Gulf of Alaska Trawl Industry, Processors Write Highly Critical Letter on Council Plans
SEAFOODNEWS.COM [News Analysis] by John Sackton - February 1, 2016
The problems in the Gulf of Alaska trawl fishery, some of the council's own making, are set to dominate the February meeting of the North Pacfic Management Council that will take place this week in Portland, Oregon.
Last fall, the council added, without debate or review, a new alternative to the carefully crafted Gulf of Alaska rationalization plan. Alternative 3, as it is known, is likely to be highly damaging to the fisheries and communities in the Gulf of Alaska, and the organizations representing the processors and harvesters have written the Council specifically detailing how the off the cuff proposal would create immense problems.
Specifically in a letter to chair Dan Hull, current council chair, Glenn Reed (Pacific Seafood Processors Association), Julie Bonney (Alaska Groundfish Data Bank), Robert Krueger (Alaska Whitefish Trawlers Association), and Heather Mann (Midwater Trawlers Cooperative) write:
Based on our experience with the successful cooperative catch share programs in Alaska, and with GOA trawl fisheries specifically, we are concerned that the management system proposed under Alternative 3:
1. Does not take into account historical participation, investment, and dependence on the fishery as required by the MSA.
2. Establishes a framework that creates disincentives for harvesters...
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