Olson, Henderschedt keep their seats

The U.S. Department of Commerce today announced that Eric Olson of Alaska and John Henderschedt of Washington state have been reappointed to the North Pacific Fishery Management Council.

Here's the announcement.

Benson retains North Pacific council seat

Here's a U.S. Commerce Department press release showing Dave Benson is staying on the North Pacific Fishery Management Council as a Washington state member.

Benson has been on the council since 2003.

The council, in case you didn't know, has 11 voting members from Alaska, Washington and Oregon.

Dersham, Hull council seats confirmed

Here's a press release today from Gov. Sarah Palin regarding federal approval of her two nominees for the North Pacific Fishery Management Council.

Dan Hull, by the way, is replacing Gerry Merrigan of Petersburg.

Sarah Palin
Governor

June 25, 2009

Governor Palin’s Fishery Council Appointments Approved

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Governor Sarah Palin today announced that her two top nominees to the North Pacific Fishery Management Council have been approved by U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke.

Robert “Ed” Dersham and Dan Hull will begin their terms in August. Dersham currently serves on the council and has been reappointed. Hull has been an active public participant at council meetings and has served on council committees.

“I’m pleased that Secretary Locke has appointed these two knowledgeable Alaskans,” Governor Palin said. “The fisheries regulated by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council are incredibly important to Alaska’s economy and I have every confidence that Ed and Dan will put the resource first when making difficult decisions.”

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council is one of eight regional councils established by the 1976 Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act, later renamed the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, to oversee management of the nation's marine fisheries. The council has jurisdiction over 900,000 square miles of ocean from three to 200 miles off Alaska’s shores, and has primary responsibility for managing pollock, cod, halibut, sole and other groundfish.

Dersham, of Anchor Point, is a 23-year charter boat operator in Lower Cook Inlet who served on the Alaska Board of Fisheries for more than eight years, including three years as chair and two years as vice chair. He was involved in developing and chairing the joint protocol committee for coordination between the fisheries board and the North Pacific council. He earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Oregon and is retired from a career as a special agent with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency. Dersham has served on the council since 2008.

Hull, of Anchorage, has been an active fisherman and vessel owner for more than 25 years, fishing for salmon and halibut out of Cordova. He holds a master’s degree in marine affairs from the University of Washington and a bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College. Hull is currently a board member of Cordova District Fishermen United and is a member of the Alaska Sea Grant Advisory Committee.

'Extinguishing processor shares'

The staff of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council has written an interesting discussion paper on the idea of dropping processor shares from the crab rationalization program.

Already lost? Let's review some history.

In August of 2005, the competition for Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands king and Tanner crab ended and we moved to a "rationalized" fishery. That is, fishermen received individual quotas to catch crab, and landings were apportioned by region.

The fisheries also were divided another way: among processors. Essentially, the established processors received buying rights, just as the existing fishermen received fishing rights.

While processors believe it's vital for their plant investments to have a guaranteed stream of crab deliveries, some fishermen and other critics hate processor shares as restraint of trade.

Anyway, there's my quick and no doubt inadequate overview of crab rationalization.

Now let's get back now to that discussion paper, titled "Extinguishing processor shares."

The paper was written at the request of the council, which is looking at the idea of dropping processor shares.

My aim today isn't to summarize the entire 16-page paper for you, but to spotlight one intriguing part: The idea that getting rid of processor shares might be a very involved and difficult thing to do.

Why?

Because crab rationalization without processor shares could be such a fundamental change that it "effectively creates a new limited access privilege program" as defined under the recently reauthorized Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.

The act requires the council to consider a host of issues before adopting a new LAPP.

"This includes respecification of the goals of the program, reconsideration of allocations (including allocations to small owner-operated vessels, fishing communities, and set asides for entry, captains, and crew), and the consideration of the auction of shares and the collection of royalties in the fisheries," the paper says.

Wow, can you imagine a whole new slugfest over who gets how much?

And auctions and royalties?

Anyway, Deckboss recommends you add this paper to your reading list.