Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Amendment 80 Groundfish Trawl Fishery in Alaska

Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands (BSAI) Fishery Management Plan Amendment 80 allocated several BSAI non-pollock trawl groundfish species among trawl fishery sectors, and facilitated the formation of harvesting cooperatives in the non-American Fisheries Act (non-AFA) trawl catcher/processor sector. The groundfish species directly affected by Amendment 80 include Atka mackerel, Aleutian Islands Pacific ocean perch, flathead sole, Pacific cod, rock sole, and yellowfin sole. In addition, Amendment 80 modified the management of halibut and crab prohibited species catch (PSC) limits.

Alaska

Amendment 80 vessels in the port of Dutch Harbor, Alaska.

History

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council adopted BSAI Amendment 80 to meet the broad goals of: (1) improving retention and utilization of fishery resources by the non-AFA trawl catcher/processor fleet by extending the groundfish retention standard (GRS) to non-AFA trawl catcher/processor vessels of all lengths; (2) allocating fishery resources among BSAI trawl harvesters in consideration of historic and present harvest patterns and future harvest needs; (3) authorizing the allocation of groundfish species to harvesting cooperatives and establishing a limited access privilege program (LAPP) for the non-AFA trawl catcher/processors to reduce potential GRS compliance costs, encourage fishing practices with lower discard rates, and improve the opportunity for increasing the value of harvested species; and (4) limiting the ability of non-AFA trawl catcher/processors to expand their harvesting capacity into other fisheries not managed under a LAPP.