Final Environmental Assessment/Regulatory Impact Review : For Amendment 66 to the Fishery Management Plan for Gulf of Alaska Groundfish : To allow eligible Gulf of Alaska communities to hold commercial halibut and sablefish quota share for lease to community residents

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  National Marine Fisheries Service (U.S.) ; North Pacific Fishery Management Council
• NOAA Program & Office:
  NMFS (National Marine Fisheries Service) ; AKR (Alaska Region)
• Description:
  This Environmental Assessment/Regulatory Impact Review Analysis analyzes the impacts of allowing a defined set of remote Gulf of Alaska coastal communities to purchase, hold, and use commercial halibut and sablefish catcher vessel quota share in the Gulf of Alaska (International Pacific Halibut Commission Management Areas 2C, 3A, and 3B). This proposed action is prompted to assist a number of small coastal communities in Southeast and Southcentral Alaska, which are striving to remain economically viable, to increase or maintain their participation in the halibut and sablefish fisheries. The halibut and sablefish IFQ Program, as with other limited entry programs, increases the cost of entry into and expansion in these commercial fisheries. Several years after implementation, some larger Gulf communities appear to have benefited from the program and continue to increase their participation in the IFQ fisheries, while other smaller communities have experienced a significant decline in participation. The Council began considering including communities in the commercial IFQ Program in June 2000, motivated by several provisions in the Magnuson Stevens Act, recommendations by the National Research Council (NRC), and a proposal from the Gulf of Alaska Coastal Communities Coalition (Coalition). The concern is that because these remote communities are dependent on fisheries for a large portion of their employment and income and have few alternative economic opportunities, a decline in the number of quota share holders has a severe effect on unemployment and related social and economic impacts. The objective of the proposed FMP and regulatory amendment is to allow qualifying communities, which may have more access to the capital required, as well as the financial stability to risk that investment, to purchase halibut and sablefish quota share for lease to and use by community residents. This is intended to address the identified problem without undermining the goals of the IFQ Program or precluding entry-level opportunities for fishermen residing in other fishery dependent communities.
• Keywords:
  Fishery Management Halibut Individual Fishing Quotas Sablefish Ships Fishery Management Individual Fishing Quotas
• Document Type:
  Environmental Assessment
• Place as Subject:
  Alaska, Gulf of ; Aleutian Islands (Alaska) ; Bering Sea
• Rights Information:
  Public Domain
• Compliance:
  Submitted
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:d5f989644dd2a4c481cb7e478966f98e6360319951bb49e0a13072cf922771e5
• Download URL:
  https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/19131/noaa_19131_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 7.14 MB ]