Kodiak Processors Tell City & Borough Wrong Plan for GOA Groundfish Would Devastate City's Economy SEAFOODNEWS.COM  by John Sackton  March 16, 2016 Kodiak Processors will talk today about the huge impact the wrong groundfish rationalization plan in the Gulf of Alaska would have on the Kodiak Ecnonomy.  Representatives from Trident Seafoods, International Seafoods, Ocean Beauty, Alaska Pacific Seafoods and Pacific Seafood have been invited to attend a meeting of the Kodiak Fisheries Working Group which attempts to protect Kodiak's interests in matters before the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council.  At issue is whether the Council's will adopt 'Alternative 2' supported by the previous Alaska governor's administration, or 'Alternative 3' to resolve the issue of  bycatch and fish management in the Gulf of Alaska, which specifically addresses bycatch but not anpen fishery or the subsequent race for fish.   Proponents of Alternative 3, such as Kodiak's Duncan Fields, argue preserving access to new local Alaskan entrants is the primary longer term community interest. He claims that a IFQ system in the Gulf, similar to those adopted for other groundfisheries and halibut in Alaska, would provide a financial windfall for existing harvesters, and effectively price out new entrants. On the other hand, the existing trawlers and processors say that without council action, demands to stay within fish quotas and also control by-catch limits simply cannot be done in a way that preserves even a fraction of the current groundish landings from the Gulf of Alaska.  They say without the tools to control when and where to fish by individual vessels, which only comes with an IFQ fishery, the council's goals of conservation and economic use of the Gulf of Alaska resource cannot be reconciled. The meeting today, facilitated by the Groundfish Databank ...