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Groundfish, crab, halibut issues on tap for Dutch Harbor meeting

July 30th 5:58 pm | Margaret Bauman Print this article   Email this article   Create a Shortlink for this article

Groundfish, crab and halibut issues are on tap for the fall meeting of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council at Dutch Harbor.

The federal council has set aside 12 hours apiece for groundfish harvest specifications and Bering Sea/Aleutian Island crab issues, plus eight hours for an initial review of a salmon fishery management plan, and four hours for halibut management issues, including an initial review and final action on community quota entity vessel use caps.

These and all related sessions of the council, its advisory panel and statistical and scientific committee will be held at the Grand Aleutian Hotel Sept. 28-Oct. 4.

During the session on groundfish harvest specifications, the council will do an initial review of analysis to reduce Gulf of Alaska halibut prohibited species catch limits and adopt proposed specifications for 2012.

An initial review of crab economic data collection is on tap for the session on BSAI crab issues. Also during that segment of the meeting, the council will look to approve catch specifications and approve a report on BSAI crab SAFE (stock assessment and fishery evaluation), and to take final action on the Pribilof blue king crab rebuilding plan, plus a review of alternatives for rebuilding tanner crab stocks.

Under the halibut management session, the council will conduct an initial review and take final action on community quota entity vessel use caps.

The council also earmarked eight hours for other groundfish issues, including craft regulations on catch monitoring and enforcement.

The council, which was created under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management, deals with regulation of a broad geographic area that includes, including the Bering Sea, Aleutian Islands, and Gulf of Alaska. The states of Alaska, Washington, and Oregon are represented on the Council..

The council meets five times a year at various locations in Alaska. Its spring meeting was held in Anchorage and its summer meeting in Nome. Following the Dutch Harbor meeting, the council is scheduled to meet in Anchorage Dec. 5-13 and in Seattle Jan. 30-Feb.7, 2012.

More information about the council process and issues is at http://www.fakr.noaa.gov/npfmc

 

Margaret Bauman can be reached at mbauman@alaskanewspapers.com, or by phone at 907-348-2438.

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