The Council received a report on continued work by the Fishery Monitoring Advisory Committee (FMAC) to develop new ideas to potentially lower costs in the partial coverage observer category, and requests that the group continue to develop new ideas. A subgroup of industry volunteers on the FMAC was first convened in 2017, to explore ideas… Read More →
Cooperative Reports
Every April, the Council reviews cooperative reports submitted by representatives from the American Fisheries Act Program, Amendment 80 Program, Central Gulf of Alaska Rockfish Program, and BSAI Crab Rationalization Program. As part of these programs, cooperatives have been required or requested to provide an annual written report detailing the use of the cooperative quota or addressing other… Read More →
Cook Inlet Salmon
The Council reviewed the Cook Inlet Salmon Committee’s progress on developing recommendations for an amendment to extend federal management to Cook Inlet salmon fisheries that operate in the EEZ and provided direction for their further work. The Council also received a report from the SSC about their review of status determination criteria for the Cook… Read More →
Sculpins as an Ecosystem Component Species
The Council reviewed a discussion paper evaluating the appropriate level of conservation and management required for sculpins in the BSAI and GOA consistent with the Magnuson-Stevens Act and National Standard guidelines. After review and public testimony, the Council initiated an analysis to designate sculpins in the BSAI and GOA as non-target ecosystem component species. The… Read More →
Halibut ABM
The SSC received a presentation on the halibut operating model and additional analytical considerations to be employed in the initial review analysis of the BSAI halibut abundance-based management (ABM) of PSC limits. The SSC provided the Workgroup some suggestions and guidance on additional sensitivity analyses to be considered as well as some feedback on considerations… Read More →
Economic Data Report Revisions
The Council reviewed a discussion paper on the Council’s Economic Data Report (EDR) programs, addressing the requirements, use, and estimated cost of these reporting requirements on submitters in order for the Council to determine if revisions to the EDRs are needed. In response to the discussion paper, the Council initiated both an FMP amendment and… Read More →
IFQ Committee Report and Whale Depredation Workshop
The IFQ Committee met on Monday, April 1, and reviewed three documents that came before the Council at this meeting: CQE fish-up in halibut Area 3A, IFQ eligibility criteria, and small sablefish discards. Committee comments and recommendations were presented to the Council under each agenda item and are summarized in the minutes. The Committee’s other… Read More →
Small Sablefish Discarding
The Council reviewed a second discussion paper on allowing sablefish discarding in the directed Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) longline and pot fisheries, and tasked staff with continuing to explore issues related to sablefish discarding. The sablefish discarding allowance was initially evaluated as a management response to the extremely large 2014 year class, but is now… Read More →
Groundfish Economic SAFE Review
At this meeting, the SSC reviewed the Groundfish Economic SAFE report as presented by the Alaska Fisheries Science Center’s Economic and Social Science Research Division. The Groundfish Economic SAFE report contains detailed information about economic aspects of the groundfish fisheries (sections that are new or were extensively revised since 2018 are indicated): Economic performance indices… Read More →
Staff tasking
The Council discussed the relative priority and scheduling of new and previously tasked projects. The Council tasked the following new projects: Bering Sea parallel fishery: The Council initiated an analysis to consider limiting access to the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands parallel fisheries to Federal fishery participants, similar to a previous action that was taken for the… Read More →
