Purpose and Need

Shortraker rockfish and rougheye rockfish (SR/RE) are commercially valuable species which are managed together as a complex. However, amounts available to the commercial fisheries are limited by a relatively small total allowable catch (TAC) amount that is fully needed to support incidental catch or bycatch needs in other groundfish fisheries. As a result, the directed fishery for SR/RE typically is closed at the beginning of the fishing year. Bycatch of SR/RE is highest in the Pacific ocean perch (POP) and Atka mackerel trawl fisheries, but SR/RE also are taken in nontrawl fisheries. In 1997, unanticipated high harvest rates of SR/RE in the POP and Atka mackerel trawl fisheries undermined the effectiveness of inseason management and resulted in harvest amounts that exceeded the acceptable biological catch. Estimates of SR/RE bycatch through mid-1997 indicated that the overfishing level would be reached if fisheries that took these species in the AI were not closed. As a result, NMFS prohibited the retention of Atka mackerel, Pacific cod, and rockfish by vessels using trawl gear and retention of Pacific cod and Greenland turbot by vessels using hook -and-line gear. Thus, although overfishing concerns stemmed primarily from the bycatch of SR/RE in the POP and Atka mackerel trawl fisheries, nontrawl fisheries that also take incidental amounts of these rockfish also were closed, or threatened with closure, to prevent overfishing of SR/RE. These overfishing closures disrupted fishing plans and resulted in a loss of economic opportunity for the trawl and non-trawl fishing industry. To get at this problem, separate maximum retainable bycatch (MRB) percentages were established for SR/RE that would minimize the impact that "topping off" behavior may have on the rate at which the SR/RE TAC is reached. "Topping off" occurs when vessel operators alter fishing operations to catch more of these species up to the amount under MRB constraints. To minimize this practice, a separate MRB percentage was established for SR/RE of 7 percent relative to certain deepwater species (primarily POP) and 2 percent relative to all other species except arrowtooth flounder, which cannot be used as a species against which SR/RE may be retained. In spite of the proposed MRB percentages, overall bycatch amounts of SR/RE still could pose concern because the TAC amounts annually specified for SR/RE are small in comparison to the high volume POP and Atka mackerel trawl fisheries. Consequently, representatives of the trawl and non-trawl industries recommended that the Council adopt an FMP amendment to allocate SR/RE between gear groups.

Analysis

A 27-page EA/RIR (final draft dated June 1998) was prepared for this amendment. Two alternatives including the status quo were considered. The alternative adopted and approved was based on an industry recommended allocation of SR/RE TAC between trawl and non-trawl vessels, which was intended to provide an allocation to the non-trawl fleet in excess of actual relative harvest in recent years. Trawl industry representatives endorsed this split, recognizing that trawl bycatch rates likely will decrease as a result of the proposed reduction in the MRB percentages for SR/ RE. A gear allocation based solely on historical catch between gear groups would not adequately account for the fact that nontrawl fisheries have been preempted in the past by closures resulting from trawl bycatch of SR/RE. The gear-specific allocation of SR/RE will allow more effective management of SR/RE in both fisheries and minimize the potential for over harvest of the SR/RE TAC.

Regulation Summary

At its February 1998 meeting, the Council approved Amendment 53 to the FMP. After subtraction of reserves, this amendment would allocate 30 percent of the remaining SR/RE TAC to nontrawl gear and 70 percent of the remaining SR/RE TAC to trawl gear.

Results

Since the amendment was approved, more SR/RE was landed by vessels using longline gear, and less by those using trawl gear. Also, the inseason management issues relative to unanticipated effort in this fishery were resolved