Changing patterns of fisheries participation: Spatial distribution of community engagement and share-based management implementation in the Bering Sea

Several major Bering Sea commercial fisheries have recently transitioned from common quota to rationalized/share-based management systems.  These include halibut and sablefish (individual fishing quotas), pollock (co-ops), and, most recently, crab (combination IFQ, processor quota, and co-ops).  Individually and collectively, these management actions have created market conditions that have altered the patterns of fishery engagement and dependency in coastal Alaska communities.  At the same time, however, the nature of community level engagement has been altered through rationalization-related community development or protection initiatives.  This paper primarily focuses on specific changes that have been observed from pre-implementation to post-implementation rationalization conditions in the Bering Sea crab fisheries.  While the location of processing effort has remained relatively constant, due at least in part to the efficacy of community protection measures, the distribution of vessel ownership has been much more volatile.  Relative movement toward larger communities has accompanied an absolute decline in fleet size.  However, variations in community socioeconomic characteristics have served to channel these changes as well as community level engagement through crew participation, public and private sector support service provision, and capital investment.  This paper makes extensive use of GIS methodology to analyze and illustrate the spatial dimensions of these trends.