Eric Olson, Chairman
Chris Oliver, Executive Director
SUBJECT: Title
Chinook salmon PSC limit rollover for GOA non-pollock trawl catcher vessels
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ESTIMATED TIME:
8 hours (all Groundfish Issues)
ACTION REQUIRED: Recommended Action
Take final action on measures to roll over unused Chinook salmon PSC from the Central GOA Rockfish Program catcher vessel sector to other non-pollock catcher vessel fisheries.
Body
BACKGROUND:
This analysis considers a set of alternatives that could allow unused Chinook salmon prohibited species catch (PSC) to be rolled over from the Central Gulf of Alaska Rockfish Program's catcher vessel (CV) sector to support other CV fisheries that occur later in the year. If an action alternative is selected, it would be added to the Council's final recommendation for management measures to address Chinook salmon PSC in the Central and Western Gulf of Alaska (GOA) non-pollock trawl fisheries, as voted on at the June 2013 meeting. The 'no action' alternative would result in a final recommendation that is identical to the Council's preferred alternative for the related action. The Council designated a preliminary preferred alternative (PPA) at its October 2013 meeting.
This "trailing" analysis primarily considers whether or not incorporating a Chinook PSC rollover might reduce the efficacy of the "uncertainty pool" mechanism that the Council has already selected for its final recommendation. The document also examines the extent to which the Council's existing preferred alternative might relatively disadvantage some CV fisheries relative to others.
Selecting the 'no action' alternative would apportion 1,200 Chinook salmon PSC to the CV sector of the Central GOA Rockfish Program fishery, resulting in a 2,700 Chinook PSC annual hard cap for all other non-pollock CV activity. Both CV sectors would retain the ability to earn a "buffer" of additional PSC for the year following one in which that sector performed to a defined stan...
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