Recreational Halibut Quota Faces Opposition

A charter halibut recreational quota entity (RQE) program scheduled for an initial review at North Pacific Fishery Management Council meeting under way in Anchorage is drawing fire from commercial harvesters.

The proposed management measures would apply exclusively to the guided angler sport (charter) halibut fisheries and commercial halibut setline fisheries in International Pacific Halibut Commission’s regulatory areas 2C and 3A.

One measure under consideration would allow a recreational quota entity to be established to represent the charter sector in the acquisition of commercial halibut quota share, which could augment management measures annually recommended by the council, approved by the IPHC and implemented by the National Marine Fisheries Service through federal regulations.

The second alternative under consideration is a recency action that would retire charter halibut permits that have been latent according to one of two proposed thresholds. These actions are not mutually exclusive.

The complete initial review draft document is posted on the council’s website, www.npfmc.org. Also online are 84 pages of public comment, including letters of opposition from the Halibut Coalition, Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association (ALFA), Deep Sea Fishermen’s Union, Petersburg Vessel Owner’s Association, Southeast Alaska Fishermen’s Alliance, Cordova District Fishermen United, and others.

Tom Gemmell, executive director of the Halibut Coalition, said the coalition recommended that the RQE issue be remanded back to a broad-based committee to take a hard look at perceived problems in the charter sector. These include latent permits, effects of sharing charter halibut permits between vessels without formal leasing/transfer, retirement of non-transferable CHP, season length, voluntary measures to allocate fish within the sector, transfer of guided angler fish between charter operations, an enforceable mechanism to purchase GAF after fish is landed, and an RQE limited to buying and sequestering CHP.

“While ALFA members appreciate that charter proponents are proposing to purchase, rather than take additional quota, the subsidized reallocation proposed by the RQE will substantially destabilize other sectors that depend on the halibut resource and may do so unnecessarily, as halibut stocks recover, or without accomplishing stated goals, if charter effort and harvest increase,” said Linda Behnken, executive director of the ALFA.

The catch sharing plan and the guided angler fish program are still fairly new programs without enough time to fully determine if tweaks in this program would be sufficient for an individual charter operator to stabilize their own operations, said Kathy Hansen, executive director of the Southeast Alaska Fishermen’s Alliance.

“The commercial fishing sector feels that to have an equitable compensated reallocation program that doesn’t inflate the quota share prices, the charter operators need to be funding the program and responsible for the loans or getting the grants,” she said in written testimony.

“Based on the CATCH (Catch Accountability Through Compensated Halibut) program documents, the charter operators behind this action are wanting a funding source that the client pays for i.e. a government halibut stamp,” she said. With a program on an individual basis or a pool program paid by the charter operators themselves, they have a stake in the program and won’t overfund, over-buy because it affects their own pocketbook, she said.

Pressure Continues to Reopen Exxon Valdez Litigation

An Alaska legislator who participated as a volunteer in the cleanup of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill disaster has filed a House Joint Resolution in support of residents’ rights under the disputed re-opener provision of the settlement.

Rep. Andy Josephson, D-Anchorage, said in a letter on Dec. 8 to Alaska Attorney General Craig Richards that pursuit of the re-opener benefits is warranted.

Josephson’s letter and filing of the resolution come in the wake of a recent federal court decision in Anchorage by District Court Judge H. Russel Holland against efforts to reopen the Exxon Valdez oil spill case.

Holland’s ruling came in the wake of decisions by attorneys for the federal and state of Alaska governments not to pursue millions of dollars for damages that were not identified at the time of the initial settlement.

Holland said that the case was not reopened for purposes of evaluating a settlement nor for further litigation because there was nothing for the court to evaluate, with or without public input. “There is no basis for the court to reject the governments’ report appraising the court of their decision to withdraw their reopener demand,” the judge wrote in his decision.

“Many people in the oil spill region in Alaska feel it is a profound betrayal of public trust for the (federal and state) governments to abandon this long-awaited claim altogether, as well as for the court to abandon its earlier commitment to solicit public comment,” said marine conservation biologist Rick Steiner, a former University of Alaska professor who has followed the case since the spill.

“Many see this as a spectacular failure of government to hold Exxon accountable for the ongoing environmental harm caused by the 1989 spill.” Steiner said.

Knapp Looking at Bristol Bay Salmon Prices

University of Alaska Anchorage professor Gunnar Knapp, best known in the fisheries industry for his research on salmon markets, is at work on yet another such study, this time into the prices of Bristol Bay salmon.

Knapp said in an interview on Dec. 7 that this is part of the research he plans to continue even after his retirement in June as director of UAA’s Institute of Social and Economic Research, which was announced in early December. The results of that research were expected to be released by mid-December.

He said he also plans to finally finish his book on the Economics of Fish, and other long delayed writing projects

In his 35 years with ISER, researching and teaching about numerous economic issues facing Alaska, Knapp has included extensive research on Alaska’s salmon industry and salmon markets, earning an international reputation as a fisheries economist. While looking forward to retirement, to allow him to spend more time with his family and enjoy outdoor sports in Alaska, Knapp said he would continue to work part-time with ISER, to help Alaskans understand the fiscal challenges currently facing the state.

On the issue of genetically engineered salmon, Knapp said the product faces a major issue of consumer acceptance and time will tell whether stores want to offer it and whether consumers will buy it. There is a lot of consumer interest in some kind of labeling, but there are powerful economic forces against that, particularly some in the grain industries, he said.

Knapp, who earned a doctorate in economics at Yale in 1981, is considered to be an international expert on world salmon markets among academic and industry groups, and has traveled to many countries in connection with his research on salmon markets, including Canada, Japan, Russia, Norway, Chile, Iceland, Vietnam, China, New Zealand and other countries in connection with his research on salmon markets.

Meet Bill Bryant, Candidate for Governor

Washington State candidate for governor Bill Bryant has arranged a meeting with the Whatcom Commercial Fishermen’s Association so that he can meet with local and state fishermen and hear about their concerns.

Mr. Bryant will be in Bellingham Wednesday December 9th at 4:00 PM at the BTC Fisheries and Aquaculture Sciences building in downtown Bellingham on Whatcom Creek. Address is 3028 Lindberg Ave.

Mr. Bryant is going around the State meeting with small groups of citizens to listen to their concerns and ideas, and to share his own views with potential voters. Getting to meet a candidate in person gives citizens an opportunity to look the candidate in the eye, and ask questions in person.

This is an open meeting and all interested citizens are invited to attend.

Mr. Bryant has published his ideas for the future of Washington State and here are a few that may interest some citizens.

Mr. Bryant is currently a Port of Seattle Commissioner.

WATER QUALITY

"Bryant is a founding member of the Nisqually River Foundation, which is heavily involved in restoration and preservation projects on the Nisqually River. The foundation participated in efforts to remove the Brown Farm Dike in 2009, restoring water to much of the delta leading into Puget Sound. As a port commissioner, Bryant says he was a factor in SeaTac Airport dramatically reducing stormwater runoff reaching Puget Sound with various measures.

His campaign will stress ideas to improve the quality of the rivers and streams flowing into Puget Sound, including industries improving their stormwater runoff measures.

“On my bucket list is making Puget Sound better than it was before,” he said."

Editorial comment: I wonder what his position is on the proposed coal dock at Cherry Point?

EDUCATION

"On the topic of education, Bryant says the state school system needs more overhauling than ordered by the Supreme Court, which ruled to increase education funding and reduce teacher-student ratios in grades K-3.

In particular, he believes a new approach is needed for non-college-bound students, contending the junior and senior years for those students should stress work internships, apprenticeships and access to technical school training. “Employers can’t get the workforce that they need,” he said.

Bryan also supports a longer school year, including a potential year-round approach for the upper grades. He also believes that principals should have more control over the resources available to their schools, and should be trained for such extra responsibilities."

"Bryant, 55, was born in the Lewis County village of Morton and grew up on the Olympic Peninsula before earning a bachelor’s degree from the foreign service school at Georgetown University. In 1992, the Seattle resident started Bryant Christie, a firm that markets agricultural projects overseas. He has been a Port of Seattle commissioner since 2008, and has served as the commission’s president."

Early support for Mr. Bryant has come from food producers, primarily agricultural (ie. farmers). Mr. Bryant is running under the Republican banner.

Whatcom Commercial Fishermen's Association is not endorsing Mr. Bryant, but is simply supporting the citizens’ opportunity to meet Mr. Bryant and make up their own minds about their voting decisions.

More information can be found at the Whatcom Commercial Fishermen's Association Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/ComercialFishermansAssociationOfWhatcomCounty/?fref=nf

Interim IPHC Commissioners Named

Incumbent Robert Alverson, of Bothell, Washington, and Jeffery Kauffman, of Wasilla, Alaska have been appointed effective Dec. 13 to serve as interim Alaska commissioners on the International Pacific Halibut Commission, NOAA Fisheries officials said Nov. 30.

Their appointments would ensure that US interests are well represented on the IPHC after terms for the current non-federal US commissioners expire in December, NOAA officials said.

The US State Department appointments will remain in effect until presidential appointments are confirmed.

Alverson, who fills the non-Alaska resident commissioner’s seat on the IPHC, is the manager of the Fishing Vessel Owners Association, a trade association of longline vessel operators based in Seattle. He was appointed to his seat on the IPHC in 2014.

Alverson has also served on the North Pacific Fishery Management Council and Pacific Fishery Management Council.

Kauffman, a commercial halibut fisherman for the past 31 years, will replace Don Lane, of Homer, in the council’s Alaska resident seat.

Kauffman is the chief executive officer of the Central Bering Sea Fishermen’s Association, the management organization for St. Paul Island under the Western Alaska Community Development Quota Program. He has served on the IPHC’s management strategy advisory board since it was initiated in 2013, and on the IPHC’s conference board for about a decade. He is also a member of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council’s Advisory Panel.

Jim Balsiger, NOAA Fisheries Alaska regional administrator in Juneau, will continue to serve as US Commissioner in the federal NOAA seat through December 2016.

Dan Hull, chairman of the NPFMC, will serve as backup US Commissioner as needed, effective Jan. 1, 2016, NOAA officials said.

US commissioners to the IPHC are appointed for a term not to exceed two years, but are eligible for reappointment. They are charged with representing the interests of the US and all its stakeholders in the Pacific halibut fishery, while working to develop Pacific halibut stocks to levels that will permit the optimum yield from the Pacific halibut fishery.

The IPHC will hold its 92nd annual meeting Jan. 25 through Jan. 29, in Juneau, Alaska.

The meeting is scheduled to open on Jan. 25 with presentations on the fishery, the 2015 stock assessment, and the harvest decision table, and conclude Jan. 29 with commission approval of catch limits and regulations.

All public and administrative sessions are open to the public and will be webcast and posted on the commission website, www.iphc.int.

The most up-to-date information on the annual meeting is on the annual meeting page of the commission’s website, or by calling the IPHC office at 206-634-1838.