After serving 3 full terms – 9 years – Dan Hull chaired his last Council meeting in Kodiak, Alaska. Mr. Hull has served as Council chairman for the past 4 years and during his tenure on the Council has chaired the Halibut and Sablefish IFQ Committee, the Observer Advisory Committee, the EM Work Group, and… Read More →
Appointments
SSC Dr. Ron Felthoven (AFSC) was appointed on an interim basis for the remainder of the year to replace Dr. Matt Reimer, who will be on sabattical. Dr. Felthoven’s appointment, conditional on confirmation by the Council in October, will continue through December, at which time the position will revert to the regular nomination process. Plan… Read More →
Call for Nominations
Trawl EM Committee (formerly Workgroup) – processing representative In April 2018, the Council reconstituted the EM Workgroup, which provides a forum for collaboration on EM development between industry, agencies, and EM service providers, to focus on trawl EM implementation. The group met in May, but is currently lacking a representative from the processing sector, and… Read More →
Deck Sorting Analysis Updates
In Kodiak, the Council received an update from NMFS staff concerning an ongoing deck sorting analysis. NMFS is developing a proposed regulatory amendment to implement voluntary halibut deck sorting on trawl catcher processors when operating in non-pollock groundfish fisheries off Alaska. The proposed amendment is derived from the exempted fishing permits (EFPs) issued by NMFS… Read More →
Observer Issues: 2017 Annual Report
The Council received a presentation about the Observer Program Annual Report for 2017 and a report from the Observer Advisory Committee (the OAC, which will in future be renamed the Fishery Monitoring Advisory Committee). The Annual Report provides a scientific evaluation of the deployment of observers in 2017, to assess whether the objectives of the… Read More →
Electronic Monitoring
In Kodiak, the Council received an update about fixed gear and trawl EM development from the Electronic Monitoring Workgroup (which has now been renamed the EM Committee) and endorsed preliminary monitoring objectives for trawl EM development. In April 2018, the Council reconstituted membership on the EM Workgroup to reflect a transition from the development and… Read More →
Crab Management – AI GKC Harvest Specifications
The Council approved the SSC’s OFL and ABC recommendations for the Aleutian Island Golden King Crab stock, and received recommendations from the SSC and the Crab Plan Team on model scenarios and other items taken up at their Spring 2018 Crab Plan Team (CPT) meeting. For AI Golden King Crab, the Council adopted the OFL… Read More →
Full Retention of Rockfish
At the June 2018 meeting, the Council completed an initial review of the draft Regulatory Impact Review (RIR) that would require full retention of all rockfish species for fixed gear catcher vessels (CVs) in the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands (BSAI) and Gulf of Alaska (GOA). After reviewing the RIR, the Council released the document for public… Read More →
BSAI Halibut in Pots
After reviewing the initial review analysis for halibut retention in pots in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands (BSAI), the Council revised its purpose and need statement and chose a preliminary preferred alternative (PPA). The preliminary preferred alternative would allow retention of halibut in pots in the BSAI, if participants have sufficient halibut IFQ or… Read More →
BSAI Pcod Mothership Limitation and Trawl CV Allocation
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… Read More →
