The Council reviewed a preliminary document for evaluating changes to management of the BSAI catcher vessel (CV) non-CDQ Pacific cod trawl fishery. In the document, staff had requested clarification on several components of the Council’s December 2018 motion. In June, the Council modified the problem statement and provided clarification on all the issues identified in the document. Those clarifications included:
- Changing the language to state that qualification for catcher processors to act as a mothership would be based on targeted Pacific cod landings (Alternative 2).
- The sideboard limit (Alternative 3) will be set for the BS “A” season or “A” and “B” season and apply to all catcher processors limited by the action; staff had interpreted the original motion to have applied to the BSAI and for the entire year.
- A sub-option was added to Alternative 3 that would exempt any catcher processor from the sideboard limit if it had received deliveries in 7 or more years from the BSAI non-CDQ Pacific cod trawl CV fishery and the catch delivered to those catcher processors would not accrue to any sideboard limit established for catcher processors that a limited when acting as a mothership.
- Alternative 4 was modified to clarify that both the catch accounting system (CAS) target definition and the fish ticket target definition would be considered for determining which catcher vessels would be eligible to deliver BSAI Pacific cod in the future.
- An option was also added to exempt the 8 severable Aleutian Islands trawl endorsements on LLP licenses, established under BSAI Amendment 92, from the proposed BSAI landings requirements for trawl CVs.
The Council also added two new alternatives in addition to the four previously identified.
- Alternative 5 would establish AFA and non-AFA sector allocations for the BSAI non-CDQ Pacific cod trawl CV “A” season. Elements of the alternative do not yet define specific allocation percentages or years to consider when dividing the allocation between the two sectors. Staff will provide information in the next iteration of the document to aid the Council in identifying specific options for dividing that component of the BS TAC among the AFA and non-AFA sectors. Staff was also asked to provide information on actions that would be necessary for the non-AFA sector to develop a cooperative or cooperatives to fish their Pacific cod allocation.
- Alternative 6 was added to the document to ensure that Amendment 80 catcher processor vessels that have been replaced and no longer have an Amendment 80 quota share permit or an Amendment 80 LLP license would be prohibited from acting as a mothership for Pacific cod in the future. The restriction would apply to both the BSAI and GOA.
The Council also clarified that the BSAI CV non-CDQ Pacific cod trawl participation amendment and the AI Pacific cod set-aside amendment should not be combined into a single amendment package. Combining the two proposed amendments would likely delay implementation of the AI Pacific cod set-aside amendment, which is scheduled for initial review during the October 2018 meeting.
The revised problem statement and list of Alternatives and options are available on the Council’s website under the C-6 June agenda item. Staff contact is Jon McCracken.
