Twenty Years in Review
1976

• President Ford signs Fishery Conservation and Management Act on April 13
• First Council meeting October 5-8 in Juneau; Elmer Rasmuson elected chairman
• SSC chartered November 24, meets December 1,elects Lee Alverson chairman
• AP chartered December 1, meets December 2-5, elects Jack Cotant chairman
• FMPs considered for groundfish, herring, king and Tanner crab, shrimp, scallops, and Dungeness crab
• Troll salmon assigned to Pacific Council; NPFMC requests joint responsibility
• Japan, Korea, Poland and USSR fished off Alaska in 1976 catching 1.5 to 1.6 million mt
• Domestic groundfish catch was about 2,000 mt, mainly sablefish

1977

• Permanent headquarters opened in Anchorage; nine Council meetings in 1977
• Jim Branson named first executive director
• Keith Specking elected AP chairman in March
• Harold Lokken elected chairman effective October 6
• Gulf of Alaska groundfish, Tanner crab, and salmon plans sent to Secretary
• Plan teams appointed for most fisheries
• Groundfish reserve release system established
• First pollock joint venture (Korean-KMIDC) request reviewed, but delayed until 1978

1978

• Seven meetings held in 1978
• Troll salmon plan revised, resubmitted to Secretary
• Bairdi Tanner crab goes all American, but TALFF allowed for opilio
• Bering Sea groundfish plan developed
• Steve Pennoyer elected SSC chairman in September
• Clem Tillion elected Council chairman in October
• First joint venture (KMIDC) off Alaska begins on November 7, delivers 45 mt
• Gulf of Alaska groundfish and Alaska Tanner crab FMPs implemented December 1
• Domestic groundfish catch off Alaska reaches 4,500 mt
• Processor preference amendment passed, establishing DAP, JVP and TALFF

1979

• Eight meetings held in 1979
• Bering Sea pollock OY raised to one million metric tons
• Joint ventures with USSR and Korea approved
• U.S. processors seek closures to joint ventures around shore plants
• Council attempts closing 12 miles around Akun/Akutan to joint ventures; overturned by Secretary
• Council adopts herring-savings area closed to foreign trawling in BSAI
• Foreign directed fishing on herring eliminated
• BSAI groundfish plan approved
• Don McKernan passes away during China trip in early May
• Over 500 foreign vessels fish off Alaska; Japan, USSR, Korea, Poland, Taiwan and Mexico
• Public hearings held on need for halibut limited entry
• Opilio crab TALFF further reduced for Japanese
• Joint ventures harvest 1,500 mt; DAP harvests about 7,500 mt

1980

• Seven meetings held in 1980
• After Afghanistan invasion, President ends Soviet directed fishing
• Joint ventures approved with Soviets and South Koreans
• Council recommends ban on handtrolling for salmon in EEZ
• Bob Alverson elected AP chairman
• Don Rosenberg elected new SSC chairman
• PSC limits approved for halibut, crab and salmon in GOA foreign groundfish fisheries
• BSAI groundfish team suggests system-wide OY with individual species TACs
• Kodiak Lechner Line closure to foreign trawling to prevent gear conflicts with U.S. crabbers
• Foreign trawlers intercept 100,000 chinook salmon in Bering Sea
• Japanese high seas gillnet fishery catches 700,000 chinooks
• Herring plan for BSAI approved
• American Fisheries Promotion Act passes Congress; provides fish and chips policy

1981

• Eight meetings held in 1981
• Joint ventures approved for Japan, Korea, West Germany, Poland and Taiwan
• Polish fishing fleets gain port privileges in Seward
• No foreign fisheries for opilio Tanner crab allowed
• Southeast troll chinook OY reduced 15% to 272,000 fish
• Council restricts foreign trawling in Eastern Gulf
• Two million metric ton cap set for BSAI groundfish plan
• NMFS Regional Director gains field order authority to close areas
• Voluntary joint venture logbook approved
• Bering Sea king crab declines sharply
• Japan trawler associations agree to limit chinook interceptions; 65,000 chinook cap set
• Inconsistencies arise between state and federal regulations over Tanner crab management
• BSAI king crab Joint Statement of Principles adopted by Council and Alaska Board of Fisheries
• BSAI herring plan withdrawn from Secretarial review to make technical modifications
• Extensive prohibited species reduction schedule approved for foreign fisheries
• Voluntary bycatch measures promoted for domestic groundfish fishermen
• Council considers Fishery Development Zone for exclusive use for domestic fishermen
• Joint ventures catch 95,000 mt in 1981; DAP groundfish catch is 12,000 mt
• Overall observer coverage was 10% in 1981

1982

• Six meetings in 1982
• Southeast chinook OY reduced to 255,500 salmon
• Halibut moratorium recommended; reaffirmed after passage of North Pacific Halibut Act
• IPHC conference board urges Council to consider fisherman share system
• Joint venture review policy approved
• Observer coverage rises to 33% in foreign and joint venture fisheries
• Council restricts sablefish gear to hook and line in Southeast Alaska (Secretary disapproves)
• Fishery Development Zone north of Unimak Pass approved for Secretarial review
• Joint ventures grow to ten operations using 31 U.S. and 18 foreign vessles; harvest 180,000 mt

1983

• Six meetings held in 1983
• Draft U.S./Canada salmon treaty presented
• Halibut moratorium reaffirmed by Council for three years, but disapproved by Secretary
• First resource assessment document (later called SAFEs) prepared for BSAI groundfish
• Council reaffirms Fishery Development Zone north of Unimak Pass
• Jim Campbell elected Council chairman
• Herring plan resubmitted to Secretarial review
• BSAI king crab plan approved; delegates management to the State of Alaska
• Total joint venture catch increases to 350,000 mt by 50 U.S. trawlers

1984

• Six meetings held in 1984 (five or six held each year thereafter)
• Japanese Longline Gillnet Association agrees to restrictions on GOA sablefish fishing
• Pollock optimum yield in Gulf of Alaska peaks
• Secretary disapproves Fishery Development Zone; foreigners agree to voluntary restraints
• Council shelves herring plan pending further research
• New policies adopted on annual management cycles and processing of proposals
• Nine comprehensive management goals approved
• AP restructured
• New policies adopted on review of foreign and joint venture permit requests
• DAP reaches 50,000 mt; JVs harvest 580,000 mt using 80 U.S. trawlers
• Foreign directed harvest declines to 1.1 million mt

1985

• Only minor directed foreign fishing for pollock and cod allowed in Gulf of Alaska
• Foreign trawling ends within 20 miles of Aleutians
• Foreign cod longlining restricted to north of 55 N and west of 170 W, ice conditions permitting
• Council urges rapid ratification of proposed U.S. - Canada Salmon Treaty
• Emergency rule requested to allow only longlines for sablefish east of 147 W
• Japanese agree to large purchases of joint venture fish in return for directed allocations
• Joint ventures approved for Japan, Korea, Poland, Portugal, and Iceland
• Taiwan announces new controls on high seas squid fishery to reduce salmon bycatch
• Council prohibits intentional discard of fishing gear by U.S. fishermen
• NMFS requested to reserve groundfish bycatch needs in managing GOA target fisheries
• Larry Cotter elected AP chairman
• Council restricts use of pots and trawls for sablefish in GOA (Amendment 14)
• Secretary offers sablefish limited entry cutoff of September 26, 1985
• Weekly catch reports required for catcher processors
• Council votes to retain 2 million mt cap in BSAI groundfish fisheries
• Council meets in Girdwood to overhaul GOA groundfish plan
• Gulf of Alaska pollock continues decline
• DAP reaches 105,000 mt; JVs take 880,000 mt using 100 U.S. trawlers
• Foreign harvest drops to less than one million mt

1986

• Foreign fishing confined mainly to Bering Sea
• Japanese allocation withheld pending reductions in salmon interceptions
• BSAI bairdi Tanner crab at lowest level since 1975; fishery closed
• Emergency action to close Kodiak areas to trawling to protect king crab
• Yellowfin sole/flounder joint venture trawling closed at 160-162 W, south of 58N in Bering Sea to protect king crab; PSC limits set for halibut, king crab and Tanner crab in newly established Zones 1, 2, and 3; these constitute first major PSC restrictions on domestic trawlers
• Council requests $250,000 for pilot domestic observer program; NMFS declines
• Sablefish management committee appointed to evaluate management approaches
• Federal Tanner crab regulations suspended because of inconsistencies with state regulations
• Americanization Committee appointed to study ways to accelerate groundfish Americanization
• State of Alaska declines delegation of crab management; too much federal oversight
• Nancy Munro elected AP chairman
• NOAA's Blue Ribbon Panel provides fishery management recommendations
• Council endorses cutoff of September 24, 1986 for reflagging foreign processing ships
• Proposal for nonprofit foundation to fund fishery research and data gathering
• U.S. crab vessels fishing in disputed zone are harrassed by Soviets
• Council endorses efforts for joint U.S. - USSR access to disputed zone
• Council passes BSAI crab and halibut PSC measures for domestic groundfish fleet
• Crab management plan revised; includes just BSAI fisheries
• Joint venture catch exceeds 1.2 million metric tons
• DAP catch reaches 136,000 mt; foreign catch declines to 491,000 mt

1987

• No foreign directed fishing in GOA
• Last year for foreign directed fishing in BSAI
• Phil Mundy elected SSC chairman
• Bycatch and crab management committees established
• Council begins developing sablefish limited entry and requests proposals from public
• Anti-reflagging bills introduced into Congress
• Plan Amendment Advisory Groups (PAAGs) established to review groundfish proposals
• NMFS requests Council to make halibut allocative decisions
• Two million metric ton cap in BSAI groundfish reaffirmed
• BSAI joint venture pollock split 40/60 between roe and non-roe seasons, but later relaxed at industry request
• First reports surface of foreign fishing by Japan, Korea, China and Poland in the Donut Hole
• Rich Marasco elected SSC chairman in October
• Nancy Munro elected AP chairman
• Pilot domestic observer program with four observers gets underway
• Future of Groundfish (FOG) Committee established
• DAP catch rises to 407,000 mt; joint ventures catch nearly 1.4 million mt
• Foreign directed catch falls to 70,000 mt in 1987, compared to 491,000 mt in 1986
• Anti-driftnet and MARPOL Annex V legislation passed in Congress

1988

• Last year for foreign joint ventures in GOA
• No foreign allocations of BSAI groundfish, Council retains 2 million mt cap
• Five workshops on sablefish management; analysis narrowed to IFQs and licenses
• Anti-reflagging Act of 1987 signed by President; cutoff date of July 28, 1987
• Foreign trawlers videotaped violating U.S. zone; U.S. Coast Guard steps up surveillance
• U.S. State Department initiates bilateral talks with Soviets on controlling Donut Hole fisheries
• Council calls for immediate cessation of fishing in Donut Hole
• NOAA GC nixes separate plan to favor the U.S. support industry
• Pilot domestic groundfish observer program continues at low level
• Jim Branson retires; Clarence Pautzke becomes executive director
• John Peterson elected Council chairman in September
• Future of Groundfish Committee reports, but Council declines June 30, 1988 cutoff date
• NMFS publishes proposed rule designating Steller sea lions as depleted
• Non-profit fishery research foundation concept shelved
• Council approves major revisions to BSAI bycatch regulations
• Habitat policy approved
• U.S.-U.S.S.R comprehensive fisheries agreement signed in Moscow on May 31
• DAP harvests reach 804,000 mt in 1988; joint venture harvests decline to 1.3 million metric tons
• No foreign harvest off Alaska

1989

• First meeting of US-USSR Intergovernmental Consultative Committee on February 6-10
• Cut-off date of January 16, 1989 for vessels "in the pipeline" approved but later withdrawn
• Fisheries Planning Committee appointed to consider groundfish, halibut and crab
• Council urges Secretary of Commerce to fund domestic observer program
• New BSAI crab plan approved: delegates authority to State; sets up PacNW Committee
• Pollock roe stripping emerges as major issue
• Rapid GOA pollock harvests raise inshore-offshore concerns; proposed solutions solicited
• Council adopts problem statement for inshore-offshore and initiates scoping process
• Directed fishing definitions established for groundfish fisheries
• Industry and NOAA provide $250,000 for observers
• Council adopts policy encouraging full utilization
• Comprehensive mandatory industry-paid observer program approved to start in 1990
• BSAI sablefish split between fixed and mobile gears approved for 1990
• North Bristol Bay areas closed to protect walrus Trawl closures renewed for three years around Kodiak to protect king crab
• Halibut mortality cap in GOA split between fixed and trawl gear
• Council urges Congress to withhold Korea GIFA to resolve driftnet interceptions of salmon
• Council urges restrictions on fish imports from Taiwan to address high seas salmon interceptions
• Donut fisheries escalate with early closure of joint ventures in U.S. waters in March
• Don Collinsworth elected Council chairman in September
• New salmon plan approved deferring to State of Alaska and Pacific Salmon Commission
• Emergency action to prohibit pollock roe stripping
• Emergency action to distribute halibut PSC quarterly in the GOA in 1990
• DAP harvest 1.35 million mt; joint ventures take 531,000 mt

1990

• Last year for foreign joint ventures anywhere off Alaska
• Sea lion populations continue decline; Council notifies fishermen to be careful
• Moratorium developed with January 19, 1990 cut-off date (later changed to September 15, 1990)
• Emergency action taken to limit herring bycatch in BSAI trawl fisheries
• Ban on pollock roestripping approved; roe/non-roe seasons set for BSAI
• GOA pollock fishery divided into quarterly allocations to benefit sea lions
• BSAI PSC caps apportioned to specific fisheries and seasons
• Council recommends penalty box (later disapproved) for high bycatch fishermen
• Overfishing definitions added to plans
• Specifications procedure approved to establish interim harvest levels to start each year's fishery
• State of Alaska delegated demersal shelf rockfish management in Eastern Gulf of Alaska
• Regional Director given hotspot authority
• Herring PSC limits and savings areas established
• Allowable gear defined in regulations, including definition of pelagic trawl gear
• Council adopts policy to prohibit all fishing activity in the Donut Hole, including by U.S. trawlers
• North Pacific Council allowed to meet out of Alaska and to establish observer fee program

1991

• Groundfish fishery goes all American off Alaska; DAP harvests reach 2.4 million mt
• New Bogoslof subarea defined for pollock harvests
• Pacific cod quota apportioned seasonally in the BSAI
• Rick Lauber elected Council chairman
• John Woodruff elected AP chairman
• Bill Clark elected SSC chairman
• BSAI flatfish season changed to May 1
• VIP program replaces penalty box program which was disapproved by Secretary
• Council begins development of observer fee program
• Inshore-offshore allocations approved for 1992; includes CDQs
• Sea lion protective measures adopted for 1992; no-trawl zones around rookeries and haulouts
• Council approves hotspot authority for groundfish plans
• Walrus protection areas approved around Round Islands, the Twins, and Cape Peirce
• IFQ system approved for sablefish and halibut fixed gear fishery
• Council approves restrictions on U.S. operations in Donut Hole for 1992

1992

• Regulations prepared to monitor the influx of Russian halibut
• Inshore-offshore allocations begin; pollock CDQs begin late in 1992
• Trawl test areas approved
• Final action taken on vessel moratorium for groundfish and crab fisheries
• Council adopts cutoff date of June 24, 1992 for consideration for future limited access
• Trawl closures around Kodiak renewed to protect king crab
• Research plan approved to support observer coverage
• Council approves halibut PSC limit for non-trawl fisheries
• Comprehensive Rationalization Committee formed to review management options
• Pollock B season delayed from June 1 to August 15, starting in 1993
• Exclusive registration for trawlers approved by Council
• Careful release procedures of halibut by groundfish longliners approved for 1993

1993

• Development of scallop plan begins; January 20, 1993 set as control date
• Experimental permit recommended for processing halibut and salmon bycatch for food banks
• Aleutian Island management area subdivided into three subareas for allocating TACs
• John Bruce elected AP chairman
• Terry Quinn elected SSC chairman
• BSAI Pacific cod allocated among jig, trawl and fixed gears for 1994-1996
• Sea lion zones around certain rookeries extended seasonally to 20 nm
• Two observers plus bins or scales required on CDQ catcher processors
• Modified block proposal approved for sablefish and halibut IFQ program
• Council establishes September 23, 1993 control date for halibut charter fleet
• Fourteen-year rebuilding plan approved for GOA Pacific ocean perch
• Council again urges U.S. State Department to conclude agreements to end fishing in Donut Hole
• BSAI flatfish season changes back to January 20 from May 1 in 1994

1994

• Council directs major effort at analysis of groundfish and crab license limitation
• Norton Sound established as super-exclusive king crab registration area
• Emergency action to reduce chum bycatch in BSAI
• Pribilof trawl closure approved
• Scallop plan and 3-year moratorium approved with April 24, 1994 cutoff for future limited entry
• Pollock "A" season in BSAI changed to January 26 beginning in 1995
• Secretary disapproves Council's moratorium and Council resubmits revised provisions
• Council approves Governor's recommended sablefish and halibut CDQs for 1995-1997
• Committee assigned to develop full utilization and harvest priority proposals
• Distribution of bycaught salmon to food banks made voluntary
• Mesh size regulations on trawl codends approved (never implemented)
• Council takes emergency action to establish no-trawl zone in Bristol Bay to protect king crab for 1995

1995

• Seamount restrictions approved requiring transponders and reporting
• Crab rebuilding committee established
• EEZ closed to scallop fishery after "Mr. Big" incident
• Chum and chinook salmon bycatch controls approved for BSAI
• Fee program for observers partially implemented in 1995; full implementation delayed to 1997
• Sablefish and halibut IFQ program implemented for first time
• In June, Council adopts federal plan for scallops and three-year moratorium
• Electronic reporting requirements approved for processor vessels
• Inshore-offshore allocations and pollock CDQ program reauthorized for 1996-1998
• License limitation program approved for crab and groundfish
• Further trawl closures approved to protect Bristol Bay king crab
• Council agrees to move forward with full utilization analysis
• Oscar Dyson paases away in October
• Council repeals fee plan for observers in December to work out third party program
• First reports on vessel bycatch accounts
• Catch sharing plan for Area 4 halibut approved

1996

• Keith Criddle elected SSC chairman
• Don Bevan passes away in May
• Bristol Bay trawl closure to protect king crab extended by emergency action
• Sablefish/halibut IFQ buydown and sweep-up amendments approved
• Formal IFQ annual proposal cycle adopted
• Council reviews pollock IFQ discussion paper and includes crab in IFQ study
• Vessel bycatch account analysis given to Council
• Grid-sorting of halibut bycatch remains voluntary
• Third and fourth quarter GOA pollock TAC apportionments combined into single release
• Pollock "B"season in BSAI delayed to September 1
• Pot longlines authorized for sablefish in the Bering Sea
• New king crab closures in Bristol Bay approved
• New PSC caps for king and Tanner crab approved
• New Pacific cod allocations to fixed, trawl and jig gear approved for BSAI
• Halibut charterboat analysis begins
• New, more conservative overfishing definitions adopted for groundfish plans
• Improved retention and utilization regulations approved; to be implemented starting in 1998
• National Research Council completes study; Bering Sea ecosystems committee formed
• Comprehensive report provided on performance of sablefish/halibut IFQ system