Using Federal Fisheries Data in Managing Private Fishery Cooperatives: Examples from the Alaska Pollock and Pacific Whiting Fisheries

Alaska pollock and Pacific whiting TACs have been allocated to sectors and in some cases to fishery cooperatives since 1999.  Minimizing bycatch of salmon and rockfish is necessary to fully harvest these allocations, as in recent years councils have developed hard caps for chinook salmon in Alaska and several overfished rockfish species in the Northwest. In both fisheries, observer and/or shoreside landings data are used in conjunction with VMS information to pinpoint areas of high bycatch and also to delineate in-season area closures to alleviate the effect of those hotspots.  Development of closure areas and enforcement of fishing prohibitions (also using VMS data) is prescribed in cooperative contracts and carried out by coop managers and data managers who are granted access to the observer, landings and VMS data by vessel owners.  Authorization to use this confidential data is contained in  contracts among coop members and has become a central feature of coop bycatch management in these fisheries.