Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Something big is happening

As this day has worn on, it has become clear to Deckboss that a major move is afoot to overhaul the North Pacific Fishery Management Council.

And it's not just Oregon's idea.

Some in Washington state also believe the council is stacked too heavily in favor of Alaska. So much so that traditional North Pacific fishing industry strongholds in Washington and Oregon are now in jeopardy.

It's all laid out in this fascinating 15-page appeal to Washington and Oregon political leaders.

As you'll see at the end, the authors include some very familiar names.

The word is that people are making the rounds in Washington, D.C., right now, urging lawmakers to add more Oregon and Washington seats on the council to counter the powerful Alaska majority.

Hmmm. Are we about to see an interstate war break out?

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

Something big? This is just a bunch of saber rattling from a group of has beens. There is no political will at a national level to amend MSA and the Council structure in a manner suggested by the retirees and mail-box fishermen who signed the letter.

Anonymous said...

Like those Alaska shit for brains fishers, and politicians who actually believe Alaskan Residency is Supreme over US Citizenship.

This is what happens when your children in Alaska had their Brains Sucked Out!

The U.S. Supreme Court, when your still fishin for tuition???

http://supreme.justia.com/us/342/415/case.html

Still Fishing for Tuition? an Alaskan problem forever!

Anonymous said...

fyi:
anything and everything in the eez is common property for all u.s. citizens regardless of which state they reside in.

Anonymous said...

And even after an Alaska Constutional Amendment, fishin for tuition's always been a waste of time!

§ 15. No Exclusive Right of FisheryNo exclusive right or special privilege of fishery shall be created or authorized in the natural waters of the State. This section does not restrict the power of the State to limit entry into any fishery for purposes of resource conservation, to prevent economic distress among fishermen and those dependent upon them for a livelihood and to promote the efficient development of aquaculture in the State. [Amended 1972]

Anonymous said...

The Alaska constitution has nothing to do with this subject.

Anonymous said...

This is mainly about CDQs and CQEs, if you can read the letter, and so is of concern for all fishermen, as Alaska fishermen lose under that regime too. This issue is mischaracterized as a us and them issue, when it is really about CDQs and CQEs. Try reading the letter. But the answer is not to changer the NPFMC, but stop the give away to the CDQs and CQEs...roll them back!

Anonymous said...

Read the letter. It's overflowing with falsehoods and innacuracies--some of them malicious and others laughable. (They refer to borough fish taxes as "Bureau Taxes.")

It appears that the writers are among the most dim-witted fellows ever to have sat on the council. This desparate rant doesn't have a chance.

Anonymous said...

The confusing tax cases, post or pre state of confusion.

http://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/206/612/27414/

Anonymous said...

post state of confusion

http://touchngo.com/sp/html/sp-3778.htm

Anonymous said...

The Alaska Constitution's equal protection clause, just as confusing as the real one!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal_Protection_Clause

The desperate rants never have a chanch?

Like Justice Holmes wrote for the majority 'three generations of imbeciles are enough."

The former King County Prosecutor Warren Magnusen, would have had this group in jail decades ago.

Anonymous said...

"..Citizens, by birth or choice, of a common country, that country has a right to concentrate your affections. The name of American, which belongs to you in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of patriotism more than any appellation derived from local discriminations. With slight shades of difference, you have the same religion, manners, habits, and political principles. You have in a common cause fought and triumphed together; the independence and liberty you possess are the work of joint counsels, and joint efforts of common dangers, sufferings, and successes..."

The President #1, George Washington Farewell Address, read every year, in a U.S. Senate Chamber

1+2=3

Anonymous said...

The authors don't know what their talking about in much of the doc. IFQ for Halibut and Sablefish primarily went to WA and OR residents. Since implementation it has migrated to Alaska residents steadily.

Shawn Dochtermann said...

Let's get it straight. This document displays how CDQ's and CQE's discriminate against the actual fishermen that prosecute the fisheries. Plus the undersigned wants everyone to follow the agenda of how WA & OR are losing out while keeping the audience from the true subject reallocation to crewmen of the Bering Sea (BS) crab fishery. The BS crab quota holders do not want the public to know that they are making millions on the backs of crewmen, and they fail to hand over the lay share contract (contract between vessel and crew; required by law 46 section 10601) and reconcilable settlement sheets to the NPFMC/NOAA/DOJ as they will tell the truth about how we are not being paid fair by ratio of compensation compared to quota holders. The best part of the information not included is that by law NOAA/NMFS is required by law to collect the best science and data which they have side stepped in the economic data reporting (EDR) of the Crab Rationalization program (CR), which does not comply with 16 U.S.C. 1801(c)(3). The crew have been discriminated against since MSA law - National Standard #4 states, "if allocations are given out they should be fair and equitable". Initial allocations did not adhere to:

" c (3) (i) Fairness and equity. (A) .....For instance, an FMP objective to preserve the economic status quo cannot be achieved by excluding a group of long term participants in the fishery ".

Excessive shares distribution:
c (3) (iii) Avoidance of excessive shares. An allocation scheme must be designed to deter any person or other entity from acquiring an excessive share of fishing privileges, and to avoid creating condition fostering inordinate control, by buyers or sellers, that would not otherwise exist.

Other factors:
“ c (3) (iv) other factors. In designing an allocation scheme, a Council should consider other factors relevant to the FMP's objectives. Examples are economic and social consequences of the scheme, food production, consumer interest, dependence on the fishery by present participants and coastal communities, efficiency of the various types of gear used in the fishery, transferability of effort to and impact on other fisheries, opportunity for new participants to enter the fishery, and enhancement of opportunities for recreational fishing”.

The crew were left out on purpose, and if you listen to the tapes of the June 2002 NPFMC meeting in Dutch Harbor it is clear that the regulatory process was not followed and that failure stole crews rights to crab quota and to receive fair and equitable compensation. The BD crab quota share holders receive $400 million of the crews rights, and have stolen over $180 million in crews compensation since the inception of CR in 2005.

So don't let the focus on the BS crab quota share holders being discriminated against cloud your judgment to the fact that crews took it in the shorts first. Now most entities in the industry are feeling the hijacking of crab quota, vessels, and processing interests due to Ted Steven,Don Young, Trevor McCabe and other racketeers conspiring to give some Bering Sea villages preferential rights that discriminate against not only other Alaskan natives and cities, but against the very fishermen that have risked their life to bring the valuable bounty of BS crab, pollock, halibut, sablefish, cod, and other species. The ports/no preferences clause (section 6) of the Constitution may be violated by CDQS/CQEs, unless Stevens and his band of thieves have underhandly slipped some rider in to legislation to go around laws our forefathers created.

Anonymous said...

Yea dude, it's called catch shares. Coming to an open access fishery near you.

Anonymous said...

You know the CBC Shaun,
inbreeding for hundreds of years.

Born by Gregory Shelikof, CBC Chair of the Russian American Company, at the exact same time President Washington, didn't go hide in a White House, on the Hill.

jedifish said...

Anybody know where you get a copy of the ground fish and crab surveys. Would be nice to see the actual data.

Anonymous said...

So what part of the political correct title "North Pacific" does not include an Alaska fishery? This is more of an attempt by the lower 48 to get their dirty hands on the Alaska resources. Lets face it, the ALASKA Fisheries Science Center is where? Seattle! That makes sense. Oh and where is ALAKSA Airlines headquartered? Seattle. Just what part of Oregon and Washington are in the North Pacific???

Anonymous said...

Boo Hoo...you OR/WA assholes get your IFQ/AFA/Rockfish programs take the money out of state never allowing income to flow through local economies. Quotas begin to drop and you get a little scared, are you threatened by CDQ/CQE, money left to filter through Alaska's coastal communities? You carpet baggers have taken enough, go cry at the west wall.

Anonymous said...

This focus will hopefully bring the 20 year review of the CDQs into play - 2012 - 20 years of the CDQs. Poor people in the Western Alaska Coastal area are still poor except for a handful playing bigshot on the peoples dime and then in the meantime, they are fishing for more money to hoard in the pollock fishery while killing off the livelihood of the poor through the Salmon ByCatch problem.

Anonymous said...

The CDQs were modeled after the Alaska Native Land Claims corporations so it's no wonder that they(CDQs) give some Bering Sea villages(Board Members) preferential rights to discriminate...."!

Anonymous said...

The CDQs were created for a noble purpose and that was addressing the oppressive poverty and lack of economic opportunity in the communities situated on the Bering Sea coast. What happened was predictable and followed in the footsteps of ANCSA. A small band of thieves stole the money, took off to Anchorage and locked the rest of us out.

Ted Stevens was very good at squeezing money out of Congress for Alaska but he left out the details about how the money was supposed to be distributed and human nature being what it is, a handful of robbers have once again hoarded it to themselves and their cronies.

The CDQ program needs to be fixed. The reason it was created is still there. People in the coastal Alaska communities are caught between rising living costs and decreasing opportunities for making a living. Letting the CDQ revenues get hijacked by a handful of people is another black mark on Ted Stevens legacy.