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NMFS ANNOUNCES IMPLEMENTATION OF FIRST STAGE
OF THE FISHING CAPACITY REDUCTION PROGRAM FOR
BERING SEA/ALEUTIAN ISLANDS CRAB FISHERIES
Officials with NOAA Fisheries announced they will implement the first stage of a program to limit fishing capacity in the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands (BSAI) crab fisheries. Referred to as the Fishing Capacity Reduction Program for BSAI Crab, this action is required by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2001 (P.L. 106-554), which took effect on December 21, 2000.
This first stage of the program reduces the number of vessels that can participate in the BSAI crab fisheries by requiring that vessels meet historic harvest qualifications. The Norton Sound king crab fisheries are exempt from this program. To qualify, a vessel must meet the existing license limitation program (LLP) criteria, and vessels 60 feet and over in length overall must have made at least one landing of BSAI crab in 1996, 1997, or before February 7, 1998. Federal regulations at 50 CFR part 679.4(k) provide specific LLP criteria.
"Under the capacity reduction program, licenses now can only be used to harvest BSAI crab on qualified vessels," said Jim Balsiger, Alaska Regional Administrator for NOAA Fisheries. "This is a new requirement for vessels that have a history of participation in this crab fishery."
To implement this new requirement, the NOAA Fisheries identified all vessels that qualify and prepared a Certificate of Eligibility for each qualifying vessel. NOAA Fisheries sent Certificates to the vessel's owner of record.
NOAA Fisheries prepared an Interim Certificate for LLP license holders that the agency could not identify as the owner of a qualified vessel. The Interim Certificate will expire on August 31, 2001. The Interim Certificate allows the license holder to name the vessel upon which the Certificate may be used. License holders with Interim Certificates have until April 30, 2001 to present evidence that they own a vessel that qualifies under the Capacity Reduction program.
Participants in the 2001 snow crab (C. opilio) fishery are advised that they must use their LLP license on a vessel with a Certificate of Eligibility or an Interim Certificate.
"The second stage will be the crab LLP license buyback program," said Balsiger, "that is being developed by NOAA Fisheries Financial Services. We anticipate implementation of that phase of the program by May 2001."
Persons with questions regarding the vessel certification program should contact the Restricted Access Management Program Administrator, P.O. Box 21668, Juneau, AK 99802, or by a toll-free number, 1-800-304-4846. Information is also posted on the NOAA Fisheries' Alaska Region web site, at http://www.fakr.noaa.gov
NOAA Fisheries conducts scientific research and provides services and products to support domestic and international fisheries management, fisheries development, trade and industry assistance, enforcement, and protected species and habitat conservation programs.
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