NOAA Fisheries

About Sustainable Fisheries

Cod end on the deck of a pollock catcher/processor. Photo: NOAA Fisheries

The Sustainable Fisheries Division (SFD) implements the policy objectives of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council and NOAA Fisheries-approved management programs, consistent with the Magnuson-Stevens Act and other applicable laws. SFD coordinates with the State of Alaska on development of fishery management and data collection programs, and the International Pacific Halibut Commission on development of regulations governing the Pacific halibut fishery off Alaska.

SFD collects and manages catch data from North Pacific groundfish fisheries, develops and maintains information systems for integrating catch and observer data for estimating species-specific total catch, and uses that data to manage fisheries in an orderly and safe manner, while maintaining harvest amounts within specified, total-allowable catch, and prohibited-species catch limits. SFD staff develops, maintains, and installs electronic shore-side logbooks and software supporting the new interagency electronic reporting program, approves catch monitoring plans, certifies at-sea processor scales, and provides current and historic fishery statistics to other government agencies and the public, while maintaining the confidentiality of protected statistics.

SFD staff provides guidance to the Council and other management agencies on implementation and monitoring considerations of proposed management measures, as well as draft National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and other analytical documents developed to support decision making by the Council and NOAA Fisheries.

The SFD administers and manages the Western Alaska Community Development Quota (CDQ) Program, so that allocations of groundfish, crab, and halibut quotas to the CDQ groups, are accomplished in conformance with applicable law, and harvested within parameters established in administrative and fishery management regulations, to provide the maximum economic benefits to western Alaska communities.

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