Summary of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands
Groundfish Fishery Management Plan
Posted 5/11/98
Summary of the Bering Sea and Aleutian
Islands
Groundfish Fishery Management Plan
Prepared by David Witherell
March 31, 1997
North Pacific Fishery Management Council
605 West 4th Avenue, Suite 306
Anchorage, Alaska 99501
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Summary of theBering Sea and Aleutian Islands Groundfish Fishery Management Plan
The Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands Groundfish Fishery Management Plan (FMP) was
implemented on January 1, 1982 and has been amended numerous times. Amendments implemented
to date are incorporated in this summary to reflect the North Pacific Fishery Management
Council’s most current management of the groundfish fisheries in the Bering Sea and
Aleutian Islands. A history of amendments is shown in Appendix
Table 1 at the end of this summary.
Management Unit
The plan encompasses the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in that portion of the North
Pacific Ocean adjacent to the Aleutian Islands which is between 170° W. and the
U.S.Russian Convention Line of 1867, and of the Eastern Bering Sea. The plan area is
divided into two regulatory areas: (1) the Bering Sea composed of Statistical Areas 508,
509, 512, 513, 514, 516, 517, 518, 519, 521, 522, 523, and 530, and (2) the Aleutian
Islands composed of Statistical Areas 541, 542, and 543. The plan covers all domestic and
foreign fisheries for all finfish and marine invertebrates except salmonids, shrimps,
scallops, snails, king crab, Tanner crab, Dungeness crab, corals, surf clams, horsehair
crab, lyre crab, Pacific halibut, and Pacific herring.
Plan and Management Objectives
Primary Plan Objectives:
Secondary Plan Objectives:
Management Objectives:
Acceptable Biological Catch (ABC) is a preliminary description of the acceptable harvest (or range of harvests) for a given stock or stock complex. Its derivation focuses on the status and dynamics of the stock, environmental conditions, other ecological factors, and prevailing technological characteristics of the fishery. The fishing mortality rate used to calculate ABC is capped as described under “overfishing” below.
Directed fishing means the retention on board a fishing vessel of a quantity of any groundfish species or species group in an amount equal to or greater than specified percentages of the total amount of fish and fish products on board, as calculated in round weight equivalents. The standards for directed fishing are specific to gear type and target species.
Optimum Yield (OY) is that which
provides the greatest overall benefit to the nation with particular reference to food
production, recreational fisheries, and protection of marine ecosystems. In the case of an
overfished fishery, OY provides for rebuilding to a level consistent with producing
maximum sustainable yield. OY is based upon the maximum sustainable yield for a given
fishery, as reduced by relevant economic, social or biological factors. It may be obtained
by a deviation from ABC for purposes of promoting economic, social or ecological
objectives as established by law and the public participation process. The definition of
OY prescribes that the benefits of the fishery resources be allocated among all of the
people affected by the fishery. These include commercial fishermen, processors, foreign
fishermen, sport fishermen, distributors, consumers, governments, and a host of
manufacturing and service industries. These groups usually have different and often
conflicting ideas about the best use of the resources. Optimum yield then involves
judgmental decisions that must be made by the Council based upon the best obtainable
information.
Overfishing, or overfishing level (OFL), is defined as any amount of fishing in
excess of a prescribed maximum allowable rate. This maximum allowable rate is prescribed
through a set of six tiers which are listed below in descending order of preference,
corresponding to descending order of information availability. The Scientific and
Statistical Committee (SSC) has the final authority for determining whether a given item
of information is “reliable” for the purpose of this definition, and may use
either objective or subjective criteria in making such determinations. Abbreviations used
in the overfishing definition include fishing mortality rate (F), natural mortality rate
(M), biomass (B), and probability density function (pdf). For tiers (1-3), the coefficient
a is set at a default value of 0.05, with the understanding that the SSC may
establish a different value for a specific stock or stock complex as merited by the best
available scientific information. For tiers (2-4), a designation of the form “FX%”
refers to the fishing mortality rate associated with an equilibrium level of spawning per
recruit (SPR) equal to X% of the equilibrium level of spawning per recruit in the
absence of any fishing. If reliable information sufficient to characterize the entire
maturity schedule of a species is not available, the SSC may choose to view SPR
calculations based on a knife-edge maturity assumption as reliable. For tier (3), the term
B40% refers to the long-term average biomass that would be
expected under average recruitment and F=F40%.
Reserve is a portion of the total allowable catch (15%) which is set aside at the beginning of the fishing (calendar) year for later allocations. The reserve is not designated by species, and any amount of the reserve may be apportioned to a target species (except for fixed gear allocation for sablefish, or the other species category) so long as apportionments do not result in overfishing. One-half of the pollock TAC placed in reserve is assigned to a community development quota (CDQ) reserve. Any reserve of pollock is apportioned between inshore and offshore sections. Any reserve apportioned to Pacific cod is allocated by gear type as established in the plan. Reserves are scheduled to be released by the Regional Director on or about April 1, June 1, and August 1. In more recent years, reserves have not resulted in TAC being reapportioned from one species to another.
Total Allowable Catch (TAC) is an annually determined catch which is species-specific and based on consideration of maximum sustainable yield, equilibrium yield, and optimum yield for the groundfish complex as a whole. The sum of all TAC’s must fall within the OY range of 1.4 to 2.0 million metric tons (mt).
Four categories of species or species groups are likely to be taken in the groundfish fishery. The optimum yield concept is applied to all except the “prohibited species” category. These categories are described as follows:
1. Prohibited species are those species and species groups the catch of which must be returned to the sea with a minimum of injury except when their retention is authorized by other applicable law. Foreign fisheries must maintain catch records. Groundfish species and species groups under this FMP for which the quotas have been achieved shall be treated in the same manner as prohibited species. Prohibited species include: Pacific halibut, Pacific herring, Salmonids, King crab, Tanner crab.
2. Target species are commercially important and generally targeted upon by the groundfish fishery. Sufficient data exist to specify total allowable catch (TAC) and to manage each species or species group separately. Catch records must be kept. Target species, as defined in the regulations, include:
| Pollock Sablefish Pacific cod Squid Flathead sole |
Other flatfish Other rockfish Atka mackerel Greenland turbot Rock sole |
Pacific ocean perch Yellowfin sole Arrowtooth flounder |
Target species, or species groups, may be combined or split by regulatory amendment.
3. Other species have little economic value and are not usually targeted upon, but they may be significant components of the ecosystem or have economic potential. A single TAC applies to this category as a whole. Catch records must be kept. Other species include: Sculpins, Eulachon, Capelin, Sharks, Skates, Smelts, and Octopus.
4. Nonspecified species are those species and species groups of no current economic value taken by the groundfish fishery only as an incidental catch in the target fisheries. Non-specified species include numerous fish and invertebrates such as grenadiers, eelpouts, sea urchins, mussels, etc. Virtually no data exist which would allow population assessments. No record of catch is necessary. No TAC is established for this category; the allowable catch is the amount which is taken incidentally while fishing for target and other species, whether retained or discarded.
Determination of Total Allowable Catches
The groundfish complex is a distinct management unit and has more than 15 commercially important species and many others of lesser or no commercial importance. This complex forms a large subsystem of the Bering Sea ecosystem with intricate interrelationships between predators and prey, between competitors, and between those species and their environment. Therefore, the productivity and Maximum Sustained Yield (MSY) of groundfish are conceived for the groundfish complex as a unit rather than for many individual species groups. MSY for the complex, including the target and other species categories, was estimated to be 1.7 to 2.4 million mt based on groundfish catches for 19681977. More recent estimates of MSY are not available.
Optimum Yield (OY) for the complex is set equal to 85% of MSY, or 1.4 to 2.0 million mt, plus such amounts of “nonspecified species” as may be taken incidentally. OY is set lower than MSY to reduce the risk associated with relying on incomplete data and questionable assumptions in assessment models used to determine stock conditions. A change in OY outside this range would require a plan amendment.
Total Allowable Catch (TAC) for each target species and for the “other species” category will be determined by the Alaska Regional Director of the National Marine Fisherie Service based on the Council’s recommendations. The sum of these TACs, or the TAC for the groundfish complex excluding nonspecifiedspecies shall be within the OY range of 1.4 to 2.0 million mt and is subject to the management measures prescribed in this FMP. TAC for the nonspecified species category is the amount taken incidentally to the harvest of target and “other” species. A summary of the 1997 catch specifications is shown in Appendix Table 2 of this summary.
The Council recommends TACs for each target species and the “other species” category based on the best available data concerning the stocks and the fisheries. The Council’s recommendations concerning TACs for the upcoming fishing year are based on the following:
1. Biological conditions of stocks as noted in an annual Stock Assessment & Fishery Evaluation (SAFE) prepared each year by the Plan Team with the assistance of NOAA Fisheries and other agencies. The SAFE contains historical catch trends, biomass and ABC estimates, assessments of harvest impacts, and alternative harvesting strategies.
2. Socioeconomic considerations including promotion of efficiency, optimum marketable size of fish, impacts on prohibited species and dependent domestic fisheries, desire to enhance depleted stocks, seasonal access to the groundfish fishery by U.S. vessels, commercial importance to local communities, subsistence needs, and the need to promote utilization of certain species.
The Council sets preliminary TACs in September, takes public comment in October and
November, and finalizes the TACs in December for the upcoming fishing year. Twenty-five
percent of the preliminary groundfish specifications adopted in September go forward as
interim specifications until superseded by publication of the final specifications in the
Federal Register. This permits the groundfish fisheries to start on January 1, and for
in-season management actions to take place, even if the publication of the final
specifications is delayed past January 1.
Harvest of groundfish in the Bering Sea began in the 1950s. Conservative catch quotas
have allowed for sustained yields, with catches averaging about 2 million metric tons per
year. Consequently, most groundfish stocks are at levels considered to be healthy. As
shown in Appendix Table 3,
some stocks are currently above their long term average, and some below. In general, stock
size increases and decreases with variable recruitment strengths. The adjacent table shows
the relative abundance and catch levels from the 1996 fishing year. Catches are closely
monitored, and kept within ABC limits. The 1996 catch of ocean perch was a rare exception,
and served to illustrate the difficulties of in-season management when TAC is set equal to
ABC. For many stocks, TAC is set at or less than 90% of ABC. For all stocks, ABC’s
are less than overfishing levels.
Allocation of Total Allowable Catches
At the beginning of the fishing year (the calendar year), after TAC is determined for each species or group, an unspecified reserve is set aside to correct operational problems in the fisheries, to adjust species TACs according to stock conditions, and for further apportionments. The reserve equals the sum of 15% of each target species and “other species” category TAC. The reserve is not designated by species and will be apportioned to the fishery during the year by the Regional Director in the amounts and by species that he determines necessary. Since 1990, the Council has recommended that all TAC be allocated to the domestic fishery. No joint venture fisheries or foreign allocations have been approved, so the groundfish fishery has been wholly U.S.-processed since 1990.
Sablefish Allocations by Gear Type. Sablefish in the Bering Sea is allocated 50% to fixed gear and 50% to trawl gear; in the Aleutian Islands, sablefish is allocated 75% to fixed gear and 25% to trawl gear.
Pacific Cod Allocations by Gear Type. Pacific cod in the BSAI is allocated 51% to fixed gear and 47% to trawl gear, and 2% to jig gear.
Pollock Allocations by Gear Type. The Council is authorized to allocate among pelagic and non-pelagic gear during the annual specification process. No limitations on non-pelagic harvest of pollock have been made since 1990, however. The Council has noted that less than 10% has been taken by non-pelagic gear in recent years, and that additional pollock harvest with non-pelagic gear would likely be constrained by halibut bycatch.
Seasonal Allocations. Harvest allocations and management are based on the calendar year. The fishing year is defined as the period beginning midnight Alaska local time on January 1 and ending at midnight Alaska local time on December 31 of that year. Fishing seasons for specific species or gear types may be set by regulatory amendment and may differ from the fishing year. Fixed gear sablefish fisheries begin on March 15. All trawl fisheries are delayed until January 20. The offshore component of the pollock fishery opens January 26. The pollock fishery has two separate seasons, an “A” roe (January 20 (inshore)/January 26 (offshore) - April 15) and a “B” non-roe (September 1 - November 1) season. Trawl fisheries also open and close based on seasonal allocation of halibut and crab bycatch limits. Fishing periods of the 1996 season are shown in Appendix Figure 1 of this summary
Pollock Harvest Quota in the Bogoslof District. Pollock taken near Bogoslof Island early in the year are believed to be of the Aleutian Basin stock. This stock was intensively fished in the late 1980s in waters outside U.S. jurisdiction (the Central Bering Sea “donut hole”). The donut hole has been closed to fishing beginning in 1993. To afford protection to this stock in the U.S. EEZ, the Council created Statistical Area 518 (the Bogoslof District) for which a pollock harvest quota would be annually specified. No directed pollock fishing has been allowed in the Bogoslof District since 1991.
Inshore/Offshore Allocation and
Community Development Quotas. The Pollock TAC in the BS/AI, after subtraction of the
reserve, is allocated between inshore and offshore components beginning in 1992. The
inshore component receives 35 percent of the TAC, and the offshore component receives 65
percent. A special catcher vessel operational area (CVOA) was established south of 56°N
latitude between 167°30' and 163° W longitude within which the offshore component is
prohibited from fishing for pollock during the “B” season (see adjacent figure).
Seven and one-half percent of the BSAI pollock TAC (half of the 15% of pollock TAC placed
in the nonspecific reserve) is allocated to qualifying community development projects in
western Alaska (CDQ fisheries). The Council has also adopted CDQ allocations for all other
groundfish species as part of Amendment 39 (pending approval by Secretary of Commerce).
Total Allowable Catch Closures
The Regional Director may close an area in whole or part to directed fishing for a species whose remaining TAC is needed as bycatch in other directed fisheries. If directed fishing is prohibited, the species may be retained in amounts less than what would constitute directed fishing. If a TAC is fully reached, the Regional Director will publish a notice declaring that species as prohibited and it must be discarded. If continued fishing on other species may constitute a threat of overfishing on a species whose TAC is exhausted, the Regional Director has the authority to stop the other directed fisheries or require gear adjustments. In taking such action, the Regional Director must consider:
1. Risk of biological harm to the species whose TAC has been reached.
2. Risk of socioeconomic harm to authorized users of the species for which TAC has been reached.
3. Impacts of a continued closure on the socioeconomic wellbeing of other domestic fisheries.
The Secretary of Commerce, acting through the Regional Director, is authorized to make three types of inseason adjustments:
1. Modify seasons in part or all of a management area.
2. Modify allowable gear in all or part of a management area.
3. Adjust TAC and PSC limits.
It must be determined first, however, that the adjustment is necessary to prevent overfishing of any species, finfish or shellfish; or prevent further harvest of a target groundfish species or bycatch of a prohibited species because the TAC or PSC has been found, scientifically, to be misspecified. In choosing whether to modify seasons or gears, the Regional Director must use the least restrictive action of the following which will still serve the purpose:
1. A gear modification which would protect a species needing conservation but still allow other fisheries to continue.
2. A time/area restriction which would allow other fisheries to continue in noncritical areas and times.
3. A complete closure of an area to all groundfish fishing.
In 1995, a moratorium on entry of new vessels into the groundfish fishery was
implemented. The large number of vessels fishing for a limited resource had created a
“race for fish,” characterized by short seasons and economic inefficiency.
Although a moratorium may not resolve the underlying problems of existing
overcapitalization and excess effort in the groundfish fisheries, the intent of the
moratorium was to prevent these problems from worsening while comprehensive solutions are
being developed. The eligibility period for moratorium qualification was January 1, 1988
through February 9, 1992, during which time a vessel must have made at least one legal
landing of groundfish. In June 1995, the Council adopted a license limitation program as
Amendment 39 to supersede the vessel moratorium. It has not yet been approved by the
Secretary of Commerce. Beginning in 1995, an individual fishing quota (IFQ) program was
implemented to manage the fixed gear halibut and sablefish fisheries.
Prohibition on Pollock Roe-Stripping
The Council has prohibited the practice of roe-stripping of pollock (defined as the
taking of roe from femalepollock and the subsequent discard of the carcasses of females
and all male pollock), and authorized the Regional Director to issue regulations to limit
this practice to the maximum extent practicable. It is the Council’s policy that the
pollock harvest shall be utilized to the maximum extent possible for human consumption.
Several areas have been closed to
trawling to reduce potential adverse impacts on crab and other resources. The Pribilof
Islands Conservation Area is closed to all trawling year-round to protect blue king crabs.
Fishing is prohibited with non-pelagic trawling in the Red King Crab Savings Area (162°
to 164° W, 56° to 57° N) year-round. This area is known to have high densities of adult
red king crab. To allow some access to productive rock sole fishing areas, the area
bounded by 56° to 56°10' N latitude would remain open during the years in which a
guideline harvest level for Bristol Bay red king crab is established. A separate bycatch
limit for this area would be established at no more than 35% of the red king crab
prohibited species catch (PSC) limits apportioned to the rock sole fishery. To protect
juvenile red king crab and critical rearing habitat, all trawling is prohibited on a
year-round basis in the nearshore waters of Bristol Bay. Specifically, the area east of
162° W (i.e., all of Bristol Bay) is closed to trawling, with the exception of an area
bounded by 159° to 160° W and 58° to 58°43' N that remains open to trawling during the
period April 1 to June 15 each year.
Prescribed bottom trawl fisheries in
specific areas are closed when prohibited species catch (PSC) limits of C. bairdi
Tanner crab, C. opilio crab, and red king crab are taken. Bycatch limitation
zones for Tanner and red king crab PSC are shown in the figure below. Crab PSC limits are
based on crab abundance as shown in the adjacent table.
Under proposed Amendment 40, PSC limits for snow crab (C. opilio) will be
based on total abundance of opilio crab as indicated by the NMFS standard trawl
survey. The snow crab PSC cap is set at 0.1133% of the Bering Sea snow crab abundance
index, with a minimum PSC of 4.5 million snow crab and a maximum of 13 million snow crab.
Snow crab taken within the “Snow Crab Bycatch Limitation Zone”accrue towards the
PSC limits established for individual trawl fisheries. Upon attainment of a snow crab PSC
limit apportioned to a particular trawl target fishery, that fishery are prohibited from
fishing within the snow crab zone.
Halibut bycatch limits are established in terms of total mortality. Overall bycatch
mortality is limited to 4,665 mt (3,775 mt for trawl and 900 mt for non-trawl fisheries).
The trawl halibut bycatch limits are apportioned to the following six fisheries in
proportion to their anticipated bycatch use: (1) Yellowfin sole, (2) Rock sole/“other
flatfish”, (3) Turbot/arrowtooth flounder/sablefish, (4) Rockfish, (5) Pacific cod,
and (6) Pollock/Atka mackerel/ “other species.” The 1997 apportionments are
shown in Appendix Table 4.
Non-trawl halibut bycatch limits are primarily allocated to the Pacific cod longline
fishery. Careful release requirements have been implemented in addition to bycatch limits
for longline fisheries.
Herring PSC is established annually at 1% of the estimated eastern Bering sea herring
biomass. The herring PSC cap is apportioned among fisheries expected to take herring as
bycatch. Attainment of a herring PSC apportionment will trigger trawl closures in two
Herring Summer Savings Areas north of the Alaska peninsula and a Herring Winter Savings
Area northwest of the Pribilof Islands to the affected fishery. These Herring Savings
Areas are depicted in the adjacent figure.
Salmon
Bycatch Measures
The Chum Salmon Savings Area closes to all trawling from August 1 through August 31,
and remains closed if a bycatch limit of 42,000 chum salmon is taken in the catcher vessel
operational area. Trawling is prohibited in the Chinook Salmon Savings Areas upon
attainment of a bycatch limit of 48,000 chinook salmon in the BSAI. These areas are shown
in the adjacent figure.
Measures to Reduce Interactions with Marine Mammals
To protect walrus, fishing vessels are prohibited in that part of the Bering Sea within twelve miles of Round Island, the Twins and Cape Peirce in northern Bristol Bay during the period April 1 through September 30. To protect Steller sea lions, no trawling is allowed year round in the BS/AI within 10 nautical miles of 27 Steller sea lion rookeries (see Appendix Figure 2 of this summary for locations). In addition, six of these rookeries will have 20 nautical mile trawl closures during the pollock “A” season. These closures revert back to 10 nautical miles when the “A” season is over, either on or before April 15.
Several other management measures have incorporated marine mammal concerns. The two
million mt OY cap restricts the catch of groundfish to much less than could be taken based
on acceptable biological rates for individual species. This leaves more fish for marine
mammals and other predators, as well as decomposers and other components of the Bering Sea
and Aleutian Islands ecosystems. An ending date of November 1 for the pollock
“B” season was instituted explicitly to prevent pollock fisheries from becoming
temporally compressed in the winter months, to decrease the chance of localized depletion
of prey for Steller sea lions. The TAC for Atka mackerel in the Aleutian Islands is
allocated among subareas to spatially disperse fishing effort to decrease the chance of
localized depletion of this prey species. The Council is also considering adopting an
amendment that would prohibit commercial exploitation of forage fish species such as
capelin, sand lance, and smelt, which are eaten by various marine mammals and seabirds.
Recordkeeping and Reporting Requirements
Recordkeeping and reporting requirements have been implemented to keep track of fishing
effort, landings, processing, and transfers. Fishing vessel operators making landings in
Alaska and, if requested, the purchasers of the catch must report the catch on Alaska
Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) fish tickets. Catcher/processor and
mothership/processor vessel operators are required to have a federal permit and also must
submit fish tickets. There are numerous other requirements for recordkeeping and
reporting, to ensure timely and effective in-season management of bycatch and individual
groundfish stocks.
A domestic observer program was implemented beginning with the 1990 fishing year.
Observers collect biological and catch and discard information which complements the
revised recordkeeping and reporting requirements. All vessels capable of hosting an
observer may be required to do so at the host vessel's expense. As currently implemented,
vessels over 125 feet length overall (LOA) are required to have an observer on-board at
all times when groundfishing, vessels of 60-124 ft. LOA are required to have observers
on-board 30% of the time, and vessels under 60 ft. LOA are generally exempt from the
requirements for observer coverage.
Updated March 31, 1997
