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Commercial Fishing Compensation Program
Introduction
- Legislation in May 1999 established a compensation program for
those impacted by the immediate and phased closures of commercial
fisheries in Glacier Bay proper and appropriated $23 million to
carry out the program. The State of Alaska based the amount on
a preliminary economic assessment.
- In early 2000, information was gathered for an in-depth economic
assessment as were comments regarding the allocation of compensation
funds. In May 2000, the draft assessment (prepared by a Juneau-based
economic research firm) was released for public comment. In August,
the final economic assessment was released to the public.
- The final compensation plan was reached after considerable public
comment and several public meetings. The most common request was
for NPS to request an additional $36.37 million in appropriations
to fund the highest potential economic impact finding in the Economic
Assessment.
- Depending on the loss measurement method and discount rate,
the projected economic impact ranged from $23 million to $59.4
million.
Current Status (updated May 1, 2003):
- The Alaska Regional Office of the NPS has processed all the
applications and appeals, sent notification of final decisions
to all active applicants, and provided final payout information
packages to the Treasury Department. Payments by Treasury are
expected to occur by electronic fund transfer on March 19, 2003.
See final payments for full details.
- The compensation plan was published in the Federal Register;
the application period for fishermen to seek a share of the $23
million compensation fund closed January 28, 2002.
- 1027 applications were received and reviewed. 386 applications
were initially denied (usually because applications were incomplete),
and estimated compensation amounts were determined for the remaining
applicants. All applicants were notified of these initial determinations
and offered an opportunity to appeal. 367 appeals were filed and
225 requested a hearing.
- The DOI Office of Hearings and Appeals conducted in person (75)
and telephonic hearings (150) and provided recommendations on
all of the 367 appeals. Their recommendations were forwarded to
the NPS Alaska Regional Director for a final administrative decision.
- Additional supplemental payments and administrative corrections
were made the week of April 14 to correct differences in the
allocation
ratios and address other issues.
See supplemental
payments and administrative
corrections for full details.
Questions and Answers
Background and documentation
Final payments
Click the above
link for detailed payment amounts and explanations.
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Final Payments made March
19, 2003
In some cases, final payments were
different than the estimates (in most cases, they were more).
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Compensation Estimates
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Compensation estimates released.
Please note that these are only estimates, and are subject
to change pending the outcome of the appeals process.
Also, the numbers shown here replace all previously
released numbers. You will also notice that the dollar
amounts have been changed from the Compensation Plan.
A full explanation of this is
available here.
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| A Report on Open
House Meetings Open House Summary
Conference Call Summaries: (PDF)
Superintendent's Message |
Results of public open houses/conference calls
A series of informal open houses was sponsored
during January and February in Angoon, Gustavus, Haines, Hoonah,
Juneau, Kake, Pelican, Petersburg, Sitka and Wrangell. To
see a summary report on the open houses, click on Open
House Summary.
Beginning the end of April and extending into June, a series
of conference call opportunities was made available
to anyone wanting to participate. Designated sites were set
up around Southeast Alaska where interested parties were able
to join into the discussion on the compensation program with
staff members of the National Park Service, State of Alaska,
RESOLVE and the McDowell Group. A summary of those
calls is available.
The Final
Economic Assessment (PDF) on which the compensation
plan is based is also available on-line. Note
that the appendices are only available in the print version. |
| Final Rule
(PDF*) |
Lifetime Access Permit
When The Act (see below) was enacted in October of 1999 the
final rule provided for a program that authorized certain
fisheries to continue in Glacier Bay proper and outlined eligibility
criteria for those fishermen showing a recurring recent history
to continue fishing under a non-transferable lifetime access
permit.
Fishermen meeting the following criteria were eligible
to apply for a lifetime permit that is renewable every 5 years.
- Halibut. Show landings from Glacier Bay in at least
2 years between 1992-1998.
- Tanner crab and Troll salmon. Show landings from
Glacier Bay in at least 3 years between 1989-1998.
Permits to fish Glacier Bay proper will be required beginning
October 1, 2000. |
| Timeline Glacier
Bay Commercial Fishing History
The Act (PDF*) |
How Did We Get To This Point?
For a timeline of past and proposed NPS actions to implement
the compensation plan, click on the Timeline. An overview
of the entire commercial fishing issue is available by clicking
on Glacier Bay Commercial Fishing History.
The relevant sections of the two laws that together produced
the commercial fishing settlement and compensation are summarized
in The Act. |
* Unlike plain text, PDF files in Adobe Acrobat
format preserve the appearance of the original documents, including
fonts and columns. To view them you must have the Adobe Acrobat
reader. You can download and install the reader free by clicking
here.
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