Development of the Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) Program for Sablefish and Halibut Longline Fisheries off Alaska
October 08, 1997
The individual fishing quota (IFQ) program for the sablefish and halibut longline fisheries off Alaska was implemented in 1995. It culminated fourteen years of deliberations of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) on limited entry.
Presented September 4, 1997, to the National Research Council's Committee to Review Individual Fishing Quotas. Anchorage, Alaska. (Document revised October 8, 1997)
The individual fishing quota (IFQ) program for the sablefish and halibut longline fisheries off Alaska was implemented in 1995. It culminated fourteen years of deliberations of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) on limited entry. The long gestation clearly attests to the program's gravity and controversy. Development of the program occurred during a period of great change in fisheries off Alaska, the 1980s. Foreign fisheries were replaced by domestic operations, which expanded more rapidly than ever anticipated. Suddenly the Council was faced with overcapitalization, not only in sablefish and halibut, but all major fisheries under its jurisdiction.