"Now we file a summary judgment," Maw said. "We file, and they file a response. The court then sets out a schedule for document exchange."

Briefings are filed and replied to and filed and replied to again, a process that brings back less-than-pleasant memories for some fisherman.

"It's just like the (Exxon-Valdez suit)," Maw said. "We're out on the dance floor, and here we go."

Maw did not dismiss the possibility that changes could be seen as early as this season.

"When the complaint was filed," he said, "it was for declaratory and injunctive relief. The court sets out a schedule, but that doesn't prevent us from filing other motions."

The options include filing a motion for summary judgment, which means the court makes a judgment without proceeding to trial; requesting expedited hearings; and a motion for injunctive relief, a temporary restraining order of sorts.

Maw said that whatever was put into the injunction would determine the effect on the fishery, assuming it was granted.

"We could enjoin the state, for example, from implementing any regulations that were passed by the state after 1990," he said. That was the year the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council adopted the Fisheries Management Plan for salmon fisheries in Alaska.

Maw said it could be an earlier or a later date, but whatever goes into the injunction, the court will be required to determine if the request is reasonable and if the state should be required to comply.

If that happens, Maw said, "that's a big bite for us. That means lots of things change."

Maw anticipates the injunctive relief documents to be filed by the end of the week.

Fixed-gear cod fishermen with unused permits under the License Limitation Program, known as LLPs, will relinquish their LLPs after the North Pacific Fishery Management Council adopted new restrictions based on fishing history.

The council voted 10-1 to retire LLPs that went unused from 2002 to Dec. 8, 2008, added catch threshold requirements, and made them gear-specific. The gear types are pots, jig and hook-and-line, or longline.

The catch thresholds include one landing for jig gear, 10 metric tons for pot and longline vessels under 60 feet and 50 metric tons over 60 feet, and 50 metric tons for pot and hook-and-line catcher-processors.

The new regulation is expected to eliminate the option of a gear-specific cod endorsement for more than 600 of the 883 LLPs for catcher vessels in the central Gulf of Alaska, and about 170 of the 264 held in the western GOA. Catcher-processors are expected to drop from 31 to 17 in the western GOA under the 50 metric ton threshold, and from 49 to 20 in the central GOA.

The remaining LLPs and their gear- and species-specific endorsements will be transferable and able to be sold.

The new regulations are expected to be in effect by the 2011 cod season.

The federal government's economic stimulus plan, known as the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009, includes a revival of the Trade Adjustment and Assistance for Farmers (and fishermen) that came to Alaska in 2003-2004 after Sen. Lisa Murkowski persuaded Congress that fishermen should be eligible, as well.

Also known as TAAF, the program assists eligible farmers and fisherman to adjust to a changing economic environment associated with import competition through technical assistance and cash benefits.

The program is administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which states, "If you are a producer of a commodity which has recently suffered from a decrease in the national average price, or the quantity of production, or value of production, or cash receipts for the agricultural commodity you produce compared to the average of the three preceding marketing years, and this decrease can be attributed importantly to an increase in imports, you may be eligible under the TAAF program to receive technical training and cash payments to develop and implement Business Adjustment Plans."

The program is currently being updated and revised and is not yet ready to receive applications, but FAQs and updates can be found at the USDA site, www.fas.usda.gov/itp/taa/taa.asp.

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 realist468@gmail.com.