The Bristol Bay red king crab quota jumped 16 percent, from 15.4 million pounds last year including the Community Development Quota (CDQ), to 18.3 million pounds, of which 1.8 million is allocated to CDQ. Opilio tanner crab, commonly known as snow crab, will see an increase of 44 percent with a Total Allowable Catch (TAC) of 37.2 million pounds. Of that, 33.5 million pounds will go to IFQ holders and 3.7 million is set aside for CDQ. Bairdi tanners will see a cautious 1.6 million pound TAC with 162,000 pounds for CDQ after being shut down for 9 years. The Pribilof and St. Matthew Island king crab fisheries remain closed.
The fishery has undergone a massive overhaul, and gets under way this season with an IFQ system, four-boat-plus cooperatives and Processor Quotas (PQs). The CDQ system that sets aside 10 percent of the quota for qualified coastal communities remains unchanged. PQs remain the most controversial aspect of the new system, delegating 90 percent of the catch to established processors.
IFQ holders have been encouraged to form cooperatives, letting one boat catch the quota belonging to several others. This type of consolidation was discouraged and regulated against when halibut and sablefish changed to an IFQ system, but is very much a part of the new crab fishery. There are 103 boats expected to fish the Bering Sea this year, down from 251 last year. That loss of jobs has brought protests from former crewmembers and skippers throughout the industry. However, regulators point out that reducing the number of boats vying for a limited product was the impetus behind the new regulations.
Because fishermen know before they leave port how many pounds they will be allowed to catch, the season is greatly extended. The Bering Sea crab fisheries all open Oct. 15, and close at different times due to the molting seasons of the crab species. Bristol Bay red king crab season closes Jan. 15, Bairdi tanner season closes March 15, and Opilio tanner season closes May 15. The Aleutian Islands brown king crab season started Aug. 15 and runs through May 15. The pot limit for all fisheries now stands at 450.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Service has extended the public comment period on guidelines to help fishery managers implement National Standard One (NS1) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act until Oct. 21. NS1 is the standard that guides the regional councils in implementing rebuilding plans for depleted and over-fished stocks. NS1 is one of 10 national standards established by Congress that provide a framework for the eight regional councils managing fisheries in federal waters. The North Pacific Fishery Management Council is the federal body applying these national standards in Alaska waters. NOAA Fisheries provides guidelines for consistent interpretation of these standards by the councils.
These proposed guidelines are intended to help the councils increase consistency in how the definitions of “depleted” and “over-fished” are applied. Guidelines for NS1 were last revised in 1998. Since then, the councils have developed 49 rebuilding plans for the nation’s depleted fish stocks.
Under the proposed new guidelines:
*Councils would end over-fishing within the first year of a rebuilding plan, except under certain conditions specified by law in the Magnuson-Stevens Act. These conditions include the biology of the stock, the needs of fishing communities, recommendations by international organizations and the interaction of the over-fished stock within the marine ecosystem.
*Councils would set the target catch, or optimum yield, for a fishery at less than the maximum sustainable yield. This change would reduce the risk of over-fishing by providing a buffer between the target fishing rate and the rate that would produce the maximum sustainable yield.
*Councils would set a more conservation-oriented midway point as the target time to rebuild, instead of the current common practice of using the maximum allowable rebuilding timeframe. Fish stocks for which there is little known scientific information would be grouped into stock assemblages for assessment and management purposes. The criteria for a stock assemblage would include species that live together, have similar life histories and are caught by the same gear.
*Rebuilding plans would not expire and would remain in effect until the stock is rebuilt. The new guidelines specify that if a rebuilding plan is not achieving the expected result, councils should take additional action to ensure success. The term “over-fished” would be replaced with “depleted” to reflect that fish population declines are not wholly dependent on fishing. The term “depleted” takes into account environmental variations from year to year — such as high predator abundance, low breeding year, environmental phenomenon and natural disasters.
The proposed guidelines would apply to any new fishery management plan and amendments to existing rebuilding plans. The public may make comments on the proposed new guidelines through Oct. 21. Comments may be sent by e-mail to: nationalstandard1@noaa.gov or to Mark R. Millikin, NOAA Fisheries Service, 1315 East-West Highway, Room 13357, Silver Spring, MD 20910.
Christy Fry has commercial fished in Homer since 1978 and also has 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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