Crew members will be allocated 3 percent of crab IFQs. Crew members will have to be on board when their share is being harvested. According to a press release, the new program encourages crab harvesting cooperatives that can fish IFQs collectively and cooperatively. A group of four or more distinct, separate quota shareholders may come together to form a cooperative.
The rights to process a majority of the crab caught by the fishermen will be parceled out among the processors that operate in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands, again based on their historic and recent processing of crab. The new crab rationalization program provides a mechanism to help processors and harvesters reach price agreement through an arbitration system.
All fishing vessels in the rationalized fishery are required to have a vessel monitoring system, which uses satellite technology to report vessel locations. Fishermen also will report on many facts, including landed catch weight and which species are caught, plus some economic data such as costs, revenues, ownership and employment. Fishermen and processors will pay up to 3 percent of the ex-vessel value of the crab caught for fees to cover the actual costs of monitoring and enforcing the program and to fund a loan program.
The application period is open until June 3. The final rule can be viewed at www.fakr.noaa.gov/sustainablefisheries/crab/crfaq.htm. Inquiries about applications should go to (907) 586-7474.
The state of Alaska received potentially encouraging news on its call for a five-year ban on off-shore aquaculture in federal waters at a March 1 town-hall style meeting in Anchorage, where a representative of the National Marine Fisheries Service testified that the state could most likely block such development off its shores. The Anchorage Daily News reported that Linda Chaves, a senior seafood industry adviser for NMFS, told the gathering that while it was premature to say for sure, the state would probably have the power to prevent fish farms along its coast. Chaves told the Daily News that it depends on the final wording of legislation the Commerce Department expects to roll out in coming weeks setting up a "regulatory framework" for aquaculture development in federal waters, which extend from three to 200 miles offshore. She indicated that federal officials would not permit fish farms in waters off Alaska if the state opposed them under the Coastal Zone Management Act, which coordinates federal and state objectives on coastal and ocean development. The Daily News reported Alaska's participation in the Alaska Coastal Zone Management Plan, however, is in doubt. Last month, Gov. Frank Murkowski threatened to pull out unless the Commerce Department drops new requirements that amount to "excessive federal intervention" in state management of coastal resources. This move has drawn criticism from some state lawmakers who are concerned that the state would lose its influence on federal projects. The Murkowski administration submitted a rewritten version of the coastal plan, which National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration declined because it didn't meet minimum federal requirements. The current ACZMP is set to expire this summer.
Kodiak is gearing up for its annual Comfish Alaska trade show, which runs March 17,18 and 19. Billed as "Alaska's largest and best commercial fisheries trade show," Comfish is observing its 26th year with forums on groundfish and crab rationalization, offshore aquaculture, financial seminars, safety and CPR training, and marketing to name a few. Over 80 exhibitors including fish harvesters, processors, community leaders, goods and services providers, and policy makers, will attend. For full details and information about hotel and airline discounts, go to http://www.icomfish.com/ or call the Kodiak Chamber of Commerce at (907) 486-5557.
Cristy Fry has commercial fished in Homer since 1978 and has also designed and built gear for the industry. She currently longlines for halibut and sablefish, and gillnets salmon in Upper Cook Inlet aboard the F/V Realist.
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