Tag Archives: Bering Sea Crab Rationalization

Time for ‘Deadliest Catch’ to go home

March 17, 2014   North Pacific

To average Americans sitting in front of their televisions, “Deadliest Catch” is an interesting documentary in a historically ignored industry. However, there has been a big problem developing in one of Alaska’s most iconic fisheries as a result of the show and legislation known as Bering Sea Crab Rationalization. It’s obvious why the show has enjoyed such success, and I commend the captains, crew and boat owners who have been involved in the series over the last decade. But the fleet that appears on “Deadliest Catch” is creating a problem for the 65 or more other crab boats whose crews depend on the Bering Sea crab resource for financial survival but don’t appear on television. Read more here  18:44 alaskadispatch

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Who Owns Fish Under Briberization?

March 13, 2013   National, North Pacific

Susanne Rust’s “Who owns the fish?” is a well written and insightful piece.  But, like all Catch Share authors, including myself, we are still learning how to really describe what is going on – having been overly influenced by the language of the wordsmiths brainwashing Congress and the public about quotas. With all good intention, here’s an expanded Opinion Piece to go with the March 12 article.,,,,,,,,,,.Catch shares are really about asymmetric market power —especially by cartelized processors with plenary power over price-setting— being brought about under government sponsorship due to accompanying asymmetric political power. Nothing makes that clearer that the rigged witness list at today’s US House Natural Resources meeting (see Richard Gaines’ Gloucester Daily Times Editorial-Witness-list-shows-Magnuson-talks-a-sham-from-start ).  John Pappalardo is a minor part of the national problem, as he was schooled by the real culprits of Alaska Ratz, some of whom are also on the rigged hearing witness list.  continued

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Forgotten crewman in the Sea of Privatization – Shawn C. Dochtermann, Kodiak, Alaska

December 12, 2012   National, North Pacific

The Bering Sea Crab Rationalization plan has resulted in the Godzilla of all privatization programs that leaves the labor portion of the industry with the short end of the crabstick, while granting the quota holders free harvest quotas and the ability to extract hundreds of millions of dollars more in profits right out of the crews’ pockets……. This program was planted into the federal register by U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska). In 2001 he asked the North Pacific Fishery Management Council to decide if the Bering Sea crab fisheries needed to be privatized and if the processors deserved some type of allocation, as well. The council in June of 2002 passed a fishery management plan that gave 97 percent of the active fishing privileges to LLP holders, a pittance of 3 percent quota shares to crab captains, nothing to crewmen and rights to processing companies that ensured they would receive 90 percent of the deliveries. Read More Here

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