The Alaska Board of Fisheries voted unanimously Friday to defer action on four proposals that would have restricted trawl fisheries in state waters, choosing instead to coordinate with federal managers on bottom contact standards and gear requirements.

The board voted 7-0 to take no action on the proposals, which sought to close state waters west of 170° W. longitude to commercial groundfish trawling and establish new performance standards for pelagic trawl gear. One proposal to close state waters west of 170° W. longitude was deferred to the Alaska Peninsula/Aleutian Islands/Chignik meeting. Board members said they needed more information before making decisions on an issue they acknowledged knowing little about.

"I personally just do not think that I am capable with the amount of knowledge that I have on this subject matter at this time to move forward," said one board member who made the motion to take no action.

The state Department of Fish and Game commissioner confirmed that federal and state work is already underway on bottom contact standards for pelagic trawl gear, with a briefing scheduled for the North Pacific Fishery Management Council's June meeting. He said the department has heard concerns about bottom contact and is working with industry and universities to develop enforceable and measurable performance standards.

"We have heard loud and clear about bottom contact," the commissioner said. "There is a lot of work undergoing to try to get enforceable and measurable standards in place."

The board will use its rarely-invoked Joint Protocol Committee, made up of three Board of Fish members and three council members, to review trawl fishery issues. One board member noted the need for "expediency" on simpler measures like salmon excluders already used in federal fisheries.

"Salmon excluders are currently being used in the federal fisheries," the board member said. "It should not take a lot of time to figure out what that means and how to require them and write a definition for it for state regulations."

Board members expressed concern about creating parallel state and federal fisheries with conflicting regulations. The commissioner stated that the board taking action independently could result in "incongruent regulations" between state and federal waters. Some members also raised concerns about statewide proposals that do not account for regional differences. One board member noted the risk that restrictions in one region could push fishing effort into adjacent areas like Chignik, South Peninsula, and the Aleutian Islands.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game recommended coordinating trawl effects with federal managers due to increasing enforcement costs, according to previous reporting. The department has raised concerns about the fiscal impact of implementing new monitoring requirements without additional funding.