More catch shares coming

Quite a few Alaska fisheries operate under some form of catch shares.

Now comes another catch share program, the first implemented in Alaska since 2012.

This program applies to the Pacific cod trawl catcher vessel sector in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands.

Fishing under the program is scheduled to start in January. Read more about it here.

Commerce IG looks at catch shares, observers

Deckboss hasn't had a chance to read them, but here are a couple of intriguing items from the Commerce Department inspector general:

Review of NOAA Catch Share Programs

Announcement of Observer Program Audit

A catch share concept

If federal regulators move forward with a catch share program for Gulf of Alaska trawl fisheries such as pollock and cod, some of the catch shares should go to "community fishing associations."

Right?

Some Alaska legislators evidently think so. They've introduced this resolution urging consideration of the idea.

The House Special Committee on Fisheries is scheduled to give the resolution a hearing at 10 a.m. Tuesday.

Rep. Paul Seaton, R-Homer, chairs the committee.

Let it be known

Federal regulators have posted notice of a control date for the Central Gulf of Alaska trawl fisheries.

The control date of Dec. 31, 2012, is a cutoff date as the North Pacific Fishery Management Council works toward establishing a catch share program.

The council wants to discourage "speculative entry" into the fisheries.

That means, hey, if you're thinking of jumping into the Central Gulf trawl sector and fishing real hard to build up catch history in hopes of landing bigger shares, don't bother. History built after Dec. 31 might not count.

Conflict expands over rockfish catch shares

As expected, more fishing vessel owners are asking for a say in the big rockfish lawsuit Kodiak processors have brought against federal fishery regulators.

United Catcher Boats, a Seattle-based trawl association, today filed this motion to intervene in the case.

This declaration from UCB executive director Brent Paine also was filed with the court.

Following up on those geoduck proposals

You might recall our recent post about the state Board of Fisheries considering two proposals to establish "equal shares" for permit holders in the Southeast geoduck clam fishery.

So what happened?

The board, meeting in Petersburg, took no action on the proposals.

Sticky proposals for geoduck fishery

Alaska geoducks — worth a lot of clams. ADF&G photo

The Alaska Board of Fisheries is meeting all this week at the Sons of Norway Hall in Petersburg, and quite a few interesting Southeast shellfish proposals are on the table.

Proposals 183 and 184 strike me as particularly intriguing.

These would revolutionize the fishery for geoduck (pronounced gooey-duck), a giant clam divers collect from the seafloor. Most all of the clams are exported live to China, and can retail for upwards of $20 a pound, says a recent study done for the Southeast Alaska Regional Dive Fisheries Association.

The two proposals would convert the geoduck harvest from a weekly competition among divers to a program where each permit holder would be allocated an equal share of the annual Southeast geoduck quota.

The Sitka Geoduck Marketing Association is offering the two proposals, one of which has an added component to disperse divers between desirable and less desirable harvest areas.

Proponents say the proposals would maximize the value of the fishery by allowing divers to focus on product quality rather than speed. They also tout other benefits such as better controlling the flow of product to the market, and reducing pressure on divers to work in poor weather.

However, the most competitive divers might suffer because of a redistribution of harvest share.

And the Alaska Department of Fish and Game says it would have to hire more people to manage an equal shares fishery. It also cites potential for high-grading, where divers might keep only top quality geoducks and discard others, increasing harvest mortality.

Nevertheless, the department is taking a "neutral" stance on the proposals.

Well, Deckboss is sure you've heard all the arguments, pro and con, in past debates over various forms of catch shares.

Certainly, based on the recent trend, an equal share of the Southeast geoduck fishery would be quite lucrative.

The dockside value of the fishery has soared, from an estimated $465,000 for the 2000-01 harvest of 438,334 pounds of geoducks to nearly $5.6 million in 2010-11, when 845,582 pounds were taken.

The state has issued 112 Southeast geoduck permits, but only 69 divers made landings last season, earning an average of $81,000.

Should be quite a meeting in Petersburg.

Here's that national 'catch shares' policy

As expected, the Obama administration today released its draft policy touting the wonders of "catch shares."

Click here to read about it.

Catch shares, oh no!

Look for the Obama administration this morning to release its national policy encouraging the use of "catch shares" in fisheries management.

Of course, individual fishing quotas, cooperative allocations and the like are old hat to us Alaskans.

But in New England, many fishermen regard these catch share thingies as an alien concept not to be trusted.