RIR/FRFA for a Proposed Regulatory Amendment to Implement Amendment 90 to the Fishery Management Plan for Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Groundfish a Provision Allowing Post-Delivery Transfer of Amendment 80 Shares to Amendment 80 Cooperatives
June 01, 2009
Regulatory Impact Review/Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis of a proposed action to allow Amendment 80 vessels to engage in post-delivery transfers of their respective shares, to cover catch overages.
Participants in the Amendment 80 cooperative program are permitted to join cooperatives that receive annual allocations of cooperative quota, which provide exclusive privileges to catch specific amounts of:
- Atka mackerel
- AI Pacific ocean perch
- flathead sole
- Pacific cod
- rock sole
- yellowfin sole
- halibut,
- Zone 1 red king crab C. opilio
- Zone 1 C. bairdi
- Zone 2 C. bairdi
prohibited species catch. Any harvest in excess of a cooperative’s quota allocation is a regulatory violation. This violation is punishable by confiscation of catch and other penalties. Since all catch is counted against cooperative quota, the uncertainty of catch quantities and composition creates potential for overages. A provision allowing for post-delivery transfer of cooperative quota to cover overages could reduce the number of violations. This would allow for more complete harvest of allocations and reduce enforcement costs without increasing the risk of overharvest of allocations.