10 orcas killed in Bering Sea, prompting calls for fishing reforms

Federal officials are looking into the deaths of nine orcas hauled up by groundfish trawlers in Alaska’s Bering Sea since May.

Conservationists say more needs to be done to prevent such deaths. They plan to protest outside a fishing industry gathering in Seattle, where much of Alaska’s fishing industry is based, on Thursday.

According to the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, another killer whale was released alive from a Bering Sea trawl net this summer.

A tenth orca died in the central Bering Sea in June when it got tangled on a “longline” being used to conduct an annual scientific survey of sablefish (also known as black cod) and other commercially important fish populations.

“NOAA Fisheries is analyzing collected data to determine the cause of injury or death and determine which stocks these whales belong to through a review of genetic information,” said Julie Fair, public affairs officer with the federal agency’s Alaska office, reading from a statement published Sept. 21 and first reported by the Anchorage Daily News. Fair declined to be interviewed, except to read the statement aloud.

Killer whales are protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, which requires boat owners or operators to report the deaths and injuries of the mammals during commercial fishing and survey operations.