Central Gulf of Alaska (GOA) Rockfish Program

The Rockfish Program allocates harvest privileges to holders of License Limitation Program (LLP) groundfish licenses with a history of Central Gulf of Alaska (GOA) rockfish legal landings.

Alaska

The rockfish fisheries are conducted in Federal waters near Kodiak, Alaska, by trawl and longline vessels. The Rockfish Program allocates harvest privileges to holders of License Limitation Program (LLP) groundfish licenses with a history of Central Gulf of Alaska (GOA) rockfish legal landings in either 2000 through 2006, or the entry level trawl fishery in 2007, 2008, or 2009. Fishing under the Rockfish Program began in 2012.

Participation

The Rockfish Program assigns quota share (QS) to License Limitation Program (LLP) licenses for rockfish primary and secondary species based on legal landings associated with that LLP. Primary rockfish species are northern rockfish, Pacific ocean perch, and dusky rockfish. Secondary rockfish species are Pacific cod, rougheye rockfish, shortraker rockfish, sablefish, and thornyhead rockfish.

Each year, a LLP license holder assigns the LLP license with rockfish QS to a rockfish cooperative. Each rockfish cooperative receives an annual cooperative fishing quota (CQ), which is an amount of primary and secondary rockfish species the cooperative is able to harvest in that fishing year. Halibut Prohibited Species Catch (PSC) is also allocated to participants based on historic halibut mortality rates in the primary rockfish species fisheries. Shore-based processors receiving rockfish CQ must be located within the boundaries of the City of Kodiak. The rockfish cooperative fishing season is authorized May 1 through November 15 of each year. An entry level fishery starts January 1 of each year for harvesters who are directed fishing for rockfish primary species using longline gear only.

Catcher/processor LLP license holders may opt-out of the Rockfish Program but are subject to certain sideboard limitations, which prevent rockfish eligible harvesters from increasing their participation in fisheries other than the Central GOA rockfish fisheries.

Fishery Resources

Questions and Answers about the North Pacific Fishery Management Council Requests for Emergency Actions: On February 10, 2021, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) recommended NOAA Fisheries issue an emergency rule to modify the fishing season start date for fishing vessels participating in a rockfish cooperative as part of the Central Gulf of Alaska Rockfish Program (Rockfish Program) for the 2021 fishing year. Effective March 19, 2021, the fishing season start date is April 1, 2021 for fishing vessels participating in a rockfish cooperative. This emergency rule does not modify other provisions of the Rockfish Program.
Applications and Forms
Reports
- Cooperatives, Quota and Licenses Issued
- Allocations and Sideboards
Monitoring and Reporting
- eFISH: Check an account balance, submit a landing value report, transfer cooperative quota and pay fees
- eLandings: Submit landing and production data
- Rockfish Program Delivery Notification: Online form for Kodiak processors to notify NMFS of rockfish program deliveries
- Flow Scales, Observer Sampling Stations, Bin Monitoring, and Catch Monitoring Control Plans
- Recordkeeping and Reporting
Cost Recovery and Fee Programs
- Standard Ex-vessel Prices and Fee Percentages
Central Gulf of Alaska Small Entity Compliance Guide

Regulations and Management Actions

Information Bulletins
Groundfish Harvest Specifications
Federal Register Rules and Notices
50 CFR Part 679, Subpart G: Rockfish Program
Regulations, Acts, Treaties, and Agreements
Figures, Maps, Boundaries, Regulatory Areas, and Zones
Fishery Management Plan Amendments
Analyses
North Pacific Fishery Management Council Rockfish Program History and Actions (broken link)

Rockfish Pilot Program

The Central GOA Rockfish Pilot Program was a 5-year pilot project effective from 2007 through 2011 to permit harvesters to form voluntary cooperatives and receive an exclusive harvest privilege to groundfish species in the Central Gulf of Alaska (GOA). The program is now expired and has been replaced by the GOA Rockfish Program.