A share-based management program for the central Gulf of Alaska rockfish fishery

Abstract

In 2005, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council adopted a pilot share-based program for management of the central Gulf of Alaska trawl rockfish fisheries. The program apportions the total allowable catch into exclusive shares that are allocated to cooperatives, based on the catch history of the members of those cooperatives. Allocating exclusive shares is expected to allow the harvest to be spread over a much longer season, allowing participants to schedule their activities and save on costs of fishing and processing. Historically, participants in the rockfish fishery have focused on maintaining quality of incidental catch species (such as sablefish and Pacific cod). The change in management should allow participants, particularly those in the catcher vessel/shore plant sector, to focus added efforts on producing higher valued, better quality products from targeted rockfish. Efforts are likely to be made to serve fresh fish markets with rockfish that could not be accessed under the existing management. Introduction In 2003, U.S. Congress directed the Secretary of Commerce to establish, in consultation with the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (the Council), a pilot program for management of the Pacific ocean perch (Sebastes alutus), northern rockfish (Sebastes polyspinis), and pelagic shelf rockfish (which includes dusky rockfish [Sebastes variabilis], yellowtail rockfish [Sebastes flavidus], and widow rockfish [Sebastes entomelas]) trawl fisheries in the central Gulf of Alaska (the Central Gulf). Following this directive, in 2005 the Council adopted a share-based management program under which the total allowable catch is appor296 Fina—A Share-Based Management Program tioned as exclusive shares to cooperatives based on the catch history of the members of those cooperatives. The program is intended to address several concerns, including providing stability to both the fishing and processing sectors and to increase product value. This study describes the current fishery and the pilot program and examines the potential for participants to benefit from the change in management. Typically, share-based management provides participants with the opportunity to spread their catch over a much longer season, schedule their activities, and save on costs of fishing and processing. Some unique aspects of the rockfish fisheries, such as the importance of valuable incidental catch, create additional opportunities for participants to benefit from the change in management to the pilot program. The current fishery Under current management, the rockfish fisheries are conducted under limited access management. The fisheries open to non-trawl participants on January . Non-trawl participants, however, have historically harvested a very small portion of the Central Gulf rockfish total allowable catch (TAC) (i.e., less than %). To accommodate growth of this sector, the program would allocate 2.5% of the aggregate TAC of rockfish to fixed gear vessels. Since this sector has limited participation in the fisheries the remainder of this paper is focused on practices of the trawl gear participants. The trawl season opens in early July and ongoing catch is monitored by managers with closings timed to coincide with harvest of the TAC. Trawl participants are subject to an aggregate limit on the amount of Pacific halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepis) that can be caught, all of which must be discarded as prohibited species catch (PSC). Participation records show that between approximately 5 and 7 catcher processors (vessels that processor their catch on board) and approximately 30 and 35 catcher vessels (vessels that deliver their catch to shore plants for processing) participated in the fisheries annually in recent years. The limits on entry are not constraining as approximately half of the eligible catcher processors and less than one-third of the eligible catcher vessels typically participate in the fisheries. Examination of openings and closings in the Central Gulf rockfish fisheries from 996 to 2004 shows that all harvests are usually made in a few weeks each year (Table ). A general progression of targeting is also apparent, as most participants target Pacific ocean perch first, This paper draws heavily on North Pacific Fishery Management Council and National Marine Fisheries Service, “Regulatory Impact Review, Environmental Assessment, and Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis for Amendment 68 to the Gulf of Alaska Fishery Management Plan, Central Gulf of Alaska Rockfish Demonstration Program,” June 2005. The author of this paper is a primary author of that analysis. 297 Biology, Assessment, and Management of North Pacific Rockfishes T a b le 1 . O p e n in g s a n d c lo s u re s i n t h e c e n tr a l G u lf o f A la s k a r o ck fi s h fi s h e ri e s (1 9 9 6 -2 0 0 4 ). C lo su re s