• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
NPFMC logo

North Pacific Fishery Management Council

Managing Fisheries off the Coast of Alaska

MENUMENU
  • OUR MEETINGS
    • Current or Next Council Meeting
    • Archive of Council Meetings
    • Three Meeting Outlook
    • Future Council Meetings
    • Calendar of All Events
  • WHO WE ARE
        • COUNCIL MEMBERS
        • COUNCIL STAFF
        • NEWSLETTERS
        • ADVISORY GROUPS
        • Advisory Panel
        • Scientific and Statistical Committee
        • Other Committees
        • PLAN TEAMS
        • Bering Sea Fishery Ecosystem Plan Team
        • BSAI and GOA Groundfish Plan Team
        • BSAI Crab Plan Team
        • Scallop Plan Team
        • Social Science Planning Team
  • HOW WE WORK
    • Navigating the Process
    • Management Policies
    • Research Priorities
    • FAQ
  • FISHERIES & ISSUES
        • FISHERIES
        • BSAI Crab Fisheries
        • BSAI Groundfish Fisheries
        • GOA Groundfish Fisheries
        • Halibut Fisheries
        • Scallop Fishery
        • Salmon Fisheries
        • Arctic
        • ISSUES
          • Habitat Protections
        • Harvest Specifications
        • Monitoring and Research
        • EBFM
        • BYCATCH
        • Halibut Bycatch
        • Salmon Bycatch
        • Crab Bycatch
        • Groundfish Bycatch
        • Protected Species
        • CATCH SHARES & ALLOCATIONS
        • Groundfish Quota Programs
        • IFQ Program
        • CDQ Program
        • BSAI Crab Rationalization Program
  • LIBRARY
    • Newsletters
    • Minutes and Records
    • Coop Reports
    • Council Mailings
    • FMPs FEPs & Amend Sums
    • Acronyms
    • LKTKS Search Engine
    • Papers & Publications
    • Prog. & Allocation Review
    • Recognition and Awards
    • SAFE Reports
    • All-Council site
    • NOAA Online Library
  • eAGENDA
  • CONTACT
sub1
sub1
sub1
  • Catch Share Allocations
  • Groundfish Quota Programs
  • IFQ
  • CDQ Program
  • BSAI Crab Rationalization Program

BSAI Crab Rationalization Program

The Bering Sea Aleutian Island (BSAI) Crab Rationalization (CR) program is a limited access privilege management program, which was implemented in 2005. The CR program applies to all federal crab fisheries except for Norton Sound red king crab and Pribilof golden king crab. Specifically, it includes:

  • Bristol Bay red king crab
  • Bering Sea snow crab (C. opilio)
  • Eastern Bering Sea Tanner crab (C. bairdi) – East of 166ºW
  • Western Bering Sea Tanner crab (C. bairdi) – West of 166ºW
  • Pribilof Islands blue and red king crab
  • Saint Matthew Island blue king crab
  • Western Aleutian Islands (Adak) golden king crab – West of 174ºW
  • Eastern Aleutian Islands (Dutch Harbor) golden king crab – East of 174ºW
  • Western Aleutian Islands (Petrol Bank District) red king crab – West of 179ºW

The CR program was developed with elements built in to address the interests of harvesters, processors, and communities. The primary elements are:

  • Total allowable catch (TAC): A specific catch limit for a fishery.
  • Harvesting quota shares (QS): A revocable privilege that allow the holder to harvest a specific percentage of annual TAC. QS fall into three classes. Class A and Class B QS (owner QS) make up 97% of all QS and are issued to catcher vessel owners but differ in that Class A QS must be delivered to a processor holding available PQS. The remaining 3% of QS are designated as Class C QS (crew shares) and are allocated to captains based on their catch histories in the fishery and were developed to protect captain and crew interests.
  • Processing shares (PQS): A revocable privilege to receive deliveries of a fixed percentage of the annual TAC from a program fishery.
  • Regional landing designations: All Class A QS is regionally designated based on the historic location of the landings and processing that gave rise to the share.
  • Catcher processor shares: QS that carry both a harvesting privilege and an accompanying onboard processing privilege issued to catcher processors with historic participation in the fishery.
  • Binding arbitration system: Serves to disseminate market information to facilitate negotiations, coordinate the matching of Class A IFQ held by harvesters to IPQ held by processors, and create a process to resolve terms of delivery.
  • Cooperatives: Voluntary option for harvesters to form cooperatives associated with one or more processor holding PQS. Cooperatives are intended to facilitate production efficiency by aiding harvesters in coordinating harvest activities among members and deliveries to processors.
  • Community Development Quota (CDQ) and Adak community allocations: CDQs are allocated 10% of crab TAC and Adak is issued an annual allocation of the Western Aleutian Island golden king crab fishery.
  • Crew loan program: Low interest loans to assist eligible captains and crew in purchasing QS.
  • Annual economic data collection (or Economic Data Reports [EDR]): A mandatory census involving reporting of detailed operational and financial information by owners and leaseholders of vessels, processing plants, and Registered Crab Receivers (RCRs) participating in CR program fisheries.

The staff contact is Sarah Marrinan: 907-271-2814

Resources

NPFMC
Resources

BSAI Crab Harvest Timing

External Resources

NOAA: BSAI Crab Rationalization Program

Search our eAgenda

More NPFMC Documents
BSAI Crab Rationalization Program Background Documents

Primary Sidebar

CALENDAR

  • Ecosystem Committee Meeting
    Sep 28, 2023
    8:30 am - 4:30 pm    
  • Individual Fishing Quota Committee
    Sep 28, 2023
    8:30 am - 4:30 pm    
  • Enforcement Trawl Performance Workshop
    Oct 2, 2023
    1:00 pm - 5:00 pm    
  • Scientific & Statistical Committee Meeting
     Oct 2, 2023, 8:00 am — Oct 4, 2023, 5:00 pm    
  • Advisory Panel
     Oct 3, 2023, 8:00 am — Oct 7, 2023, 5:00 pm    
  • Council Meeting
     Oct 5, 2023, 8:00 am — Oct 10, 2023, 5:00 pm    
  • Social Science Planning Team (SSPT)
    Oct 18, 2023
    2:00 pm - 4:00 pm    
  • Charter Halibut Management Committee
    Oct 20, 2023
    12:30 pm - 4:30 pm    
  • BS FEP Climate Change Taskforce Meeting
    Nov 1, 2023
    1:00 pm - 5:00 pm    
  • BS FEP Climate Change Taskforce Meeting
    Nov 2, 2023
    9:00 am - 5:00 pm    
  • Social Science Planning Team (SSPT)
    Nov 3, 2023
    8:30 am - 4:30 pm    
  • Joint, BSAI, GOA Groundfish Plan Team Meetings
     Nov 13, 2023, 12:00 am — Nov 17, 2023, 11:59 pm    
  • IPHC Interim Meeting
     Nov 30, 2023, 12:00 am — Dec 1, 2023, 11:59 pm    
  • Council Meeting
     Dec 4, 2023, 12:00 am — Dec 12, 2023, 11:59 pm    
  • Scallop Plan Team
    Dec 14, 2023
    1:00 pm - 4:00 pm    
  • Crab Plan Team (T)
     Jan 8, 2024, 12:00 am — Jan 12, 2024, 11:59 pm    
  • SSC Subgroup Research Priorities
    Jan 11, 2024
    11:30 am - 2:30 pm    
  • International Pacific Halibut Commission - Anchorage, AK
     Jan 22, 2024, 12:00 am — Jan 26, 2024, 11:59 pm    
  • Alaska Marine Science Symposium
     Jan 29, 2024, 12:00 am — Feb 2, 2024, 11:59 pm    
  • Council Meeting
     Feb 5, 2024, 12:00 am — Feb 12, 2024, 11:59 pm    
  • Council Meeting
     Apr 1, 2024, 12:00 am — Apr 9, 2024, 11:59 pm    
  • Crab Plan Team (T)
     May 13, 2024, 12:00 am — May 17, 2024, 11:59 pm    
  • Council Meeting
     Jun 3, 2024, 12:00 am — Jun 11, 2024, 11:59 pm    
 

VIEW FULL CALENDAR

Spotlight

Arctic Wilderness

October 2023 Meeting – Anchorage

Request for Information: 2024 Research Priorities Triennial Review

We respectfully acknowledge that the Council regularly meets, and its staff office resides, in Anchorage on Dena’ina homelands. The Council wants to honor the Dena’ina, the Indigenous Peoples who have stewarded this land across generations and continue to do so. We are glad to be part of this community, and to honor the culture, resilience, and tradition of the Dena’ina people.

Footer

NPFMC

1007 West Third Ave., Suite 400
L92 Building, 4th floor
Anchorage, Alaska 99501-2252
View Map

Newsletter

Subscribe Now
View Newsletters

Contact Us

Phone: 907-271-2809
Staff Directory
Admin Email

Top
Copyright © 2023 North Pacific Fishery Management Council • All Rights Reserved • Privacy Policy • Website by Sundog Media, LLC Logo Sundog Media, LLC.