Mussel Roe Fouls Fishing Gear

Steve Ivanoff and Victoria Kotongan write,

We in Unalakleet and Norton Sound have seen an incredible increase of mussel roe and slime sticking to our salmon and crab gear making for lower success rates being that the gear is so visible. We've seen this getting worse every year frustrating fishermen.

Western Alaska Community Development Quota (CDQ) Consult:

Western AK CDQ Program biologist has confirmed that it is mussel roe that sticks to our gear and if left alone for a couple of weeks grows quickly in size.