67 Pacific Cod Species and Gear Endorsements to License Limitation Program License
Purpose and Need
In June 1995, the Council approved the License Limitation Program (LLP) for vessels operating in Federal waters off Alaska’s coast (BSAI Amendment 39/GOA Amendment 41). Vessels began fishing under that program on January 1, 2000. Since the LLP was approved, changes in the fixed gear fisheries prompted industry to petition the Council to further allocate Pacific cod in the BSAI among the various sectors of the fixed gear fleets. BSAI Amendment 64, adopted at the October 1999 Council meeting, encompassed these changes and established separate Pacific cod directed fishing allowances for different sectors of vessels using hook-and-line or pot gear. The Pacific cod Total Allowable Catch (excluding the amount of BSAI Pacific cod taken as incidental catch in other groundfish fisheries by fixed gear vessels) was allocated as follows: 80% to freezer longline vessels; 0.3% to longline catcher vessels; 18.3% to pot gear vessels; and 1.4% to catcher vessels (longline or pot) less than 60 feet length overall. Amendment 64 was approved by NMFS on July 13, 2000. Participants in the BSAI fixed gear cod fishery include longline and pot fishermen with extensive catch histories. However, given the economics of the current cod fishery, persons may wish to bring vessels into the fishery that have little or no history in the BSAI cod fishery. Public testimony and implementation of the original LLP has shown that there is considerable latent capacity in the fixed gear Pacific cod fishery, especially in the pot fleet (many vessels are qualified under the LLP but to date have not participated to a great degree in the cod fishery) and freezer longline fleet. This action is in response to concerns that the stability of this fully utilized fishery is threatened by new entrants, driven in part by recent increases in the market value of cod and the decline of the opilio crab resource. At the April 1999 meeting, the Council initiated an analysis to add a Pacific cod endorsement to BSAI fixed gear licenses as a follow-up amendment to the recent allocations. Amendment 67 establishes participation and harvest requirements for a BSAI cod endorsement for fixed gear vessels in the directed commercial BSAI Pacific cod fishery. It is intended to limit entry into the fishery by substantial numbers of fixed gear vessels that have not participated, or have not participated at a level that could constitute significant dependence on the fishery, in the past. Without the action, a potential of 67 catcher processors and 365 catcher vessels could prosecute the fixed gear Pacific cod fishery under the LLP. This is approximately fifty-seven more vessels than have participated in the fishery to any degree since 1995 .
Analysis
A 105-page EA/RIR/IRFA and appendix (public review draft dated March 2000) were prepared for this amendment. The analysis outlined several participation and harvest options for each gear sector of the fixed gear fleet, as well as the no action alternative. The analysis also noted that while the official number of LLP qualified vessels was not yet finalized at the time of review, the analysis presented both the maximum number of qualifying vessels under the recent participation criteria and the estimated number of LLP qualified vessels to provide a comprehensive look at the effect of limiting entry into the fishery. The Council considered a wide range of alternatives, and the chosen alternative was well within the range of alternatives analyzed.
Regulation Summary
Amendment 64 made three changes to the The preferred alternative identified by the Council consists of different qualification criteria for freezer longliners, longline catcher vessels, pot catcher processors, and pot catcher vessels, as outlined below. Additional provisions addressing the combining of catch histories, hardships, multiple endorsements, and bait landings are detailed in the regulations.
Results
Beginning in January 2003, a Pacific cod endorsement, specific to the non-trawl gear used by the vessel, must be specified on a person’s LLP groundfish license for that person to participate in the hook-and-line or pot gear BSAI Pacific cod fisheries. Hookand-line and pot vessels <60' LOA are exempt from this requirement.