMFS and the council have been struggling with king salmon bycatch issues by the groundfish trawl fleet since the mid-1990s, when it began climbing to historic levels, peaking in 2007 at 122,000 kings.

Voluntary measures by pollock cooperatives and CDQ groups have helped, such as an agreement on a rolling hot spot closure system to close small areas with high salmon bycatch rates, but king salmon runs to Bristol Bay, Yukon, Kuskokwim and Norton Sound systems have generally been in decline since the late 1990s, and in 2007, there was a sharp decline in returns.

The pollock industry has also been working on a salmon excluder device for trawls, which has shown some promise and is being used by an increasing percentage of the fleet.

The Alaska pollock fishery is the largest in the nation by volume, representing more than $1 billion in 2007 to coastal communities.

Cristy Fry has commercial fished in Homer since 1978. She also designs and builds gear for the industry. She currently longlines for halibut and gillnets salmon in upper Cook Inlet aboard the F/V Realist. She can be reached at realist468@gmail.com.