38 Extend Inshore/Offshore Pollock and Pacific Cod Allocations
Purpose and Need
Amendments 38 and 40 extended the provisions of Amendment 18 to the BSAI FMP and Amendment 23 to the GOA FMP, which expired on December 31, 1995. Amendments 18 and 23 (57 FR 23321; June 3, 1992) set inshore and offshore processor allocations of pollock in the BSAI and pollock and Pacific cod in the GOA, respectively, as a response to an early closure in 1989 when several catcher/processors harvested substantial amounts of pollock in the BSAI and GOA and forced an early closure of the GOA pollock fishery. Amendment 18 allocated 35% of the 1992 non-roe pollock season TAC to the inshore sector, and the remainder to the offshore sector. Shortly after, a 35-65% inshore/offshore split was set in a revised amendment for the years 1993-1995. Amendment 23 provided for an allocation of 90% of the Pacific cod TAC and 100% of the pollock TAC in the GOA to the inshore sector. In addition, the Catcher Vessel Operational Area (CVOA) and the Community Development Quota (CDQ) program in the BSAI were established. The CVOA limited access to pollock within the area to catcher vessels delivering to either inshore or offshore processors. The CDQ program allocated 7.5% of the BSAI pollock TAC to CDQ fisheries.
Amendments 38 and 40 were necessary to extend the inshore/offshore allocations set in Amendments 18 and 23 through December 31, 1998. The purpose of the amendments was to keep the fishery from turning back into the “free-for-all” it represented previously. Since the original inshore/offshore allocation, the Council had been working toward developing a long-term, comprehensive plan for rationalizing all the groundfish and crab fisheries in and off of Alaska. By the end of 1995, when it was evident that the plan would not be ready for implementation before the inshore/offshore allocations expired, the Council determined it was necessary to extend the provisions of Amendments 18 and 23 for an additional three years in order to maintain stability in the industry, facilitate further development of the comprehensive management regime, and allow for the realization of the goals and objectives of the pollock CDQ program.
In addition to the original need for this action, there was an industry request to move the western CVOA boundary eastward, based on the fact that part of the CVOA was not being used by catcher vessels delivering to inshore processors, and the area was not critical for protected species.
Analysis
A 268-page EA/RIR/IRFA (final draft dated August 1, 1995) and several appendices were prepared for this amendment. Two alternatives were considered: 1) no action, and 2) continuation of the current program for a period of three additional years (1996-1998), including the pollock CDQ program as an inseverable element of the overall package. The analysis reiterated the Council’s intent not to consider alternative inshore/offshore allocation percentages, as that would likely require significant new and complex economic analyses, create unnecessary delays in implementing an allocation scheme, and be inconsistent with the overall intent to develop a more long-term solution through the Comprehensive Management Plan process.
Regulation Summary
The provisions of BSAI Amendment 18 became the basis of Amendment 38, and the provisions of GOA Amendment 23 became the basis for Amendment 40. Thus, in the BSAI the apportionments of pollock in each subarea and season would be allocated 35% for processing by the inshore sector and 65% by the offshore sector. In the GOA, the apportionment of pollock would be allocated entirely for processing by the inshore sector, and the apportionment of Pacific cod would be allocated 90% for the inshore sector, 10% for the offshore sector. The amendments also reauthorized the CDQ pollock program with a few minor changes to the regulations. The only two substantive changes from the original plan amendments were: 1) movement of the western CVOA boundary 30 minutes to the east, and 2) allowing catcher/processors to use the CVOA if the pollock quota for processing by the inshore sector had already been harvested for the year.
Results
This amendment simply retained the existing inshore/offshore pollock processing allocations for an additional three year period, through 1998. Stability within and among industry sectors, and associated communities and participants, was maintained by this amendment.