American Fisheries Act Pollock Applications and Forms

The American Fisheries Act (AFA) was signed into law in October 1998. The purpose of the AFA was to tighten U.S. ownership standards that had been exploited under the Anti-reflagging Act, and to provide the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands (BSAI) pollock fleet the opportunity to conduct their fishery in a more rational manner while protecting non-AFA participants in the other fisheries. The AFA established sector allocations in the BSAI pollock fishery, determined eligible vessels and processors, allowed the formation of cooperatives, set limits on the participation of AFA vessels in other fisheries, and imposed special catch weighing and monitoring requirements on AFA vessels. Since 1998, NMFS and the Council have undertaken public process to develop the AFA management program under the original AFA - BSAI Fishery Management Plan (FMP) Amendments 61/61/13/8 - and additional congressional action, FMP and regulatory amendments.