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Chris Mierzejeck, director of administration for the Aleutian Pribilof Island Community Development Association, said Oct. 7 that his group would transfer its 2005 allocation of 24,000 pounds of red and brown king crab to the neighboring Central Bering Sea Fishermen's Association. The decision to transfer the allocation was spurred by what the APICDA deemed was too small a quota to fish and the desire to not see the allocation go to unfulfilled.
The CDQ groups were established in December 1992 with the goal of promoting economic development in Western Alaska centered around fisheries.
Larry Cotter, chief executive officer of the association, proposed the deal in a letter Aug. 29 to Commissioner Bill Noll of the state Department of Community and Economic Development, which oversees the CDQ program.
Cotter said state officials awarded his association an allocation of 8 percent, or about 24,000 pounds of brown king crab, despite the fact that Atka is the only CDQ community in the region and despite the fact that the Island Community Development Association intended to process its allocation at Atka.
That 8 percent allocation is not enough for even one fishing trip, representing at most $12,000 in profit, he said.
Cotter noted that the National Marine Fisheries Service had issued an interim administrative decision on Sept. 20 disagreeing with the state's CDQ allocation recommendations for Aleutian Islands red and brown king crab.
Cotter said APICDA agreed with the NMFS's finding.
Also in agreement with the decision to transfer the quota share were the other five CDQ groups: Central Bering Sea Fishermen's Association, Norton Sound Economic Development Association, Bristol Bay Economic Development Association, Central Bering Sea Fishermen's Association and Coastal Villages Region Fund.
The interim decision issued by the state Department of Commerce noted that no Aleutian Island crab CDQ allocation would be possible in 2005 without an agreement from all six CDQ groups and the state.
"APICDA has no interest in blackmailing anyone," Cotter said in his letter to Noll. "We value the CDQ program, particularly its potential to foster community development."
It was in the spirit of cooperation that APICDA's board proposed that the 8 percent allocated to APICDA be transferred to the Central Bering Sea CDQ group, and that the allocations be for one year only.
The transfer agreement comes on the heels of an Oct. 4 announcement by Gov. Frank Murkowski to accept recommendations of the CDQ blue ribbon panel's report on the Western Alaska community development program. Murkowski created the panel last April, and asked members to review the CDQ program, including its regulations, investments, goals, timeline of allocations and state oversight.
"This is one of the most successful economic development programs in Western Alaska today," Murkowski said. "But in the last 13 years, it has outgrown the current management process."
The report made four key recommendations affecting federal and state regulations.
The first was to lengthen the time between quota allocations from three years to 10 years, and changing the criteria used. The second was a change in oversight to give the state Division of Banking and Securities and Corporations more oversight of the financial well-being of the CDQ groups. Third was to streamline the oversight process between the state and the National Marine Fisheries Service for community development plans. The last recommendation was to expand investment opportunities to include regional economic and social development projects that are non-fisheries related.
According to Carl Marrs, the CDQ panel facilitator, the panel spent $232,700 out of a budget of $275,000, leaving $42,300 in state coffers. Funds spent were used for panel members to travel to each of the six regions and hold numerous hearings during nearly four months of work.
The Western Alaska CDQ program allocates about 10 percent of the Bering Sea groundfish, halibut and crab harvest to 65 Western Alaska coastal communities, which are represented by the six regional CDQ groups.
Since its inception in 1992, the CDQ program has grown to become a major source of revenue, employment and economic sustainability in Western Alaska's fishery dependent communities.
The program has yielded nearly $650 million in revenues and more than $125 million in wages, education and training benefits for some 29,000 Alaskans who reside in CDQ communities. In 2004, the CDQ program generated more than $130 million in revenues to the six CDQ groups, and the CDQ program generates about 1,800 new jobs annually, state officials said.
Margaret Bauman can be reached at
margie.bauman@alaskajournal.com.
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