66 Removing Allocation of Squid, and Defining Directed Fishing for Pollock Under the Western Alaska Community Development Quota Program
Purpose and Need
Through the CDQ program, the Council and NMFS allocated a portion of the BSAI groundfish, prohibited species, halibut, and crab TAC limits to 65 eligible Western Alaska communities. These communities had to use the proceeds from the CDQ allocations to start or support commercial fishery activites that resulted in ongoing, regionally based, commercial fishery or related business. The CDQ program began in 1992 with the allocation of 7.5% of the BSAI pollock TAC. The fixed gear halibut and sablefish CDQ allocations began in 1995 as part of the halibut and sablefish IFQ program. In 1998, the allocations of 7.5% of the remaining groundfish TACs, 7.5% of PSC, and 7.5% of the crab GHLs were added to the CDQ program. With the addition of the remainder of the groundfish species and PSC allocations, NMFS implemented regulations combining two separate CDQ fisheries—pollock, and fixed gear halibut and sablefish—with the new groundfish and prohibited species into the multispecies groundfish and halibut CDQ fisheries. Under these regulations, all groundfish catch and PSC by vessels fishing for CDQ groups accrued against the CDQ groups’ allocation, and none of the groundfish or PSC caught in the groundfish CDQ fisheries accrued against the nonCDQ fisheries’ TACs or PSC limits. According to a provision in the AFA, NMFS had to estimate the expected incidental catch of pollock in the non-Pollock CDQ fisheries in order to provide a sufficient amount of pollock in the ICA to cover incidental catch in the CDQ and non-CDQ fisheries. To meet this requirement, NMFS had to define directed pollock fishing for Western Alaska CDQ participants to determine incidental catch rates.
Analysis
A 44-page EA/RIR/IRFA was prepared for Amendment 66 that analyzed four action alternatives. The EA determined that implementation of the preferred alternative to define directed fishing for pollock CDQ as a haul or a delivery consisting or at least 60% pollock would not significantly affect the quality of the human environment. The RIR found that CDQ groups benefit from alternatives that maximized the amount of pollock from the CDQ fisheries that accrued against the pollock ICA. It also concluded that the preferred alternative would not result in increased costs as a result of new recordkeeping and reporting requirements. In addition, the Council considered two alternatives for defining directed fishing for pollock that were not carried forward in the analysis: 1) Based on the percent of pollock in a weekly reporting period rather than the haul or delivery 2) Based on the predominant species in the haul or delivery rather than on a specific percentage of pollock
Regulation Summary
In addition defining directed pollock fishing, the regulatory language excluded squid from the 7.5% allocation of the TAC for all BSAI groundfish species or species groups.
Results
CDQ groups have been successful in catching their allocations of groundfish.