Bering Sea fishermen are now trawling for pollock.
"B" season opened last week with a total quota of almost 742,764 metric tons, which is about 1.5 percent higher than last year.
"It's fairly status quo," said Krista Milani of the National Marine Fisheries Service. "We've really enjoyed a pretty sustainable fishery in Bering Sea pollock, and we're really fortunate for that."
With that sustainability in mind, Milani said she's not concerned about reports that fishermen didn't have much luck in their first week.
"They are reporting kind of a slow start as far as finding pollock and whatnot," she said. "But they've had other years where they've had slow starts, so it's difficult to say if that's very meaningful at this point."
Milani said she expects the pollock fishery to pick up as "B" season progresses. It closes Nov. 1 by regulation, though fishermen are often done in early October.
This year, the total quota includes 76,835 metric tons for the Community Development Quota (CDQ) Program and 665,929 metric tons for all non-CDQ sectors, including shoreside, catcher processors, and motherships.
