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In the wake of public testimony at its December meeting in Anchorage, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council modified several components of the plan alternatives under consideration, and also directed staff to develop options for crew interests. The council will wrestle anew with plan alternatives at its February meeting in Seattle.
The storm of protest over privatization - or rationalization, as it is referred to in the industry - surged after many people normally employed in the crab harvests lost their jobs as crab rationalization began during the red king crab harvest. In the current Bering Sea king crab fishery, with about 80 vessels from a fleet of 240 fishing, many vessel owners opted to lease their quotas rather than fish it themselves. A number of crewmen and skippers suddenly found themselves out of work and businesses in coastal communities where they live were worried about the ripple effect on small town economies.
"Crab rationalization has been devastating for Alaskan fishermen and Alaska's coastal communities," said Steven Branson, a crab fisherman from Kodiak and president of the Crewman's Association. "The (federal) council hasn't provided a forum for us to explain the problems of displaced crabbers. Our only option is a public protest in the hopes of public support swaying the powers that be," he said, in a statement issued during a protest rally at the council's December meeting.
Council staff member Mark Fina said he would work with Branson and any other crew members interested in putting together options to present to the council for inclusion in the gulf rationalization plan. Items under consideration include crew shares of the harvest and development of a licensing program for crewmen. "Right now it's an open book," Fina said. "It could be anything."
In his testimony to the council, Branson said the majority of working crab fishermen were excluded in allocations of fishing rights and displaced by the rapid consolidation of the fleet in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Island crab rationalization plan. Branson urged the council to maintain the status quo in gulf groundfish fisheries. "If you must push forward with the privatization of our (Gulf of Alaska) groundfish, make certain all American fishermen involved in the harvest of said resource are meaningfully included," he said.
He also called for allocations to skippers and crews and no harvest rights for processors.
Theresa Peterson, another longtime commercial fisher from Kodiak, testified, "the policy shift toward rationalized programs threatens to undermine our abilities to compete as the trend leans toward too much money chasing too few fish.
"I am seeing a number of parallels that concern me in established rationalization programs around the world, and what is now taking place in the waters of Alaska," she said. "The greatest consequences are falling on the shoulders of the smaller, independent, coastal resident fishermen."
The city of Kodiak noted in its testimony that rationalization may create opportunities and incentives to produce more and higher-value products, but it would also change the distribution of fishery revenues among participants. The city said altering the balance of market power between fishermen and processors may spur potentially disruptive effects on the communities in which they live. Kodiak officials urged the council to refrain from further action on gulf rationalization until the council has completed its 18-month review of the crab rationalization program.
Barbara Hoedel, of Sutliff Hardware in Kodiak, echoed those thoughts in her testimony. "Crab rationalization has had adverse effects on the economy of my business, many personal friends and the community of Kodiak," she said. "There are three businesses closing before the first of the year and another may have to close if the economic situation in Kodiak does not improve."
The city of Homer also submitted into testimony a resolution urging an 18-month delay until thorough analysis of the social and economic impacts of excising share-based fishing programs, especially the individual processor quotas.
Jay Stinson, president of the Alaska Draggers Association in Kodiak, meanwhile urged the council to move forward with gulf rationalization. "We believe it is vital that the gulf trawl fleet be rationalized as soon as possible in order to maintain the stability of our fishery and the enhancement of the economic and cultural fabric of our sector of the gulf groundfish fisheries," Stinson said in written testimony.
"The future of the Kodiak-based trawl fleet is more than just a local issue," Stinson said. "Our fisheries are sustainable and our product is healthy. It's important that we continue to protect and enhance the production of the Kodiak fleet to develop market-driven products that will maintain our position in the larger market place."
Norman Mullan, owner and operator of Norman Mullan Fisheries Inc. in Kodiak, also supports rationalization. Mullan, a third-generation Kodiak fisherman, testified that he felt the council should rationalize all gear types in the gulf groundfish fishery at the earliest opportunity.
Other support for rationalization came from Robert and Marla Krueger of Mar Del Norte Inc., owners of a trawl vessel. The Kruegers said their preference is "to keep the full program moving forward, but if that is not possible ... to keep the trawl fisheries rationalization program moving forward."
The Kruegers said it was their firm belief "that the traditional fishing ports in the Gulf of Alaska will be major beneficiaries of the (Gulf of Alaska) rationalization program.
"Products will be delivered to the processors over longer periods of time, allowing for increased recoveries when processing already established product forms," they said.
Margaret Bauman can be reached at margie.bauman@alaskajournal.com.
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