At this meeting the Council considered an Allocation Review for the Area 2C and 3A commercial and charter halibut Catch Sharing Plan (CSP) as required by NOAA Policy Directive. The Council deemed the review complete and final with the incorporation of SSC recommendations.
Charter Halibut Management Process
In response to the review and public input, the Council also initiated an analysis to consider revising the commercial/ charter allocations under the Area 2C and 3A CSP. The Council’s purpose and need statement, as well as discussion, highlighted that the Council’s preferred mechanism for CSP allocation changes would be through compensated reallocation established through the Recreational Quota (RQE) Entity. The purpose and need statement specified that should the RQE fee funding mechanism become law and the Council take final action on the RQE funding mechanism, the Council intends to table or refine this action. Council members discussed concerns about the success and timing of funding the RQE, which is currently scheduled for Council final action at the April meeting but still requires Congressional action. Many Council members emphasized that the tasking of this analysis was not intended necessarily to indicate their support for such an allocation change, but support for an opportunity for additional analysis and consideration, depending on the progress of the RQE.
The analysis will evaluate changes for Area 2C and Area 3A allocations separately, given the different allocation structures in each area. For Area 2C, the analysis will consider increasing the charter halibut portion of the combined catch limit (CCL) by 1% to 5% in the first tier of the allocation (at lowest level of CCL) and decreasing the charter portion of the CCL by 1% to 3% in the third tier of the allocation. The “stair-step” portion of the allocation in tier 2 would adjust as necessary according to the percentage from the top and bottom tiers to maintain the current approach of avoiding a “cliff drop” in the charter allocation.
For Area 3A, the analysis will similarly consider increasing the charter halibut portion of the CCL by 1% to 5% in the first tier of the allocation and decreasing the charter portion of the CCL by 1% to 3% in the third tier of the allocation. The fifth tier of the allocation would remain the same. The “stair-step” portions of the allocation in tier 2 and tier 4 would adjust as necessary according to the percentage from the top and bottom tiers.
The Council also requested that the analysis explore methods of implementing charter management measures (i.e., bag limits or size restrictions) for more than one year through either the existing Council/IPHC process or through domestic regulations. This alternative is meant to address concerns that were raised about the instability and uncertainty created by the CSP management system, which does not typically establish charter management measures until January in the year measures apply. This alternative is not mutually exclusive from the allocation alternatives.
Staff contact is Sarah Marrinan.
