The two main bodies that manage fisheries in all Alaska waters, the federal North Pacific Fishery Management Council, and the state Board of Fisheries, will hold a joint meeting in Anchorage on April 8. The joint meeting follows a council-only meeting that begins April 1 and continues through April 7.
The joint meeting is mostly to keep both bodies apprised of each other's actions and issues, according to NPFMC Executive Director Chris Oliver.
"These meetings we have with the board once a year are really more informational exchange than they are any joint action," Oliver said. "A number of the items that are on this agenda are items that the Council is going to be taking up prior to our meeting with the Board. It's just an opportunity to inform the Board of Fish of where we are on these various issues, whether it be salmon bycatch issues or Stellar sea lion issues, and then for the Board to do the same reciprocally with us."
It also is to find out where the state stands on management issues, and to avoid putting the state in charge of a fishery they'd rather leave in federal hands.
"If we wanted to defer management of octopus, for example, to the state, that would have to be something the Board of Fish would willingly take on," Oliver stated. "We're not at a stage yet to decide whether we want to do that, but it's simply a way to say 'hey, we're looking at different ways to manage these 'other' species. Rather than lumping them all together, we might separate out octopus, for example, like we did with skate or sculpin. We're going to be seeking the state's interest in whether they want management of octopus at the state level."
The cod jig fishery is also on the agenda, and the council is looking for ways to streamline management, according to Oliver.
"We're talking about sector allocations in the Gulf of Alaska for cod," he said. "One of the sectors is the cod jig fishery, and there's been a lot of discussion at the council level as to whether it was more appropriate for the council to continue to manage the small jig fishery in federal waters or for the state to subsume that within the management of its jig fishery, (both of) which have predominately occurred in state waters. Or if we should look at extending our federal management all the way to the beach to make it more efficient and not have two different things going on."
Sector splits are a hot topic in the cod fishery these days, with the council discussing options to divide the quota among user groups based on historic catch levels. Those groups include trawlers, longliners, pot and jig boats, with sectors being broken down further into catcher vessels and catcher-processor vessels, and different vessel size sectors. The council has an amendment package that is up for review at the June meeting in Kodiak, and then it could presumably be on the October agenda for final action, possibly putting the regulations in place as early as 2009. However, Oliver said that it would be more likely to be in place by 2010, given the pace of regulatory change in the federal system.
The sector splits will only apply to federal waters, and do not include an IFQ system or other component that divides the catch within the sector to individual vessels. The discussion paper submitted to the council states, "While sector allocations may reduce competition among sectors and protect historic catch levels, sector allocations alone may not slow down the race for fish, reduce bycatch, increase product quality or have a substantial effect on the number of participating vessels."
The meetings will be held at the Hilton Hotel in Anchorage, and the public is invited to attend. For a full agenda, schedules, and testimony guidelines, as well as extensive meeting materials, visit the council Web site at www.fakr.noaa.gov/npfmc, or call (907) 271-2809.
Cristy Fry has commercial fished in Homer since 1978. She also designs and builds gear for the industry. She currently longlines for halibut and gillnets salmon in upper Cook Inlet aboard the F/V Realist. She can be reached at cristy-fry@excite.com.
