SKipper's MeetinG: Groundfish
Forum held its annual Skipper’s Meeting
before the start of the 2005 season, inviting captains from the Head
and Gut (H&G)
fleet to discuss gear issues, bycatch issues, problems or concerns from
the
previous year, as well as plans for the upcoming fisheries.
Improved
Retention/Improved Utilization
(IRIU) – Amendment 80: Dorothy Lowman, Natural Resource
Consultant was
hired to facilitate a cohesive position between the Head and Gut
(H&G)
fleet on Amendment 80 (IR/IU) issues. Groundfish
Forum continued working with the H&G fleet, the North Pacific
Fishery
Management Council (Council), the National Marine Fisheries Service
(NMFS) and
other industry participants on Amendment 80, to provide specific
groundfish allocations
to the Non-AFA Trawl Catcher Processor sector and allow the formation
of
cooperatives. These allocations and
cooperatives would allow participants to focus less on harvest
maximization and
more on optimizing harvest, thus allowing the reduction of incidental
catch,
improve retention and improve utilization.
BSAI
Pacific
Cod Allocations - Amendment 85: The North Pacific
Fishery Management Council (Council)
began work on Amendment 85 in 2005 which proposed to revise sector
allocations
of the BSAI Pacific cod Interim Total Allowable Catch (ITAC) among the
various
fixed gear, trawl gear and jig gear sectors. The
action also proposed to further apportion the trawl
vessel
sector
allocations between those vessels that are eligible under the American
Fisheries Act (AFA) and those that are not. Groundfish
Forum along with other industry participants
helped
construct, shape and refine alternatives within this amendment.
Advisory
Panel
Appointment: Lori Swanson was
appointed to the North Pacific Fishery Management Council’s (Council)
Advisory
Panel (AP) in 2005.
Pribilof Island
Collaborative
(PIC): Lori
Swanson participated in the Pribilof Island Collaborative which focused
on
issues addressing fur seal decline, habitat issues, and halibut and
crab
decline around the islands in 2005.
Bycatch
teleconferences:
Groundfish Forum continued to hold bi-weekly, or
as needed bycatch teleconferences throughout the year with members of
the
H&G sector, as well as other participants of the yellowfin sole and
cod
fisheries. These teleconferences helped
the vessels control their prohibited species catch (PSC) so they could
fish as
much of their target species as possible.
Non-target
species committee: Lori
Swanson was
a member of the Non-Target Species Committee for the North Pacific
Fishery
Management Council (Council), which continued to develop
recommendations for
improving the management of all non-target species.
Essential
Fish
Habitat/Habitat Areas of Particular
Concern (EFH/HAPC): In 2005, the North Pacific
Fishery Management
Council (Council) took significant action to conserve essential fish
habitat
(EFH) from potential adverse effects of fishing. To
address concerns about the impacts of
bottom trawling on benthic habitat (particularly on coral communities)
in the Aleutian Islands, the Council
took action to prohibit all
bottom trawling, except in small discrete ‘open’ areas.
Over 95% of the Aleutian Islands
management area was closed to bottom trawling (277,100
nm2) and about 4% (12,423 nm2) remains open. Additionally,
six areas with especially high density coral
and
sponge
habitat will be closed to all bottom contact fishing gear (longlines,
pots,
trawls, etc.). These ‘coral garden’
areas, which total 110 nm2, are thus essentially considered marine
reserves. Groundfish Forum was directly
involved in
shaping this policy.
GOA
Rockfish
Pilot Program: In Section
802 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2004, Congress included a
directive to the Secretary of Commerce to establish, in consultation
with the
North Pacific Fishery Management Council (the Council), a pilot program
for
management of three rockfish fisheries in the Central Gulf of Alaska
(the
Central Gulf rockfish fisheries). The
demonstration program is designed as a short-term two-year program for
immediate economic relief until comprehensive GOA
rationalization can be implemented. Groundfish
Forum worked closely with other industry
players and
the
Council to create a meaningful program. (The
program was passed in 2005).
Minumum
Groundfish Retention Standard (GRS) – Amendment 79:
The
action proposes to implement groundfish retention standards (GRS) for
head and
gut trawl catcher processors operating in the BSAI that are not listed
American
Fisheries Act (AFA). The purpose of the GRS is to create a retention
standard
for groundfish in the BSAI that would minimize discards, while
maintaining a
viable multi-species trawl fishery. Groundfish
Forum participated in every step of this
amendment
process to
develop a package that achieves conservation goals and reduces bycatch
while
maintaining an economic fishery. (Amendment
passed in 2005).
