North Pacific Fishery Management Council Research Articles

Community-level economic impacts of a change in TAC for Alaska fisheries: A multi-regional framework assessment

A marine heatwave caused the total biomass of Gulf of Alaska (GOA) Pacific cod to plummet by 67% from 2015 to 2018. Based on the results from GOA Pacific cod stock assessment model, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council cut the GOA Pacific cod total allowable catch (TAC) by 80% in 2018. This study uses a 10-region multi-regional social accounting matrix model to compute the economic impacts of the cod fishery disaster on the six borough and census areas (BCAs) in Southwest Alaska plus effects on the other four regions. We consider both the negative effects of the reduction in the cod harvest and the offsetting effects from an observed increase in the price of the fish to calculate the “net” economic impacts. This study found that the offsetting effects from the price increase are significant; the reduction in total regional output in the rest of the United States is 15% less severe if effects of the price changes are taken into account. Furthermore, the region suffering the largest impacts on total seafood industry output (Aleutians East Borough) from the reduced TAC is not necessarily the region where the largest total regional impact occurs (rest of the U.S.).

A risk table to address concerns external to stock assessments when developing fisheries harvest recommendations

ABSTRACT This paper develops a risk table to facilitate incorporation of additional information into the fisheries stock assessment and management process. The risk table is designed to evaluate unanticipated ecosystem and environmental impacts on marine resources that may require a rapid management response. The risk table is a standardized framework to document concerns about the assessment model, population dynamics, and the ecosystem/environment that are not explicitly addressed within the stock assessment model. A scoring procedure is used to evaluate the severity of the concern. These concerns can then be evaluated in support for or against a reduction from the maximum Acceptable Biological Catch while providing reviewers and stakeholders transparent documentation of the concerns. The risk table was applied successfully to several stocks on a trial basis during the 2018 groundfish assessment cycle for the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, and will be used for all full groundfish assessments in 2019. Rapid changes in climate are likely for Alaska marine ecosystems in coming decades, and these changes are not entirely predicable. Therefore, we avocate that the risk table approach should be included in the suite of management tools used to address the effects of climate change on Alaska marine resources.

The last cowboys: keeping open access in the Aleut groundfish fishery of the Gulf of Alaska

As the North Pacific Fishery Management Council prepared to rationalize the Gulf of Alaska groundfish trawlers under the guise of bycatch management beginning in 2012, a social impact assessment investigated the fishery’s operations, stresses, dependencies, and desires of the primarily local Aleut (Unangan) fleets and families in the Western Gulf villages of King Cove and Sand Point, Alaska. This article describes the historical development of the local trawl fleet, their unique status in the fishery, and their rationale for their near universal rejection of a community protection measure. For these small coastal communities, the keys to success are competition, diversification into many fisheries, and supporting their communities through local hire and investment. Aleut fishermen feared that the impending neoliberal chapter would erase their history and traditions, remove competition, reallocate quota away from those that built the fishery and made it successful, diffuse fishermen’s support of their home communities, and undermine what it means to be Aleut. This fear is compounded by ecological changes affecting marine species abundances in the Gulf of Alaska.

Comprehensive incentives for reducing Chinook salmon bycatch in the Bering Sea walleye Pollock fishery: Individual tradable encounter credits

After record salmon bycatch in 2007 by the Eastern Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands fishery for walleye Pollock, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) concluded that additional management strategies were necessary to further control salmon bycatch. The Preliminary Preferred Alternative (PPA) was selected in April 2009 and implemented in January 2011 as Amendment 91. In this paper, we present the original comprehensive bycatch credits allocation and trading plan as designed by the first author as commissioned by the Alaskan Pollock Fleet for Chinook salmon, the Comprehensive Incentive Plan (CIP). The CIP, which uses individual (vessel-level) tradable encounter credits (ITEC), included incentives that make up the backbone of Amendment 91/PPA. While salmon bycatch has been reduced since the implementation of the PPA, the current amendment does not have individual vessel incentives that vary with the vulnerability of salmon populations. The CIP approach presented here provides robust vessel-level incentives to reduce Chinook salmon bycatch under all levels of salmon abundance, but particularly when salmon populations are at their lowest levels and are most vulnerable. The specific financial incentive structure in the full plan, with trading of by-catch liabilities among vessels, can be applied well in other fisheries where bycatch threatens both sustainability and profitability.

Corals, Canyons, and Conservation: Science Based Fisheries Management Decisions in the Eastern Bering Sea

When making science matter for conservation, marine conservation practitioners and managers must be prepared to make the appropriate decision based on the results of the best available science used to inform it. For nearly a decade, many stakeholders encouraged the North Pacific Fishery Management Council to enact protections for deep-sea corals in several canyons in the Eastern Bering Sea slope. In 2014, at the request of the Council, the National Marine Fisheries Service, Alaska Fisheries Science Center conducted a strip-transect survey along the Eastern Bering Sea slope to validate the results of a model predicting the occurrence of deep-sea coral habitat. More than 250,000 photos were analyzed to estimate coral, sponge, and sea whip abundance, distribution, height and vulnerability to anthropogenic damage. The results of the survey confirmed that coral habitat and occurrence was concentrated around Pribilof Canyon and the adjacent slope. The results also confirmed that the densities of corals in the Eastern Bering Sea were low, even where they occurred. After reviewing the best available scientific information, the Council concluded that there is no scientific evidence to suggest that deep-sea corals in the Eastern Bering Sea slope or canyons are at risk from commercial fisheries under the current management structure, and that special protections for deep-sea corals were not warranted.

Spatial and ontogenetic patterns of Pacific cod (Gadus macrocephalus Tilesius) predation on octopus in the eastern Bering Sea

In 2012, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council adopted a consumption-based stock assessment method to determine catch limits for the non-target, multi-species octopus complex in the Bering Sea-Aleutian Islands (BSAI) fishery management area. The method uses Pacific cod (Gadus macrocephalus) diet data as a basis for estimating octopus complex natural mortality and minimum biomass. To enhance understanding of the predator-prey interaction between Pacific cod and octopus, we examined patterns of octopus consumption by Pacific cod using long-term stomach contents data from the eastern Bering Sea continental shelf, a large, ecologically unique subarea of the BSAI. Generalized additive modeling of octopus presence/absence in Pacific cod diets revealed distinct spatial, ontogenetic and seasonal consumption patterns. Prey octopus frequency of occurrence (FO) generally increased with bottom depth, latitude and Pacific cod fork length, and FO in the southern BSAI was lower during winter and spring than during summer. Prey octopus FO patterns may reflect overall consumption patterns and likely indicate long-term distribution patterns of small-sized (<1 kg) octopus on the EBS shelf, although we could not visually distinguish between octopus species using prey remains. Multi-species beak length-to-body mass regressions developed from three octopus species allowed reasonable estimation of prey octopus mass, and we found Pacific cod fork length was positively correlated with prey octopus mass, suggesting predator-prey interactions are sensitive to predator and prey size composition. Pacific cod consumed octopus with estimated masses ranging from 0.000017 kg to 4.62 kg, while octopus taken during concurrent bottom trawl surveys range from 0.05 kg to greater than 25 kg. Based on our findings, we expect the consumption-based stock assessment underestimates BSAI octopus complex biomass because it cannot account for larger octopus, such as the 10–20 kg Enteroctopus dofleini which dominate incidental take in BSAI Pacific cod pot fishery.

Considering community allocations: Power and the politics of enclosure in the Gulf of Alaska

In 2012, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council initiated the process of designing a new management structure for the Gulf of Alaska trawl groundfish fleet. The new program is currently structured as a catch share program and driven by the need to end the ‘race for fish’ and provide the trawl fleet with the tools to reduce bycatch. To date much of the discussion among policy makers and stakeholders has centered on community protection measures and how best to avoid the negative social and economic impacts of catch share programs including impacts to crew, consolidation and the flight of quota and resource wealth from Gulf of Alaska fishery dependent communities. This paper examines how community protection measures related to the distribution of benefits and access to fishery resources are considered and challenged in the North Pacific today. Special attention is given to the ongoing debate surrounding the potential inclusion of an initial allocation to place-based Gulf of Alaska communities via a Community Fishing Association. As part of this effort, this paper examines the political space and underlying power dynamics in which consideration of alternatives to the commodification of fishing rights occurs.

Evaluating the efficacy of salmon bycatch measures using fishery-dependent data

The walleye pollock (Gadus chalcogrammus) fishery in the Bering Sea is one of the largest fisheries in the world. The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) provides management advice for this fishery, including the development of measures to minimize salmon bycatch to the extent practicable, one of the stated objectives of the US Magnuson–Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act National StandardGuidelines. Salmonhave a unique cultural andnutritional importance in the State of Alaska and are the subject of fully allocated mixed commercial, recreational, and subsistence fisheries. Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) stocks in Alaska have been declining for the lastdecade, andall sourcesofmortality are being considered tohelp in rebuilding stocks.Given the extensive scientificNationalMarine Fisheries Service observer data collection programme, the NPFMC has developed bycatch management measures that place limits by fishery sector on the allowable catch of Chinook salmon. Part of this programme includes industry-proposed incentive programmes designed to encourage lower bycatch. Evaluating the efficacy of the new measures poses a number of challenges, particularly in light of changing ocean conditions (perhaps affecting the degree of overlap between pollock and salmon). In this study, data on preand post-programme implementation were evaluated to determine if the programme is meeting stated goals and objectives or if modifications are needed. These evaluations included consideration of fleet-level bycatch numbers and rates, seasonality of bycatch by sector, and individual vessel bycatch rates. Results suggest that revisedmanagement regulations appear to have resulted in reduced bycatch of salmon overall. Also, lower bycatch rates seem to reflect changing behaviour in response to newmanagement measures. However, the extent to which the programme is effective at the vessel level remains difficult to ascertain without explicit vessel-specific benchmarks developed for evaluating programme efficacy.

Evolution of Catch Share Management: Lessons from Catch Share Management in the North Pacific

AbstractFishery managers, economists, industry advocates, and some environmental public interest groups are currently promoting catch shares (or the allocation of exclusive portions of the total allowable catch) as a means to address both environmental and economic fishery management problems. At the same time, a vocal opposition to catch share management has developed among some industry stakeholders, academics, and other public interest groups. Over the course of the last 20 years, while the debate has percolated, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (known henceforth as the Council) has incrementally developed and overseen the implementation of five major catch share management programs for the fisheries it governs. This article draws on the experiences in the North Pacific fisheries to shed light on several facets of the debate over the efficacy of catch share management and suggests that catch share management is most effective and beneficial to stakeholders, when used in a measured manner, as part of a management program adapted specifically to a fishery and its stakeholders.

Use of annual catch limits to avoid stock depletion in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (Northeast Pacific)

Abstract DiCosimo, J., Methot, R. D., and Ormseth, O. A. 2010. Use of annual catch limits to avoid stock depletion in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (Northeast Pacific). – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 67: 1861–1865. In total, 41 fish stocks in US ocean waters continue to be fished at unsustainable levels, and 46 fish stocks are overfished. In 2006, the US Congress required the implementation of annual catch limits (ACLs) and accountability measures by 2010 to prevent overfishing, and by 2011 to recover overfished stocks. These requirements were modelled on the existing management system for Northeast Pacific groundfish, where more than 20 fish stocks and assemblages have been managed sustainably for 30 years. Science-based overfishing levels and acceptable biological catches (ABCs) have been implemented for each stock or assemblage, with buffers between the two to avoid overfishing. Total allowable catches are set at or below the acceptable biological catch. Suballocations of quotas by season, area, and gear type, along with in-season fishery closures based on extensive observer coverage and vessel monitoring, ensure that quotas are not exceeded. To comply with ACL requirements, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council has defined ABC as an ACL. We demonstrate the effectiveness of ACLs for successful management of Northeast Pacific groundfish, suggesting that their use in other US fisheries might reduce the risk of overfishing and enhance the recovery of overfished stocks.

Introduction to a Special Section: Atka Mackerel Distribution, Life History, Ecology, and Management

This suite of papers on the life history, ecology, and management of Atka mackerel was originally presented at a research symposium (29–30 April 2008) in Seattle, Washington. The studies were done as a collaborative effort between the Alaska Fisheries Science Center, the University of Alaska–Fairbanks, the Alaska Sea Life Center, and the North Pacific Fisheries Foundation. This research was funded by the National Marine Fisheries Service, the North Pacific Research Board (project 522), and the North Pacific Fisheries Foundation. Atka mackerel Pleurogrammus monopterygius are widely distributed along the continental shelf extending from the Kuril Islands in Asia through the Gulf of Alaska. They are the most abundant groundfish in the Aleutian Islands region, with an estimated exploitable biomass of 388,500 metric tons in 2010 (Lowe et al. 2009), and are a key component of the Aleutian Islands ecosystem. Within Alaska waters they are concentrated in the Aleutian Islands chain, where they form dense aggregations in island passes. Atka mackerel are obligate spawners on hard rocky bottoms and exhibit a polygamous mating system, elaborate sexual dichromatism, and social behaviors that have been documented in other hexagrammids. Nesting colonies are widespread across the continental shelf and are associated with areas of strong currents and hard substrate as deep as 144 m (Lauth et al. 2007). In June, the reproductive phase begins with adult males establishing individual territories within nesting colonies. Adult females aggregate in dense patches close to the nesting colonies during the spawning season, presumably to feed (Cooper and McDermott, unpublished). In July spawning starts, and during a 12-week period ending in mid-October females spawn four to five batches of adhesive eggs in the territories of different males (McDermott et al. 2007). After spawning, females disperse and males guard the nests until the eggs hatch following an incubation period of 39–75 d in the eastern and central Aleutian Islands, with maximum hatching occurring in late November (Lauth et al. 2007). Atka mackerel exhibit a size cline across their range, with individuals having smaller sizes at age in the western Aleutian Islands area and larger sizes at age in the eastern areas. Historical morphological and meristic studies provide some indications of separate populations within Alaska. However, a genetic study of allozyme variation showed no evidence of discrete stocks (Lowe et al. 1998), a result that is reexamined in this special section using another class of nuclear markers. Atka mackerel’s highly localized aggregations and their overall large biomass make them an important prey species in the Aleutian Islands ecosystem. Atka mackerel have been identified as the main prey item for the endangered Steller sea lion Eumetopias jubatus and fish species such as Pacific cod Gadus macrocephalus and arrowtooth flounder Atheresthes stomias (I. Ortiz and E. Logerwell, National Marine Fisheries Service, unpublished). Adult Atka mackerel consume a variety of prey but principally feed on calanoid copepods, euphausiids, and myctophid fishes (Rand 2007). Egg cannibalism during the spawning period has been observed for both sexes. Heterocannibalism by both sexes and male filial cannibalism are common phenomena in species that have evolved to provide exclusive paternal care. Atka mackerel are the target of a large offshore commercial fishery in the Aleutian Islands. The spatial patterns of the fishery generally reflect the distribution and behavior of the species; the fishery is highly localized and focuses on the same locations each year, almost exclusively at depths shallower than 200 m. The fishery is currently managed by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council under a quota system whereby the overall total allowable catch (TAC) is divided into two equal seasonal allowances: an ASubject editor: Donald Noakes, Thompson Rivers University, British Columbia, Canada

Fishery management responses to climate change in the North Pacific

Abstract Stram, D. L., and Evans, D. C. K. 2009. Fishery management responses to climate change in the North Pacific. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 66: 1633–1639. In the North Pacific, warming trends, coupled with declining sea ice, raise concerns about the effects of climate change on fish populations and ecosystem dynamics. Scientists are only beginning to understand the potential feedback mechanisms that will affect everything from plankton populations to major commercial fish species distributions, yet fishery managers have a responsibility to prepare for and respond to changing fishing patterns and potential ecosystem effects. There are ways for fishery managers to be proactive, while waiting for better information to unfold. The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) and the National Marine Fisheries Service have jurisdiction over offshore fisheries in Alaska, USA. Recently, the Council has undertaken risk-averse management actions, in light of uncertainty about the effects of warming trends (and loss of sea ice) and resulting changes to fishing activities in the North Pacific. The Council has assessed whether opportunities for unregulated fishing could result from changes in fish distribution, has closed the Arctic Ocean to all commercial fishing pending further research, and has established extensive area closures where fishing with bottom-trawl gear is prohibited to protect vulnerable crab habitat and to control the northern expansion of the trawl fleet into newly ice-free waters. In cases where linkages between climate variables and fish distributions can be identified, the Council is developing adaptive management measures to respond to varying distributions of fish and shellfish. Finally, the Council has also tried to re-examine existing information to gain a better understanding of climate and ecosystem effects on fishery management. The pilot Fishery Ecosystem Plan for the Aleutian Islands maps interactions among climate factors and ecosystem components and suggests indicators for the Council to monitor.

Rationalization of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands crab fisheries

Abstract In recent years, overcapacity in Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands crab fisheries has resulted in a dangerous race for crab. This paper examines a unique management program developed by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council intended to alleviate these problems, while accommodating a variety of stakeholders dependent on the fisheries. The discussion concludes by identifying some of the most substantial hurdles that the program must overcome to succeed and some characteristics of the fisheries that contribute to the potential to overcome these obstacles.

Management of the commons for biodiversity: lessons from the North Pacific

Abstract The North Pacific has the world's largest groundfish fisheries, with a value in excess of $1 billion annually. The North Pacific also is home to the largest population of Steller sea lions (SSL), an ancient species that is now endangered. Decline of the western stock of SSL in the 1970–1990s coincided with the US nationalization and exponential growth in the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands groundfish fishery. The article treats five aspects of the competition between the fishery and protection of the endangered species. First, we analyze competition of interests in the use, management, and preservation of the North Pacific commons, including offshore and near-shore fisheries, environmental organizations, governments (federal, state, and local), and the scientific community. Second, the article compares and contrasts provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act, the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the Endangered Species Act, and the Magnuson–Stevens Act (as amended in 1996 by the Sustainable Fisheries Act). Third, we examine the regulatory environment with a focus on the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and its relationship to the North Pacific Fishery Management Council. We illustrate how NMFS establishes fishery management plans and the methods, such as crafting biological opinions and environmental-impact-statements, it uses to resolve conflicts. Fourth, we investigate how the dual pressures on the agency—to increase fisheries production for the benefit of the industry and to preserve endangered marine species—have affected its culture (behavioral norms and operational codes). Then, the article explains agency changes in terms of crises, competition among affected interests, and development of new scientific knowledge. The article concludes by drawing lessons from the SSL controversy in the North Pacific which may pertain to national and global biodiversity conflicts. These concern the role of law in biodiversity protection, the role of science, and agency capacity for change.

Common property institutions in the Alaskan groundfish fisheries

This paper describes the process by which the groundfish resources off Alaska are being transformed from essentially open access to more manageable common property resources. Selected common property institutions that were created or developed in these fisheries are described in terms of the problems they were designed to solve, their success or lack of success in doing so, and the factors that influenced both emergence and success of these institutions. The institutions discussed include the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, the Community Development Quota system, the Pollock Conservation Cooperative, and the cooperative bycatch control system known as Sea State used by the factory trawler fleets. Conclusions applicable to other fisheries and other common property resources are then drawn from the analysis of these common property institutions in the Alaskan groundfish fisheries.

Movement dynamics of tagged sablefish in the northeastern Pacific

We used a Markov model to quantify movement rates of tagged sablefish ( Anoplopoma fimbria) among regulatory areas of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council during 1979–1987. The model included natural and fishing mortality, tag reporting and shedding rates, and movement probabilities. Maximum likelihood was used to estimate the parameters of the model. Estimated annual movement rates out of an area were in the range 19–69% for small (less than 57 cm fork length (FL)), 25–72% for medium (57–66 cm FL), and 27–71% for large (more than 66 cm FL) sablefish. The predominant direction of movement along the continental slope was eastward for large sablefish and westward for small sablefish. Most estimates of movement rates were precise, unconfounded, and robust to perturbations of input constants (natural and fishing mortality, and tag reporting rates), except for some imprecise estimates of large sablefish. The results indicate that movement plays an important role in determining the amount of sablefish available for harvest in an area. To account for the interactions among fisheries in different areas, the movement dynamics of sablefish should be incorporated into a stock assessment based on size or age-structure.

The Fisheries Management Structure and Process under the MFCMA: A North Pacific Perspective

Abstract The fishery management process established under the Magnuson Fishery Conservation Management Act (MFCMA) is reviewed using the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) as a model. The council's responsibility is primarily to develop and maintain Fishery Management Plans (FMPs) and has established committees and staff to fulfill this responsibility. The secretary of commerce has the responsibility to evaluate, approve, and implement the FMPs. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is responsible for resource assessment but state agencies contribute. Formal public participation is mandated in the MFCMA but there is extensive informal participation. Once a FMP or amendment has been drafted, a review process ensues involving regional and Washington offices of the NMFS, and the public. In-season management is accomplished by the Regional Office of NMFS. Although many problems face councils today, five seem most important: communication, goals, obtaining timely data, lobbying, and region...

Regional fishery management councils: A new form of government

Abstract The Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976 established eight Regional Fishery Management Councils to develop fishery management plans and regulations. This paper describes the organization of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, the relationship of the Council to its parent organization and constituency, and the functions of its staff.