Policies in the North Pacific Fishery Management
Council Forum:
General Policies:
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.
Under the umbrella of item #1, the agency will
support positions which optimize the economic interests
of the Washington based fishing industry.
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:
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.
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.
