October 17, 2013 — Alaska’s Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission took a preparatory step for regulating an open access scallop fishery for the 2014 season when it approved a new permit structure Oct. 11.
The state’s limited access program, which is vessel-based, is set to expire Dec. 30.
Due to concerns about consolidation, the legislature last spring did not pass a bill that would have extended the program. The bill, however, could be passed this spring and apply in time for the July 1, 2014 start of the season.
Some of Alaska’s scallop beds straddle the three-mile line that divides state and federal waters, and the two areas are managed in tandem, with both operating under limited entry programs and a single harvest level.
CFEC’s new permit structure will require fishery participants to apply for separate state and federal waters interim use permits. Vessels shorter and longer than 80 feet in length will receive different permits for each area.
CFEC Chair Bruce Twomley told Alaska’s Board of Fisheries Oct. 10 that he hoped a bill would pass this spring, so that the work to prepare for an open access fishery was not necessary. If that happens, the regulations in the works now would be nullified, Twomley said.
In the meantime, regulators and managers are preparing for the open access fishery.
Read the full story at the Alaska Journal of Commerce