A prominent commercial fisheries spokeswoman says that affordable entry into fisheries, prevention of absentee ownership and a slowed pace of harvest are key to the survival of Alaska's coastal villages.
"Management systems that lead to compressed seasons and demand high capital costs to enter or remain competitive will drain access opportunities from coastal communities," Linda Behnken, of the Alaska Longline Fishermen's Association in Sitka, told participants in a fisheries conference in Anchorage Sept. 22.
"Systems that maintain an affordable entry level, prevent absentee ownership and slow the pace of harvest will facilitate the sustained participation of independent community-based fishermen and the vitality of coastal economies," Behnken said.
Behnken was one of four members on a panel on strategies for the next generation of commercial fishermen, on the second day of a two-day conference organized by the Alaska Sea Grant College Program of the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Also on the panel were Andy Ruby of the Bristol Bay Economic Development Corp., Eric Rosvold of the Petersburg Vessel Owners Association, and Rachel Donkersloot, a doctoral candidate at the University of British Columbia who grew up in South Naknek.
Behnken, a commercial longline fisherman who has served on the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, called for some dramatic changes in how fisheries are managed, if coastal communities in Alaska are to survive.
"Managers need to stop writing fishery plans that favor fast-paced or capital-intensive systems, with a small sliver set aside for those who follow a different tradition, and instead design management programs focused on fostering sustained or expanded participation by independent community-based fishermen," she said.
Behnken said that while no single formula can be applied into every fishery, fishermen working together during the period of reorganization of the Magnuson-Stevens Fisheries Conservation and Management Act identified some standards to guide future management. These include modifying programs and/or access privileges if conservation and management objectives are not being met, she said.
Such a modification process could lead to re-assignment of shares similar to the New Zealand drop-through system, where participants accept a reduction of shares at a specified time or make changes required by new regulations, or an incentive program where shares are modified to encourage or reward behavior that furthers program objectives, she said.
Under either approach, the program does not sunset, but managers retain the responsibility and the authority to redirect programs that are compromising either the resource or the coastal economies that depend on that resource, she said.
Behnken said management systems with the goal of preserving an entry-level accessible to coastal community residents and keeping shares tied to the working waterfront could include incentives that transition the fleet to one that sustains coastal economies.
For example, she said, managers could establish that at the end of three years, quota share holders would be required to be on board vessels while fish were harvested or forfeit 20 percent of their holdings. That 20 percent could then be reallocated to owner-operators or made available to new entrants.
Fisheries managers might also recognize that the fishing gear currently in use is less than ideal for conservation or economic reasons, and could provide quota incentives to transition the fleet to a different gear, she said.
The conference, organized to support the economic survival of Alaska's coastal fishing communities, also heard from a number of other speakers, from Norm Wooten, director of the Kodiak Chamber of Commerce, to Jill Klein, executive director of the Yukon River Drainage Fisheries Association, and economist Marcus Hartley of Northern Economics.
A major reason for the conference is that many coastal communities, where fisheries are critical to the economy, face an uncertain future. There is an ongoing effort of several regional governments and fisheries organizations also to educate fishermen on how the changing global economy is impacting fish prices and how to survive in the changing economy.
Bristol Bay Economic Development Association, Gulf of Alaska Coastal Communities Coalition, the Aleutians East Borough, the Southwest Alaska Municipal Conference and others have for several years been engaged in economic studies and other efforts to help coastal Alaska communities compete in the face of global competition and rising energy costs.
Communities are aware that their fisheries are not just a commercial entity, but a lure for sport anglers attracted by Alaska's pristine waters, and a necessity for subsistence fishermen who have relied on ocean harvests for centuries to feed their families. Several of these entities are also monitoring proposed oil and gas and mining development, because environmental accidents on such fronts could spell disaster to fisheries.
The Pebble mine project near Iliamna, proposed by Northern Dynasty Mines Inc., may result in a massive open and possible underground mine to produce gold, copper, molybdenum and silver. The project is still in the very early stages of development. Still, fisheries groups, some processors and others have already expressed concern over water rights permit applications submitted by the mining company in advance of application for the mining permits themselves. There is concern that dumping mine tailings into certain waters has the potential to adversely affect the fragile environment of the region, the spawning area for Bristol Bay salmon and home to several species of wildlife important to the subsistence lifestyle and tourism.
Survival of the fisheries economy in coastal Alaska will require successful competition in fisheries being privatized by the federal government. It also will require harvests and processing to produce higher quality products, aggressive marketing, and improved transportation and communications infrastructure. These and more, including the education of the next generation of fishermen, have been the focus of dozens of people working with fisheries and local government organizations.
Sponsors of the event included the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Alaska Marine Conservation Council, Aleutian Pribilof Island Community Development Association, Gulf of Alaska Coastal Communities Coalition, Icicle Seafoods, Norquest Seafoods, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, North Pacific Seafoods, Norton Sound Economic Development Corp. and Ocean Beauty Seafoods.
Margaret Bauman can be reached at margie.bauman@alaska
journal.com.
