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POLICY DECISION

Policies in the North Pacific Fishery Management Council Forum:

General Policies:

1. The health and continued well-being of the resource base is the primary issue for agency support. Positions and actions which reduce stocks below a level which produces long-term sustainable harvest will be opposed. Positions or actions which may cause harm to populations of interdependent resources, such as marine mammals and sea birds, will also be avoided.
2. Under the umbrella of item #1, the agency will support positions which optimize the economic interests of the Washington based fishing industry.
3. Considering the interests of Washington based industries, the agency will encourage: a balance of representation within the industry advisory group(s); and, such economic and social stability among the industry sectors as we can reasonably effect through considerations of equity and fairness.

Specific Policies:

1. Community Development Quotas (CDQ's) - The agency has consistently been in opposition to CDQ's. This opposition is based on the premise that this concept results in a permanent, localized social program without any end point objective; disenfranchises those industries and individuals who developed the fishery; and provides questionable benefits to the nation.
2. Individual Quota System - The agency is supportive of including quota management in the arsenal of management methods. Such concepts as ITQ, IQ, VBA, etc., are all part of a family of management tools that can be used to bring rational resource management to overcapitalized fisheries. Such concepts can slow the pace of the fishery, reduce management risk, increase the safe operations of a fishery, provide greater economic and social stability to industry and fishery dependent communities, improve the market value of the product, and increase net benefits to the nation. These concepts are not equally applicable nor even appropriate to all fisheries; but it is our continuing policy to not exclude these issues from the debate of appropriate fishery management.