Return to Catch Share Programs
Since the catch share program was first recommended, the Council has continued its policy development and review through several types of activities:
- Trailing Actions: Council actions that were contemplated as being needed to complete the catch share policy but were not key to the initial action and getting the program implemented for the 2011 fishery. Trailing actions also include the elimination of obsolete regulations and responses to problems that were identified as the program was put in place, Examples include implementation of a cost recovery program, elimination of unnecessary gear-restrictions, and changes to the process for end-of-the-year vessel account reconciliation.
- Follow-on Action: Council actions in response to completed formal program reviews, i.e. that follow from the reviews based on ideas for policy changes identified during the review process.
- Other Ad Hoc Actions: Council actions taken up on an ad hoc basis in response to identified needs.
- Reviews and studies – The MSA requires that the full catch share program be reviewed after 5 years and at least once every seven years thereafter. The Council completed its first review in 2017 and is in the process of developing its second program review. Additionally, there may be specific, more narrowly focused studies of the program initiated by the Council. The primary example of this is the cost study, the first phase of which was completed in September 2023 and the second phase of which is currently under way.
The Council prioritizes all its potential groundfish action items, including those modifying the trawl catch share program, as part of its groundfish new management measure prioritization process. The following is a list of actions that are currently being deliberated, actions which have been completed and implemented, and actions that the Council has indicated it will consider in the future.
Actions in Process
- Gear switching and trawl allocation attainment (Final Council recommendation, April 2024, not yet submitted to NMFS for approval).
Completed Actions
Below is a list of all trailing actions completed and implemented. Some of the actions have been incorporated into other regulatory packages that are provided in the below list:
- Electronic Monitoring (Type: Trailing Action).
Effective Date: Initially 1, January 2022, delayed to January 1, 2024 - Pacific Whiting Utilization in the At-Sea Sectors (Type: Ad Hoc Action).
Effective Date: 17, January, 2023. - Vessel Movement Monitoring. Various provisions increasing operational flexibility for trawl sector (Type: Trailing Action).
Effective Dates 12, July 2020 and 9, September 2020. - Replace bycatch caps with set-aside management for darkblotched rockfish and Pacific ocean perch (Amendment 21-3) (Type: Ad Hoc Action).
Effective Date: 7, February, 2018 - Replace bycatch caps with set-aside management for canary and widow rockfish and remove from the FMP the at-sea sector allocations formulas for darkblotched rockfish, Pacific ocean perch, and widow rockfish allocation. (Amendment 21-4) (Type: Follow-on from 1st Review).
Effective Date: 16, January 2020. - QP Expiration Date—Eliminate the September 1 expiration date for QP not transferred from QS Accounts by that date, , implemented with Amendment 21-4 (Type: Follow-on from 1st Review).
Effective Date: 16, January 2020. - Relief from Annual Vessel QP Limits—Allow vessels to cover their entire deficits after the end of the year (unrestricted by the annual vessel QP limits), implemented with Amendment 21-4 (Type: Follow-on from 1st Review).
Effective Date: 16, January 2020. - Post-Season QP Trading—Allow the post season trading of QP remaining in vessel accounts at the end of the year, in order to cover previous years deficits, implemented with Amendment 21-4 (Type: Follow-on from 1st Review).
Effective Date: 16, January 2020. - Catch-Processor Accumulation Limit—Establish a 5 catcher-processor permit control limit that will go into effect in the event that a catcher-processor co-op converts to an IFQ program, implemented with Amendment 21-4 (Type: Follow-on from 1st Review).
Effective Date: 16, January 2020. - Catcher Processor Ownership Data—Collect detailed ownership information for the catcher processor sector, implemented with Amendment 21-4 (Type: Follow-on from 1st Review).
Effective Date: 16, January 2020. - QS Ownership Data—Collect QS ownership data from all QS account owners, implemented with Amendment 21-4 (Type: Follow-on from 1st Review).
Effective Date: 16, January 2020. - Trawl RCA Restriction Changes—Groundfish FMP Amendment 28, Essential Fish Habitat (Type: Trailing Action).
Effective Date: 1, January 2020. - Shoreside fishery: Provide discard and survival credits for lingcod and sablefish; remove daily vessel QP limits, provide for ongoing adaptive management plan QP pass-thru (see 2019-2020 groundfish specifications and management measures). (Type: Follow-on from 1st Review).
Effective Date: 1, January 2019. - At-sea fishery: remove of automatic closure authority for darkblotched and Pacific ocean perch. (2019-2020 groundfish specifications and management measures).
Effective Date: 7, February 2018. - Gear rule (Type: Trailing Action). Effective Date: 1, January 2019
- Widow Rockfish Quota Shares—Reallocation and divestiture deadlines (Type: Trailing Action).
Effective Date: December 26, 2017, except for the amendment to § 660.140(d)(1)(ii)(A)( 4), which were effective from December 26, 2017 through December 31, 2018. - Joint Registration—Allow fixed-gear and trawl LEPs to be registered to the same vessel at the same time (Type: Trailing Action).
Effective Date: December 23, 2016, except for the amendments to § 660.212(a)(3) through (5) and § 660.312(a)(3) through (5), which were effective January 1, 2017. - At-sea Processing of Fixed-Gear Sablefish (Type: Trailing Action).
Effective Date: December 23, 2016, except for the amendments to § 660.212(a)(3) through (5) and § 660.312(a)(3) through (5), which were effective January 1, 2017. - E-Tickets—Update eTicket for web-based submissions (Type: Trailing Action).
Effective Date: December 23, 2016, except for the amendments to § 660.212(a)(3) through (5) and § 660.312(a)(3) through (5), which were effective January 1, 2017. - Quota Share Divestiture Rule (Type: Trailing Action).
Effective Date: 4 November 2015. - Whiting and Midwater Trawl Cleanup Rule (Type: Trailing Action).
Effective Date: 13, January, 2016. - Shorebased Whiting Season: Change opening date (Type: Trailing Action).
Effective Date: 15 May 2015. - Observer/Catch Monitoring Rule (Type: Trailing Action).
Effective Date: 21, May 2015. - Chafing Gear (Type: Trailing Action).
Effective Date: 1 January 2015. - Adaptive Management Program Pass-Through—Continue temporarily (Type: Trailing Action). Effective Date: 17 December 2014.
- Cost recovery (Type: Trailing Action).
Effective Date: 10 January 2014 - Program Improvements and Enhancement Rule 2 (Type: Trailing Action).
Effective dates: Sections on QP transfers, December 15, 2013; all other sections, 1 January 2014; and final rule correction on March 5, 2014. - Whiting Catch Share Reallocation (Type: Trailing Action).
Effective Date: 1 April 2013. - Change of renewal dates from September 1 to September 15 (Type: Trailing Action, Correction).
Effective Date: 7 September 2012. - Program Improvements and Enhancement Rule 1 (including Amendment 21-1) (Type: Trailing Action).
Effective Date: 1 January 2012
Rejected trailing actions
The Council considered but rejected:
- Removal of blackgill in the slope complex
- Quota share/quota pound control rules: Safe harbors for risk pools
- Surplus carryover restrictions—finding a way to issue carry-over when the annual catch limits equal the allowable biological catch. This topic was explored and no solution found.
- Selective Flatfish Trawl between 40° 10′ and 42° N. lat. As part of its gear rule the Council recommended that selective flatfish trawl gear be allowed shoreward of the RCA/100 fm line between 40° 10′ and 42° N. lat. NMFS did not approve that part of the gear rule package. However, the item remains as a possible trailing action, subject to the collection of adequate data through experimental fishing permits.
Potential Actions for Future Consideration.
The following items may be taken up by the Council after items on the current workload list are addressed or through exempted fishing permits.
- Size endorsements. Consider eliminating limited entry permit size endorsements.
- Trawl IFQ carryover when management units change. Consider adding provisions to cover how carryover should be handled when there is a reallocation as a result of changes in management areas (area subdivision, combination, or line movement) or subdivision of a species group. This issue was identified when lingcod was geographically subdivided.
- Develop criteria for distributing adaptive management program quota pounds. Consider a formula for the distribution of quota pounds issued for quota shares held for the adaptive management program. Under the Amendment 20 trawl rationalization program, the shoreside IFQ program includes a setaside of 10 percent of the non-whiting quota (including halibut individual bycatch quota) for the adaptive management program. The quota pounds are to be distributed to address needs related to community stability, processor stability, conservation, unintended/unforeseen consequences of IFQ management, and facilitating new entrants. However, to date, the quota pounds associated with this program have been passed through to quota share holders on a pro rata basis in proportion to their quota share holdings.
- Eliminate the prohibition on whiting at-sea processing south of 42o N. Lat. This issue arose in the context of the need to avoid bycatch. The issue might be explored through an EFP or through regulatory action. At its September 2020 meeting, the Council considered this issue as part of a package of alternatives intended to improve attainment of mothership sector allocations. However, The Council delayed further consideration of at-sea processing south of 42° N. lat. due to the potential impact on salmonids and other managed species.
- Year-round all depth non-whiting fishery for midwater target species. Consider whether to allow year-round, coastwide, midwater targeting of non-whiting species. Under current regulations, the only way a midwater trawler can target pelagic rockfish north of 40o 10’ N. latitude (inside and outside the Rockfish Conservation Areas, or RCAs) is during the whiting season. In December 2017, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) issued a biological opinion for the groundfish fishery requiring that prior to allowing the use of midwater trawl gear outside of the whiting season EFPs be used to collect information on potential impacts to threatened and endangered salmon species. The Council has recommended that EFPs be issued for 2017 through 2025. The most recent of the EFPs:
- Allow vessels to fish in all areas with midwater gear outside the primary season.
- Allow participants to use midwater gear in the RCA closures off Washinton and within and shoreward of the RCA/100 fm line south of 40° 10′ N. lat. at all times of year.
- Allow vessels to use selective flatfish trawl (SFFT) shoreward of the RCA/100 fm line between 40° 10′ and 42° N. lat.
- Removal of Selective Flatfish Trawl (SFFT) requirement between 40° 10′ and 42° N. lat. The Council’s gear rule recommended a number of actions including that SFFT gear be allowed shoreward of the RCA/100 fm line between 40° 10′ and 42° N. lat. This action was disapproved by NMFS because of unknown potential impacts to ESA listed salmon species. The EFPs in the previous paragraph on a year-round non-whiting fishery also cover the collection of data for this potential regulatory change.