At its June, 2011 meeting in Spokane, Washington, the Pacific Council established an ad hoc Cost Recovery Committee (CRC) charged with making recommendations for a program to recover some of the new costs associated with implementing the new catch share program for the groundfish trawl fishery. Council Chairman Mark Cedergreen has appointed the CRC membership, shown in the table below, which includes individuals representing the various sectors of the fishing industry that will benefit from the catch share program. The Magnuson Stevens act requires a Regional Fishery Management Council to develop a catch recovery program for fisheries managed under a catch share program, paid for by the fishing industry up to a limit of 3% of the value of the fishery.
“There is good regional support for the new West Coast Groundfish catch share program,” said Pacific Council Chairman Mark Cedergreen. “However, full transparency of what the new, incremental costs are is critical to the credibility of any cost recovery program. The fishing industry has a right to know what they are paying for. In the end, 3% of the value of the fishery will amount to far higher than 3% of the profit from the fishery.”
The cost recovery program will detail structural components, such as how and when the costs are recovered from the fishing industry participants, as well as identify current, new costs applicable to each of the sectors of the fishery and a way to assess future costs after program efficiencies and savings have been implemented. “The West Coast fishing industry has a tradition of stepping up to shoulder their responsibilities in paying for improvements to the fishery—the industry paid capacity buyback program several years ago is one good example,” said Pacific Council Vice Chair Dorothy Lowman. “We anticipate this new Committee will help the Council adopt a fair cost recovery program that maintains the good working relationship we have between the fishing industry and those managing the fishery.”
The CRC will meet this summer to prepare recommendations for the Pacific Council’s September meeting in San Mateo, California. View the CRC Meeting Notice.
| Person | Representative |
|---|---|
| Randy Fisher (Chair) | PSMFC |
| Dan Waldeck | At Sea Catcher Processors |
| Brent Paine | Mothership Sector |
| Dave Jincks | Shoreside Whiting |
| Brad Pettinger | Shoreside Non-Whiting |
| Rod Moore | Processors |
| Michele Culver | WDFW |
| Steve Williams | ODFW |
| Marija Vojkovich | CDFG |
| Frank Lockhart | NFMS NWR |
| Michelle McClure | NMFS NWFSC |
| Vicki Nomura | NMFS OLE |
