Tag Archives: Limited Entry
Bristol Bay’s sockeye runs break records, but local permit ownership has declined for decades
This summer, 79 million sockeye returned to Bristol Bay. It was the largest run on record. But over the past half-century, there has been a dramatic shift in who fishes commercially in Bristol Bay. Local permit ownership has declined sharply, and research shows that’s due in part to a regulatory change to Alaska’s fishery management from the 1970s. Propelled by years of low salmon returns and more people coming to the state to fish, Alaskans voted in 1972 to amend the state’s constitution and implement a limited entry system. This system restricted the number of commercial fishing permits in areas around the state, including Bristol Bay. >click to read< 08:14
Study pinpoints trend toward fisheries specialization
Commercial fishermen in Alaska have gotten older in the past three decades. As it turns out, they’ve become more specialized, too. Fewer permits overall are in the water; between the early 1990s and 2014, commercial fishing permits in Alaska decreased by 25 percent From 1988-2014, the number of individuals holding multiple permits declined from 30 percent to 20 percent, according to a study published in the journal Fish and Fisheries..,,The bottom line: fishermen are increasingly putting all their economic eggs into one basket, and that makes them more vulnerable to the ups and downs of fishing. >click to read<20:38
Fighting the tide
After three years of work, a University of Alaska Fairbanks study of the state’s commercial fishing industry has reached one conclusion nobody in the 49th state wants to talk about and another that not even the authors of the report seem willing to confront. The first conclusion is barely disguised in the report: “Since limited entry programs were implemented in state commercial fisheries, permit holdings by rural residents local to their fisheries have declined by 30 percent. Some regions like Bristol Bay have lost over 50 percent of their local rural permits.” A systemic fail? click here to read the story 17:11
Plan to reopen Maine shrimp fishery in the works
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission is seeking comment on its plan to reopen the northern shrimp fishery, which has been closed for three years. The Arlington, Va.-based regulatory agency’s plan includes options such as changing the way the quota system is managed. The agency noted that earlier proposals had considered establishing a limited entry program. The current proposal eliminates that option and focuses instead on “total allowable catch allocation programs, gear requirements, and other measures to improve management of the northern shrimp fishery and resource.” continue reading the story click here 21:14
Limited entry for Maine lobster fishery debated
There’s another battle brewing in Maine’s lobster industry, but this is one that likely will be fought in the Legislature rather than on the water. Out to about 12 miles offshore, Maine waters are divided from east to west into seven Lobster Management Zones. Lobstermen are required to declare which of the zones they will fish in based, generally, on where they live. Six of those zones have waiting lists established under the state’s “limited entry” law. People on the list have completed a state-mandated and want a license to fish,,, Read the rest here 11:30
Northern Shrimp fishery could re-open on a limited basis
Members of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission are taking comments from a series of public hearings and compiling them into recommendations. The shrimp fishery closed in 2013 and has yet to reopen because of concerns about shrimp population levels. Fishermen from harvested Maine shrimp prior to the collapse of the fishery.
Some of the guidelines being considered include establishing a system of state-by-state quotas and shortening the season to only 90 days. Video, Read the rest here 11:31
