Final Report SOK Rockfish Cooperative 2016

Transcription

1 Final Report SOK Rockfish Cooperative 2016 December 15, 2016 Prepared by: Alaska Groundfish Data Bank, Inc. P.O. Box 788 Kodiak AK 99615

2 I. INTRODUCTION In Section 802 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2004, the U.S. Congress included a Directive to the Secretary of Commerce to establish, in consultation with the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (the Council), a pilot program for management of three primary rockfish species in the Central Gulf of Alaska (CGOA): Pacific Ocean perch (POP), northern rockfish (NR), and pelagic shelf rockfish fisheries (PSR) 1. The ensuing catcher vessel Rockfish Pilot Program (RPP) allowed each catcher vessel/harvester to join a cooperative in association with the processor to which it delivered the most pounds of CGOA rockfish during the processor qualifying period. Each cooperative receives an annual harvest share allocation based on the qualified harvest history of its members (combined vessel quota shares or QS). In addition to the allocation of target rockfish, catcher vessel cooperatives also receive allocations of secondary species, which include Sablefish, Pacific cod, and Thornyhead rockfish along with an allocation of Halibut PSC mortality. Allocations to the catcher vessel sector are based on the average percentage of retained secondary catch or Halibut PSC mortality in the target rockfish fisheries during the qualifying period. These allocations are distributed to the cooperative members based on the amount of primary rockfish that the cooperative member holds. The 5-year RPP ended in 2011 and was rolled over into a new, modified, catch share program in June 2010 under Amendment 88 of the GOA Fisheries Management Plan (FMP). This Rockfish Program (RP) went into effect in 2012 and is scheduled to sunset after 10 years in As in the RPP, the primary RP objective is to stabilize the residential processing work force by filling times of year with low processing volumes, particularly May and June, and to remove the processing conflict with salmon. Additionally, the RP reduces the competition for fish among harvesters thereby promoting safety, high quality seafood production, and increased economic performance and stability for co-op members, fishermen and processors. The extended, non-derby style season allows co-op members to improve harvesting efficiency in the target fisheries while minimizing incidental bycatch of prohibited species through better fishing practices and efficient fleet monitoring and information distribution. The SOK Rockfish Cooperative is one of 7 inshore cooperatives (compared to five co-ops in the RPP) formed in March 2012 in accordance with Amendment 88 of the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska marked the fifth year of the new Rockfish Program and, in compliance with Amendment 88, this Final Report is submitted to NMFS and the Council as a summary of allocations, harvests, transfers and cooperative performance during the 2016 rockfish fishing season in the Central Gulf of Alaska (CGOA). Catch figures and statistics were provided by the cooperative s manager and representative, Alaska Groundfish Data Bank, Inc. (AGDB) and cross-checked with NMFS Co-op catch data accessed through the NMFS Co-op ledger website (efish). II. COOPERATIVE MEMBERSHIP In 2016, as in 2015, the SOK Rockfish Cooperative consisted of eleven member licenses with ten member vessels (Table 1) of which six actively fished during the 2016 RP season: Marcy J, Rosella, Cape 1 As of 2012, Pelagic shelf rockfish consists only of dusky rockfish SOK Rockfish Cooperative Final Report 2016 Page 2 of 9

3 Kiwanda, Excalibur II, Michelle Renee and Peggy Jo. Trident Seafoods /Star of Kodiak (SOK) in Kodiak, Alaska served as the primary purchasing and processing facility for the SOK Rockfish Cooperative. Table 1.LLPs, LLP owners and member vessels of the SOK Rockfish Cooperative LLP No. LLP Owner Member Vessel ADFG No JJL FISHERIES MARCY J ROSELLA INC ROSELLA TRIDENT SEAFOODS CORPORATION ARCTIC RAM ROYAL VIKING, INC. CAPE KIWANDA OCEAN STORM FISHERIES, INC. OCEAN STORM TRIDENT SEAFOODS CORPORATION PACIFIC RAM EXCALIBUR II, LLC EXCALIBUR II B & N FISHERIES COMPANY PEGGY JO BLACK SEA FISHERIES, INC. MICHELLE RENEE DAVID DAHL n/a TRAVELER FISHERIES LLC TRAVELER III. COOPERATIVE MANAGEMENT The SOK Rockfish Cooperative was represented and managed by Alaska Groundfish Data Bank, Inc in collaboration and coordination with the co-op president, Jerry Downing, the SOK plant manager, Paul Lumsden, and the National Marine Fisheries Service. Fishing plans were devised to harvest the allocations efficiently while minimizing the amount of prohibited and non-marketable species. Harvest numbers, observer data and fish ticket information were analyzed, updated and distributed to the appropriate parties in a timely manner to ensure proper management. Figure 1 shows the schematic outlining the Co-op s operations and flow of information among the contributing parties. A. Monitoring (1) Check-ins and Check-outs: To facilitate moving into and out of non-rp fisheries during the rockfish season, NMFS instituted Check-ins and Check-outs. Co-op vessels were required to check into the RP fishery 48 hours prior to starting a trip and to check out of the program before participating in other fisheries. For the RP, there were no limits to the number of check-ins or check-outs. (2) Observer Coverage: 100% Observer coverage was required by all participating vessels. (3) CMCP Monitor: For the Rockfish Program, NMFS hired a Catch Monitoring and Control Plan (CMCP) specialist to monitor each Processor s CMCP. RP Processors are required to file with NMFS their CMCP prior to the start of the RP season. This plan details how the processor monitors the deliveries and complies with monitoring requirements. This is in lieu of 200% observer coverage at the plants required during the RPP. (4) NOAA Fisheries/Restricted Access Management: NOAA RAM s Co-op ledger web site (efish) was used to perform transfers, conduct cross-checks, check co-op balances and detect missing database information. SOK Rockfish Cooperative Final Report 2016 Page 3 of 9

4 Figure 1. Schematic of SOK Rockfish Cooperative Operations and Management NOAA Fisheries Co-op members Board of Directors Allocation Tracking Problem solving NMFS Management Fee CQ leasing Reporting CMCP Volume/ex-vessel Report NMFS cost recovery fee Trident Seafoods, Kodiak NMFS CQ Application Co-op Fishing Plan Membership and Inter-coop Agreement Inter and intra-coop monitoring Transfers/leases Allocation Tracking Database management PSC Board Meetings Trip Exchanges Fish Tickets Vessel trip accounting Check-ins, check-outs Inter co-op transfers Alaska Groundfish Data Bank, Inc SOK Co-op Representative Inter-Coop Manager Annual Co-op Report NPFMC NOAA Fisheries Sustainable Fisheries/RAM Trip Exchanges Landings, Allocation tracking, Check-ins, check-outs Catch Reporting Inter-coop transfers Co-op account cross-check, Annual Co-op Report IV. COOPERATIVE PERFORMANCE A. Co-op Allocations, Transfers and Harvests The SOK Rockfish Cooperative s harvests for the 2016 season are summarized by species and vessel in Table 2. Note that cooperative fishing allowed individual vessel overages to be offset by quota not harvested by other member vessels. Inter-coop transfers (Table 3) were arranged by the Inter-coop manager to maximize harvesting of the allocations among the seven catcher vessel cooperatives, adhere to cooperative agreements and to cover overages. SOK Rockfish Cooperative Final Report 2016 Page 4 of 9

5 Table 2. SOK Rockfish Cooperative 2016 harvests by species and co-op harvesting vessel. Weights are in round pounds. CQ totals from ADF&G Fish Tickets (includes dock and at-sea discards). Halibut mortality PSC is from NMFS/RAM Co-op ledger website (as of Dec. 12, 2016) Vessel POP NR Dusky Sablefish P. cod Thornyhead Halibut PSC ROSELLA 573,971 38, ,278 15,767 11,024 1, EXCALIBUR II 669, ,733 13, , MARCY J 807,895 48,386 46,684 33,112 8,012 1,976 4,674 CAPE KIWANDA 870, , ,827 26,389 9,638 4,505 4,597 PEGGY JO 1,357, , ,667 37,759 7,558 4,761 3,421 MICHELLE RENEE 929, , ,348 42,829 3,172 3, Total Co-op Harvest 5,208, ,836 1,029, ,864 39,521 18,593 14,088 Final SOK Allocation: 5,208,437 1,053,652 1,473, , ,503 48,127 72,881 % Harvested % 89.58% 69.87% 99.64% 4.51% 38.63% 19.33% Table 3. SOK Rockfish Co-op allocations and inter-coop transfer summary (weights are in pounds). POP NR Dusky Sablefish P. cod Thornyhead Halibut Initial SOK Allocation: 5,263,330 1,379,561 1,665, , ,503 48,127 72,881 Transfers (NP): (109,544) Transfers (Global): (93,291) Transfers (SOK): 26,500 Transfers (WAF): (81,393) (101,415) Transfers (ISA): (123,075) (90,340) Total Transfers (54,893) (325,909) (191,756) Final SOK Allocation: 5,208,437 1,053,652 1,473, , ,503 48,127 72,881 Total CV Coops*: 20,814,804 4,282,965 5,309, ,740 3,106, , ,602 SOK % CV Allocation: 25.02% 24.60% 27.75% 27.98% 28.18% 28.18% 28.18% *Includes CP CQ transferred onshore B. Vessel Use, Co-op CQ and Processing Caps (1) Vessel harvests: A vessel harvest cap of 8% of total primary rockfish quota allocated to the CV sector is one of the new changes to the RP. In 2016, this amounted to 2,432,548 lbs of primary rockfish in the aggregate. During the 2016 season, no vessel exceeded this limit (see figure 2). (2) Co-op QS: Control of harvest shares by a CV cooperative shall be capped at 30% of aggregate POP, northern rockfish and Dusky rockfish allocated to the CV sector. Final quota share allocated to the SOK co-op in 2016 amounted to 25.4% of the aggregate CV rockfish cooperative quota (Table 5). (3) Processing limits: For the Rockfish Program, a provision was approved that states no processor shall process or receive more than 30% of: (1) primary rockfish in the aggregate; (2) sablefish; (3) Pacific cod allocated to the CV sector. During the 2016 season, Trident Seafoods, Kodiak did not exceed these caps. See Table 4. Note: Trident Seafoods purchased the Western Alaska Fisheries plant in Kodiak in December NMFS ruled that the processing cap applies to the processor entity, not the facility. Therefore, all CQ landed at the Star of Kodiak plant, the old WAF plant (renamed in 2016 Trident s Pillar Mountain plant) as well as Trident s newly constructed addition next door to SOK which went online July 1, 2015 counted towards the 30% caps. All WAF co-op harvests were landed at Trident Seafoods, SOK Plant. SOK Rockfish Cooperative Final Report 2016 Page 5 of 9

6 Table 4. LBS and % of CV allocations by CQ species received and processed by Trident Seafoods in 2016 (Star of Kodiak and its recent addition as well as the old WAF plant). Processing caps are 30% of the CV primary rockfish, sablefish and cod. Species Total Primary RF Sablefish Cod % RF % Sable % Cod Trident Processed 8,441, ,354 47, % 29.99% 1.52% CV Allocation 30,406, ,331 3,106,509 Table 5. Primary rockfish CQ (POP, Northern Rockfish, Dusky rockfish): % of Final CV sector allocations by species and co-op (includes CQ transferred to the CV coops from the offshore coops) CV Co-op CQ POP NR Dusky Total Rockfish NP 17.5% 22.7% 22.7% 19.2% SOK 25.0% 24.6% 27.8% 25.4% WAF 17.3% 9.7% 11.0% 15.1% OBSI 12.5% 22.2% 20.5% 15.3% ISA 16.8% 17.3% 16.2% 16.7% Global 6.7% 3.4% 1.8% 5.4% Pacific 4.2% 0.0% 0.1% 2.9% Final Allocation 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% Figure 2.Harvests of primary rockfish by SOK member vessels (% of aggregate CV primary rockfish). Vessel harvest cap is 8% % Harvested of CV Rockfish CQ (cap = 8%) Michelle Renee Peggy Jo Traveler Pac Ram Cape Kiwanda Marcy J Arctic Ram Excalibur II Rosella Provision Ocean Storm 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 3.75% 2.97% 2.23% 2.61% 6.02% 6.04% 0.00% 8.00% C. Retained and Discarded Catch of CQ Federal regulations require the RP participants to retain all Cooperative Quota (CQ) species: at-sea discards of Pacific Ocean Perch, Northern Rockfish, Dusky Rockfish, Pacific cod, Thornyheads, and Sablefish are not allowed. During the 2016 SOK Rockfish Cooperative s fishing season (May 1 November 15, 2016), there were four occurrences of at-sea discards of CQ species: the Excalibur II discarded 1,650 lbs of shortspine thornyheads during his Sept. 27 sablefish trip and discarded 5,000-6,000 on each of three POP trips (the codend was too big to bring aboard safely). The amounts were deducted from the vessel and co-op accounts. SOK Rockfish Cooperative Final Report 2016 Page 6 of 9

7 D. Sideboard limits and rockfish sideboard fishery harvests The Rockfish Program established sideboard limits and/or prohibitions that limit LLP holders participating in the Program from expanding their harvests in other fisheries. These sideboard restrictions apply only in July, historically the most active month for rockfish fishing. For the CV sector, the sideboard limits established in the RPP have been removed for ease of management. The following prohibitions remain in place during the month of July: (1) For the month of July, limit all CVs to the shallow water complex fisheries (fishing in the deep complex is prohibited) (2) Directed fishing for WYAK and WGOA primary rockfish species in the month of July is prohibited V. COOPERATIVE PROHIBITED SPECIES CATCH Halibut: The cooperative s fishing plan instituted a management scheme to discourage high halibut bycatch rates since the co-op s RP fishing would cease once its halibut PSC mortality cap was reached. Standards were set and enforced by the co-op members to abide by the halibut PSC mortality rate limits (Table 6). The SOK Rockfish Co-op used 14,088 lbs or 19% of its final halibut PSC allocation of 72,881 lbs Table 6.Halibut bycatch standards adopted by the SOK Rockfish Cooperative. Inter-coop standard Red Light Standard Yellow Light Standard Species % halibut Species % halibut Species % halibut POP 0.50% POP 0.45% POP 0.38% NR/Dusky 2.20% NR/Dusky 1.98% NR/Dusky 1.65% Sable/cod 4.00% Sable/cod 3.60% Sable/cod 3.00% Of the total mt halibut PSC allocated to the RP (CV and CP co-ops), only 69 mt were used. As part of the RP, 45% of the unused CQ halibut PSC (55 mt in 2016) remained in the water. Added to the initial 12.5% reduction (27 mt), the total amount of halibut PSC savings in the RP in 2016 was 82 mt (not for use in any trawl fishery). Chinook Salmon: Amendment 97 to the GOA FMP, effective January 1, 2015, established Chinook salmon bycatch limits in the W/CGOA non-pollock trawl fisheries. The cap for the RP is 1,200 Chinook: W/CGOACP W/CGOA CV non-rockfish CGOA CV Rockfish Total Chinook PSC Limit 3,600 2,700 1,200 7,500 All Shoreside Cooperatives agreed to the Salmon Bycatch Avoidance Plan adopted in The plan included four parts: i) slow start to test the fishing grounds; ii) individual vessel Chinook salmon bycatch standards for the months of May, June, July, and August, iii) Chinook salmon hotspot reporting requirements, and iv) full retention of all bycaught Chinook salmon (required by regulation as of January 1, 2015). Fish ticket data were used to monitor the cooperative vessel s bycatch performance. Operators agreed to promptly self-report Chinook salmon hotspot areas from the grounds to AGDB and/or their Cooperative s affiliated processor. As in 2015, four hot spot alerts were sent out in 2016 compared to three in 2014 and eight in SOK Rockfish Cooperative Final Report 2016 Page 7 of 9

8 According to NMFS catch accounting, there were only 155 Chinook salmon taken during the season, well below the 1,200 salmon cap and by far the lowest number and rate since the RPP started in 2007 (see Table 7). Table 7. Chinook PSC, total CV rockfish harvests and Chinook PSC rates for the RPP ( ) and the Rockfish Program ( ). Catcher vessel co-ops only. Source: Steve Whitney, NMFS. Year Rockfish Chinook Rate Harvest (no.) (Chinook/mt) (mt) , ,683 7, , ,017 7, , , ,271 8, , ,784 10, Average 1,024 8, Rockfish Genetics Project: The Rockfish Genetics project that started 2013 continued into The genetic data collection is expected to continue in Over the 2016 season, DNA samples from 496 landed Chinook as well as snouts from 30 tagged salmon were collected and sent to NMFS Auke Bay Lab for processing. Preliminary results are expected Fall Results from the Rockfish fisheries are shown in Table 8 and Figure 3 (courtesy Jeff Guyon and Chuck Guthrie, NMFS Auke Bay). As in previous years, the 2015 data show that the majority of bycaught Chinook are from the West coast, SE Alaska and British Columbia (96.5% in combination). Table 8. Stock of Origin results, CGOA CV Rockfish fishery. Area 2013 Rockfish 2014 Rockfish 2015 Rockfish No. Samples Processed 2, Russia 0.0% 0.1% 0.0% Coast W AK 0.0% 0.3% 0.1% Mid Yukon 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% Up Yukon 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% N AK Pen 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% NW GOA 2.2% 3.2% 2.7% Copper 0.3% 0.1% 0.8% NE GOA 0.0% 0.1% 0.0% Coast SE AK 6.4% 7.1% 4.8% BC 31.3% 17.4% 18.9% West Coast US 59.9% 71.7% 72.8% SE, BC,WC combined 97.6% 96.2% 96.5% Total 100.1% 100.0% 100.0% SOK Rockfish Cooperative Final Report 2016 Page 8 of 9

9 Figure 3. Chinook stock of origin results from census collections of tissue samples. 80.0% 70.0% 60.0% 50.0% 2013 Rockfish 2014 Rockfish 2015 Rockfish 40.0% 30.0% 20.0% 10.0% 0.0% Russia Coast W AK Mid Yukon Up Yukon N AK Pen NW GOA Copper NE GOA Coast SE AK BC West Coast US Other Prohibited Species Catch: The following were attributed to the combined in-shore catcher vessel cooperative catch accounts by NMFS CAS during the 2016 RP fishing season (May 1 st November 15 th ): 223 non-chinook salmon, 51 Golden king crab (source: Steve Whitney, NMFS as of Dec. 4, 2016). VI. PENALITIES/CIVIL ACTIONS The multispecies aspect of the RP precludes harvesting the co-op s allocation exactly on a vessel-byvessel basis: such is the advantage of fishing the quota cooperatively where the vessels can balance out each other s catches with no penalty incurred on the group as a whole. However, individuals who exceed their individual co-op quota share (except by prior agreement e.g. leases and clean up trips) are penalized monetarily as a disincentive for future occurrences. As per the North Pacific Co-op Member Agreement, 100% of the ex-vessel revenue of the overage is paid by the offender directly to the member vessel that covers the overage. This discourages future excessive overage events. There were no civil actions taken against any co-op member. SOK Rockfish Cooperative Final Report 2016 Page 9 of 9

10 Final Report North Pacific Rockfish Cooperative 2016 December 15, 2016 Prepared by: Alaska Groundfish Data Bank, Inc. P.O. Box 788 Kodiak AK 99615

11 I. INTRODUCTION In Section 802 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2004, the U.S. Congress included a Directive to the Secretary of Commerce to establish, in consultation with the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (the Council), a pilot program for management of three primary rockfish species in the Central Gulf of Alaska (CGOA): Pacific Ocean perch (POP), northern rockfish (NR), and pelagic shelf rockfish fisheries (PSR) 1. The ensuing catcher vessel Rockfish Pilot Program (RPP) allowed each catcher vessel/harvester to join a cooperative in association with the processor to which it delivered the most pounds of CGOA rockfish during the processor qualifying period. Each cooperative receives an annual harvest share allocation based on the qualified harvest history of its members (combined vessel quota shares or QS). In addition to the allocation of target rockfish, catcher vessel cooperatives also receive allocations of secondary species, which include Sablefish, Pacific cod, and Thornyhead rockfish along with an allocation of Halibut PSC mortality. Allocations to the catcher vessel sector are based on the average percentage of retained secondary catch or Halibut PSC mortality in the target rockfish fisheries during the qualifying period. These allocations are distributed to the cooperative members based on the amount of primary rockfish that the cooperative member holds. The 5-year RPP ended in 2011 and was rolled over into a new, modified, catch share program in June 2010 under Amendment 88 of the GOA Fisheries Management Plan (FMP). This Rockfish Program (RP) went into effect in 2012 and is scheduled to sunset after 10 years in As in the RPP, the primary RP objective is to stabilize the residential processing work force by filling times of year with low processing volumes, particularly May and June, and to remove the processing conflict with salmon. Additionally, the RP reduces the competition for fish among harvesters thereby promoting safety, high quality seafood production, and increased economic performance and stability for co-op members, fishermen and processors. The extended, non-derby style season allows co-op members to improve harvesting efficiency in the target fisheries while minimizing incidental bycatch of prohibited species through better fishing practices and efficient fleet monitoring and information distribution. The North Pacific Rockfish Cooperative is one of 7 inshore cooperatives (compared to five co-ops in the RPP) formed in March 2012 in accordance with Amendment 88 of the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska marked the fifth year of the new Rockfish Program and, in compliance with Amendment 88, this Final Report is submitted to NMFS and the Council as a summary of allocations, harvests, transfers and cooperative performance during the 2016 rockfish fishing season in the Central Gulf of Alaska (CGOA). Catch figures and statistics were provided by the cooperative s manager and representative, Alaska Groundfish Data Bank, Inc. (AGDB) and cross-checked with NMFS Co-op catch data accessed through the NMFS Co-op ledger website (efish). II. COOPERATIVE MEMBERSHIP In 2016, as in 2015, the NP Rockfish Cooperative consisted of twelve member licenses with eleven member vessels (Table 1) of which six actively fished during the 2016 RP season: Alaska Beauty, Caravelle, Dawn, Nicole, Sea Mac and Topaz. North Pacific Seafoods in Kodiak, Alaska served as the primary purchasing and processing facility for the NP Rockfish Cooperative. 1 As of 2012, Pelagic shelf rockfish consists only of dusky rockfish North Pacific Rockfish Cooperative Final Report 2016 Page 2 of 9

12 Table 1.LLPs, LLP owners and member vessels of the NP Rockfish Cooperative LLP No. LLP Owner Member Vessel ADFG No ALASKA BEAUTY LLC ALASKA BEAUTY PELAGIC RESOURCES, INC. ALASKAN THOMAS TORMALA CAPT N ART GOLDEN WEST FISHERIES, INC. CARAVELLE NICOLE FISHERIES LLC NICOLE DAWN FISHERIES LLC DAWN ENTERPRISE FISHERIES, LLC ENTERPRISE MAGIC FISH CO. SEA MAC SEA MAC SEAFOODS, LLC SEA MAC M/V DEFIANT, INC. ANTHEM ALASKA WIND, LLC ALASKA WIND CHANDLER FISHERIES, INC. TOPAZ III. COOPERATIVE MANAGEMENT The NP Rockfish Cooperative was represented and managed by Alaska Groundfish Data Bank, Inc in collaboration and coordination with the co-op president, Patrick O Donnell, the North Pacific Seafoods plant manager, Matt Moir and the National Marine Fisheries Service. Fishing plans were devised to harvest the allocations efficiently while minimizing the amount of prohibited and non-marketable species. Harvest numbers, observer data and fish ticket information were analyzed, updated and distributed to the appropriate parties in a timely manner to ensure proper management. Figure 1 shows the schematic outlining the Co-op s operations and flow of information among the contributing parties. A. Monitoring (1) Check-ins and Check-outs: To facilitate moving into and out of non-rp fisheries during the rockfish season, NMFS instituted Check-ins and Check-outs. Co-op vessels were required to check into the RP fishery 48 hours prior to starting a trip and to check out of the program before participating in other fisheries. For the RP, there were no limits to the number of check-ins or check-outs. (2) Observer Coverage: 100% Observer coverage was required by all participating vessels. (3) CMCP Monitor: For the Rockfish Program, NMFS hired a Catch Monitoring and Control Plan (CMCP) specialist to monitor each Processor s CMCP. RP Processors are required to file with NMFS their CMCP prior to the start of the RP season. This plan details how the processor monitors the deliveries and complies with monitoring requirements. This is in lieu of 200% observer coverage at the plants required during the RPP. (4) NOAA Fisheries/Restricted Access Management: NOAA RAM s Co-op ledger web site (efish) was used to perform transfers, conduct cross-checks, check co-op balances and detect missing database information. North Pacific Rockfish Cooperative Final Report 2016 Page 3 of 9

13 Figure 1. Schematic of NP Rockfish Cooperative Operations and Management NOAA Fisheries Co-op members Board of Directors Allocation Tracking Problem solving CQ leasing Reporting CMCP Volume/ex-vessel Report NMFS cost recovery fee North Pacific Seafoods, Kodiak NMFS CQ Application Co-op Fishing Plan Membership and Inter-coop Agreement Inter and intra-coop monitoring Transfers/leases Allocation Tracking Database management PSC Board Meetings Trip Exchanges Fish Tickets Vessel trip accounting Check-ins, check-outs Inter co-op transfers Alaska Groundfish Data Bank, Inc NP Co-op Representative Inter-Coop Manager Annual Co-op Report NPFMC Trip Exchanges Landings, Allocation tracking, Check-ins, check-outs Catch Reporting Inter-coop transfers Co-op account cross-check, Annual Co-op Report NOAA Fisheries Sustainable Fisheries/RAM IV. COOPERATIVE PERFORMANCE A. Co-op Allocations, Transfers and Harvests The NP Rockfish Cooperative s harvests for the 2016 season are summarized by species and vessel in Table 2. Note that cooperative fishing allowed individual vessel overages to be offset by quota not harvested by other member vessels. Inter-coop transfers (Table 3) were arranged by the Inter-coop manager to maximize harvesting of the allocations among the seven catcher vessel cooperatives, adhere to cooperative agreements and to cover overages. North Pacific Rockfish Cooperative Final Report 2016 Page 4 of 9

14 Table 2.NP Rockfish Cooperative 2016 harvests by species and co-op harvesting vessel. Weights are in round pounds. CQ totals from ADF&G Fish Tickets (includes dock and at-sea discards). Halibut mortality PSC is from NMFS/RAM Co-op ledger website (as of December 11, 2016). Vessel POP NR Dusky Sablefish P. cod Thornyhead Halibut PSC DAWN 315, ,887 23,243 2,234 3, NICOLE 581, , ,912 19,761 12,805 6,908 2,403 SEA MAC 931, ,941 67,769 25, ,939 1,669 CARAVELLE 444, , ,497 18,371 3,173 1, TOPAZ 962, , ,217 15,041 10,059 2,529 1,082 ALASKA BEAUTY 395,864 18,257 78,545 16,506 5,610 3,774 3,882 Total Co-op Harvest 3,631, , , ,914 34,861 20,562 10,059 Final NP Allocation: 3,648, ,382 1,205, , ,695 31,372 47,508 % Harvested 99.53% 98.17% 77.77% 96.53% 6.11% 65.54% 21.17% Table 3. NP Rockfish Co-op allocations and inter-coop transfer summary (weights are in round pounds). POP NR Dusky Sablefish P. cod Thornyhead Halibut Initial NP Allocation: 3,666, ,073 1,119, , ,695 31,372 47,508 Transfers (CP BUC): 4,409 Transfers (SOK): 109,544 Transfers (ISA): (18,403) 86,765 86,452 10,028 - Transfers (OBSI): (1,718) Total Transfers (18,403) 196,308 86,452 12, Final NP Allocation: 3,648, ,382 1,205, , ,695 31,372 47,508 Total CV Coops*: 20,814,804 4,282,965 5,309, ,740 3,106, , ,602 NP % CV Allocation: 17.53% 22.68% 22.71% 20.34% 18.37% 18.37% 18.37% *Includes CP CQ transferred onshore B. Vessel Use, Co-op CQ and Processing Caps (1) Vessel harvests: A vessel harvest cap of 8% of total primary rockfish quota allocated to the CV sector was one of the changes to the RP. In 2016, this amounted to 2,432,548 lbs of primary rockfish in the aggregate. During the 2016 season, no vessel exceeded this limit (see Figure 2). (2) Co-op QS: Control of harvest shares by a CV cooperative shall be capped at 30% of aggregate POP, northern rockfish and Dusky rockfish allocated to the CV sector. Final quota share allocated to the NP co-op in 2016 amounted to 19.2% of the aggregate CV rockfish cooperative quota (Table 5). (3) Processing limits: For the Rockfish Program, a provision was approved that states no processor shall process or receive more than 30% of: (1) primary rockfish in the aggregate; (2) sablefish; (3) Pacific cod allocated to the CV sector. During the 2016 season, North Pacific Seafoods, Kodiak did not exceed these caps. See Table 4. Table 4. Round pounds and % of CV allocations by CQ species received and processed by North Pacific Seafoods in Processing caps are 30% of the CV primary rockfish, sablefish and cod. Species Total Primary RF Sablefish Cod % RF % Sable % Cod Processed APS 8,453, ,249 51, % 29.26% 1.66% CV Allocation 30,406, ,740 3,106,509 North Pacific Rockfish Cooperative Final Report 2016 Page 5 of 9

15 Table 5. Primary rockfish CQ (POP, Northern Rockfish, Dusky rockfish): % of Final CV sector allocations by species and co-op CV Co-op CQ POP NR Dusky Total Rockfish NP 17.5% 22.7% 22.7% 19.2% SOK 25.0% 24.6% 27.8% 25.4% WAF 17.3% 9.7% 11.0% 15.1% OBSI 12.5% 22.2% 20.5% 15.3% ISA 16.8% 17.3% 16.2% 16.7% Global 6.7% 3.4% 1.8% 5.4% Pacific 4.2% 0.0% 0.1% 2.9% Final Allocation 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% Figure 2.Harvests of primary rockfish by NP member vessels (% of aggregate CV primary rockfish). Vessel harvest cap is 8% Alaskan Enterprise Capt'n Art Alaska Beauty Topaz Caravelle AK Wind Anthem Sea Mac Sea Mac - Magic LLP Nicole Dawn % Harvested of Rockfish CV CQ (cap = 8%) 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 1.62% 4.56% 2.58% 0.00% 0.00% 4.08% 0.00% 4.26% 1.06% 0.00% 8.00% C. Retained and Discarded Catch of CQ Federal regulations require the RP participants to retain all Cooperative Quota (CQ) species except halibut: at-sea discards of Pacific Ocean Perch, Northern Rockfish, Dusky Rockfish, Pacific cod, Thornyheads, and Sablefish are not allowed. During the 2016 NP Rockfish Cooperative s fishing season (May 1 November 15, 2016), there were no occurrences of at-sea discards of CQ species. D. Sideboard limits and rockfish sideboard fishery harvests The Rockfish Program established sideboard limits and/or prohibitions that limit LLP holders participating in the Program from expanding their harvests in other fisheries. These sideboard restrictions apply only in July, historically the most active month for rockfish fishing. For the CV sector, the sideboard limits established in the RPP have been removed for ease of management. The following prohibitions remain in place during the month of July: (1) For the month of July, limit all CVs to the shallow water complex fisheries (fishing in the deep complex is prohibited) (2) Directed fishing for WYAK and WGOA primary rockfish species in the month of July is prohibited North Pacific Rockfish Cooperative Final Report 2016 Page 6 of 9

16 V. COOPERATIVE PROHIBITED SPECIES CATCH A. Halibut: The cooperative s fishing plan instituted a management scheme to discourage high halibut bycatch rates since the co-op s RP fishing would cease once its halibut PSC mortality cap was reached. Standards were set and enforced by the co-op members to abide by the halibut PSC mortality rate limits (Table 6). The NP Rockfish Co-op used 10,059 lbs or 21% of its final halibut PSC allocation of 47,508 lbs. Table 6.Halibut bycatch standards adopted by the NP Rockfish Cooperative. Inter-coop standard Red Light Standard Yellow Light Standard Species % halibut Species % halibut Species % halibut POP 0.50% POP 0.45% POP 0.38% NR/Dusky 2.20% NR/Dusky 1.98% NR/Dusky 1.65% Sable/cod 4.00% Sable/cod 3.60% Sable/cod 3.00% Of the total mt halibut PSC allocated to the RP (CV and CP co-ops), only 69 mt were used. As part of the RP, 45% of the unused CQ halibut PSC (55 mt in 2016) remained in the water. Added to the initial 12.5% reduction (27 mt), the total amount of halibut PSC savings in the RP in 2016 was 82 mt (not for use in any trawl fishery). B. Chinook Salmon: Amendment 97 to the GOA FMP, effective January 1, 2015, established Chinook salmon bycatch limits in the W/CGOA non-pollock trawl fisheries. The cap for the RP is 1,200 Chinook: W/CGOACP W/CGOA CV non-rockfish CGOA CV Rockfish Total Chinook PSC Limit 3,600 2,700 1,200 7,500 All Shoreside Cooperatives agreed to the Salmon Bycatch Avoidance Plan adopted in The plan included four parts: i) slow start to test the fishing grounds; ii) individual vessel Chinook salmon bycatch standards for the months of May, June, July, and August, iii) Chinook salmon hotspot reporting requirements, and iv) full retention of all bycaught Chinook salmon (required by regulation as of January 1, 2015). Fish ticket data were used to monitor the cooperative vessel s bycatch performance. Operators agreed to promptly self-report Chinook salmon hotspot areas from the grounds to AGDB and/or their Cooperative s affiliated processor. As in 2015, four hot spot alerts were sent out in 2016 compared to three in 2014 and eight in According to NMFS catch accounting, there were only 155 Chinook salmon taken during the season, well below the 1,200 salmon cap and by far the lowest number and rate since the RPP started in 2007 (see Table 7). North Pacific Rockfish Cooperative Final Report 2016 Page 7 of 9

17 Table 7. Chinook PSC, total CV rockfish harvests and Chinook PSC rates for the RPP ( ) and the Rockfish Program ( ). Catcher vessel co-ops only. Source: Steve Whitney, NMFS. Year Rockfish Chinook Rate Harvest (no.) (Chinook/mt) (mt) , ,683 7, , ,017 7, , , ,271 8, , ,802 10, , Average 939 8, Rockfish Genetics Project: The Rockfish Genetics project that started 2013 continued into The genetic data collection is expected to continue in Over the 2016 season, DNA samples from 496 landed Chinook as well as snouts from 30 tagged salmon were collected and sent to NMFS Auke Bay Lab for processing. Preliminary results are expected Fall Results from the Rockfish fisheries are shown in Table 8 and Figure 3 (courtesy Jeff Guyon and Chuck Guthrie, NMFS Auke Bay). As in previous years, the 2015 data show that the majority of bycaught Chinook are from the West coast, SE Alaska and British Columbia (96.5% in combination). Table 8. Stock of Origin results, CGOA CV Rockfish fishery. Area 2013 Rockfish 2014 Rockfish 2015 Rockfish No. Samples Processed 2, Russia 0.0% 0.1% 0.0% Coast W AK 0.0% 0.3% 0.1% Mid Yukon 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% Up Yukon 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% N AK Pen 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% NW GOA 2.2% 3.2% 2.7% Copper 0.3% 0.1% 0.8% NE GOA 0.0% 0.1% 0.0% Coast SE AK 6.4% 7.1% 4.8% BC 31.3% 17.4% 18.9% West Coast US 59.9% 71.7% 72.8% SE, BC,WC combined 97.6% 96.2% 96.5% Total 100.1% 100.0% 100.0% North Pacific Rockfish Cooperative Final Report 2016 Page 8 of 9

18 Figure 3. Chinook stock of origin results from census collections of tissue samples. 80.0% 70.0% 60.0% 50.0% 2013 Rockfish 2014 Rockfish 2015 Rockfish 40.0% 30.0% 20.0% 10.0% 0.0% Russia Coast W AK Mid Yukon Up Yukon N AK Pen NW GOA Copper NE GOA Coast SE AK BC West Coast US C. Other Prohibited Species Catch: The following were attributed to the combined in-shore catcher vessel cooperative catch accounts by NMFS CAS during the 2016 RP fishing season (May 1 st November 15 th ): 223 non-chinook salmon, 51 Golden king crab (source: Steve Whitney, NMFS as of Dec. 4, 2016). VI. PENALITIES/CIVIL ACTIONS The multispecies aspect of the RP precludes harvesting the co-op s allocation exactly on a vessel-byvessel basis: such is the advantage of fishing the quota cooperatively where the vessels can balance out each other s catches with no penalty incurred on the group as a whole. However, individuals who exceed their individual co-op quota share (except by prior agreement e.g. leases and clean up trips) are penalized monetarily as a disincentive for future occurrences. As per the North Pacific Co-op Member Agreement, 100% of the ex-vessel revenue of the overage is paid by the offender directly to the member vessel that covers the overage. This discourages future excessive overage events. There were no civil actions taken against any co-op member. North Pacific Rockfish Cooperative Final Report 2016 Page 9 of 9

19 Final Report ISA Rockfish Cooperative 2016 December 15, 2016 Prepared by: Alaska Groundfish Data Bank, Inc. P.O. Box 788 Kodiak AK 99615

20 I. INTRODUCTION In Section 802 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2004, the U.S. Congress included a Directive to the Secretary of Commerce to establish, in consultation with the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (the Council), a pilot program for management of three primary rockfish species in the Central Gulf of Alaska (CGOA): Pacific Ocean perch (POP), northern rockfish (NR), and pelagic shelf rockfish fisheries (PSR) 1. The ensuing catcher vessel Rockfish Pilot Program (RPP) allowed each catcher vessel/harvester to join a cooperative in association with the processor to which it delivered the most pounds of CGOA rockfish during the processor qualifying period. Each cooperative receives an annual harvest share allocation based on the qualified harvest history of its members (combined vessel quota shares or QS). In addition to the allocation of target rockfish, catcher vessel cooperatives also receive allocations of secondary species, which include Sablefish, Pacific cod, and Thornyhead rockfish along with an allocation of Halibut PSC mortality. Allocations to the catcher vessel sector are based on the average percentage of retained secondary catch or Halibut PSC mortality in the target rockfish fisheries during the qualifying period. These allocations are distributed to the cooperative members based on the amount of primary rockfish that the cooperative member holds. The 5-year RPP ended in 2011 and was rolled over into a new, modified, catch share program in June 2010 under Amendment 88 of the GOA Fisheries Management Plan (FMP). This Rockfish Program (RP) went into effect in 2012 and is scheduled to sunset after 10 years in As in the RPP, the primary RP objective is to stabilize the residential processing work force by filling times of year with low processing volumes, particularly May and June, and to remove the processing conflict with salmon. Additionally, the RP reduces the competition for fish among harvesters thereby promoting safety, high quality seafood production, and increased economic performance and stability for co-op members, fishermen and processors. The extended, non-derby style season allows co-op members to improve harvesting efficiency in the target fisheries while minimizing incidental bycatch of prohibited species through better fishing practices and efficient fleet monitoring and information distribution. The ISA Rockfish Cooperative is one of 7 inshore cooperatives (compared to five co-ops in the RPP) formed in March 2012 in accordance with Amendment 88 of the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska marked the fifth year of the new Rockfish Program and, in compliance with Amendment 88, this Final Report is submitted to NMFS and the Council as a summary of allocations, harvests, transfers and cooperative performance during the 2016 rockfish fishing season in the Central Gulf of Alaska (CGOA). Catch figures and statistics were provided by the cooperative s manager and representative, Alaska Groundfish Data Bank, Inc. (AGDB) and cross-checked with NMFS Co-op catch data accessed through the NMFS Co-op ledger website (efish). II. COOPERATIVE MEMBERSHIP In 2016, the ISA Rockfish Cooperative consisted of six member licenses (compared to 5 LLPs in 2015) with five member vessels (Table 1) of which four actively fished during the 2016 RP season: Mar Del 1 As of 2012, Pelagic shelf rockfish consists only of dusky rockfish ISA Rockfish Cooperative Final Report 2016 Page 2 of 9

21 Norte, Mar Pacifico, Chellissa, Laura. The allocations of the Green Hope and Ocean Hope 3 were fished by these four vessels. International Seafoods of Alaska (ISA) in Kodiak, Alaska served as the primary purchasing and processing facility for the ISA Rockfish Cooperative. Table 1.LLPs, LLP owners and member vessels of the ISA Rockfish Cooperative LLP No. LLP Owner Member Vessel ADFG No LAURA FISHERIES JOINT VENTURE LAURA CHELLISSA FISHERIES, LLC CHELLISSA GREEN HOPE LLC GREEN HOPE NORTHERN SEAS FISHERIES LLC MAR DEL NORTE MAR PACIFICO, INC. MAR PACIFICO MARTIN FISHERIES, INC OCEAN HOPE III. COOPERATIVE MANAGEMENT The ISA Rockfish Cooperative was represented and managed by Alaska Groundfish Data Bank, Inc in collaboration and coordination with the co-op president, Robert Krueger, the ISA plant manager, Mitch Kilborn and the National Marine Fisheries Service. Fishing plans were devised to harvest the allocations efficiently while minimizing the amount of prohibited and non-marketable species. Harvest numbers, observer data and fish ticket information were analyzed, updated and distributed to the appropriate parties in a timely manner to ensure proper management. Figure 1 shows the schematic outlining the Co-op s operations and flow of information among the contributing parties. A. Monitoring (1) Check-ins and Check-outs: To facilitate moving into and out of non-rp fisheries during the rockfish season, NMFS instituted Check-ins and Check-outs with no limits to the number of check ins as was the case for the RPP. Co-op vessels were required to check into the RP fishery 48 hours prior to starting a trip and to check out of the program before participating in other fisheries. (2) Observer Coverage: 100% Observer coverage was required by all participating vessels. (3) CMCP Monitor: For the new Rockfish Program, NMFS hired a Catch Monitoring and Control Plan (CMCP) specialist to monitor each Processor s CMCP. RP Processors are required to file with NMFS their CMCP prior to the start of the RP season. This plan details how the processor monitors the deliveries and complies with monitoring requirements. This is in lieu of 200% observer coverage at the plants required during the RPP. (4) NOAA Fisheries/Restricted Access Management: NOAA RAM s Co-op ledger web site was used to perform transfers, conduct cross-checks, check co-op balances and detect missing database information. ISA Rockfish Cooperative Final Report 2016 Page 3 of 9

22 Figure 1. Schematic of ISA Rockfish Cooperative Operations and Management NOAA Fisheries Co-op members Board of Directors Allocation Tracking Problem solving NMFS Management Fee CQ leasing Reporting CMCP Volume/ex-vessel Report NMFS cost recovery fee International Seafoods of Alaska, Kodiak NMFS CQ Application Co-op Fishing Plan Membership and Inter-coop Agreement Inter and intra-coop monitoring Transfers/leases Allocation Tracking Database management PSC Board Meetings Trip Exchanges Fish Tickets Vessel trip accounting Check-ins, check-outs Inter co-op transfers Alaska Groundfish Data Bank, Inc ISA Co-op Representative Inter-Coop Manager Annual Co-op Report NPFMC NOAA Fisheries Sustainable Fisheries/RAM Trip Exchanges Landings, Allocation tracking, Check-ins, check-outs Catch Reporting Inter-coop transfers Co-op account cross-check, Annual Co-op Report IV. COOPERATIVE PERFORMANCE A. Co-op Allocations, Transfers and Harvests The ISA Rockfish Cooperative s harvests for the 2016 season are summarized by species and vessel in Table 2. Note that cooperative fishing allowed individual vessel overages to be offset by quota not harvested by other member vessels. Inter-coop transfers (Table 3) were arranged by the Inter-coop manager to maximize harvesting of the allocations among the seven catcher vessel cooperatives, adhere to cooperative agreements and to cover overages. ISA Rockfish Cooperative Final Report 2016 Page 4 of 9

23 Table 2. ISA Rockfish Cooperative 2016 harvests by species and co-op harvesting vessel. Weights are in round pounds. CQ totals from ADF&G Fish Tickets (includes dock and at-sea discards). Halibut mortality PSC is from NMFS/RAM Co-op ledger website (as of Dec 11, 2016). Vessel POP NR Dusky Sablefish P. cod Thornyhead Halibut PSC MAR PACIFICO 1,017,664 12,872 5,425 23,396 16,968 3,061 7,683 MAR DEL NORTE 797,058 33,296 13,592 25,146 7,564 1,258 4,281 CHELLISSA 448, ,110 1,055 1, LAURA 1,217, , ,099 38,615 23,742 3,763 8,636 Total Co-op Harvest 3,481, , ,226 88,212 50,000 8,334 20,600 Final ISA Allocation: 3,488, , ,517 89, ,124 28,207 42,715 % Harvested 99.78% % 56.34% 98.89% 9.74% 29.55% 48.23% Table 3. ISA Rockfish Co-op allocations and inter-coop transfer summary (weights are in pounds). POP NR Dusky Sablefish P. cod Thornyhead Halibut Initial ISA Allocation: 3,256, , ,546 92, ,308 26,183 39,650 Transfers (OBSI): 214,021 52,167 86,083 7,027 36,816 2,024 3,065 Transfers (SOK) 123,075 90,340 Transfers (NP) 18,403 (86,765) (86,452) (10,028) Total Transfers 232,424 88,477 89,971 (3,002) 36,816 2,024 3,065 Final ISA Allocation: 3,488, , ,517 89, ,124 28,207 42,715 Total CV Coops*: 20,814,804 4,282,965 5,309, ,740 3,106, , ,602 ISA % CV Allocation: 16.76% 17.31% 16.19% 14.73% 16.52% 16.52% 16.52% *Includes CP CQ transferred onshore B. Vessel Use, Co-op CQ and Processing Caps (1) Vessel harvests: A vessel harvest cap of 8% of total primary rockfish quota allocated to the CV sector was one of the changes to the RP. In 2016, this amounted to 2,432,548 lbs of primary rockfish in the aggregate. During the 2016 season, no vessel exceeded this limit (see Figure 2). (2) Co-op QS: Control of harvest shares by a CV cooperative shall be capped at 30% of aggregate POP, northern rockfish and Dusky rockfish allocated to the CV sector. Final quota share allocated to the ISA co-op in 2016 amounted to 16.7% of the aggregate CV rockfish cooperative quota (Table 5). (3) Processing limits: For the Rockfish Program, a provision was approved that states no processor shall process or receive more than 30% of: (1) primary rockfish in the aggregate; (2) sablefish; (3) Pacific cod allocated to the CV sector. During the 2016 season, International Seafoods of Alaska, Kodiak did not exceed these caps. See Table 4. (4) Table 4. LBS and % of CV allocations by CQ species received and processed by ISA Seafoods in Processing caps are 30% of the CV primary rockfish, sablefish and cod. Species Total Primary RF Sablefish Cod % RF % Sable % Cod ISA Processed 4,660,200 91,730 51, % 15.25% 1.64% CV Allocation 30,406, ,331 3,106,509 ISA Rockfish Cooperative Final Report 2016 Page 5 of 9

24 Table 5. Primary rockfish CQ (POP, Northern Rockfish, Dusky rockfish): % of Final CV sector allocations by species and co-op CV Co-op CQ POP NR Dusky Total Rockfish NP 17.5% 22.7% 22.7% 19.2% SOK 25.0% 24.6% 27.8% 25.4% WAF 17.3% 9.7% 11.0% 15.1% OBSI 12.5% 22.2% 20.5% 15.3% ISA 16.8% 17.3% 16.2% 16.7% Global 6.7% 3.4% 1.8% 5.4% Pacific 4.2% 0.0% 0.1% 2.9% Final Allocation 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% Figure 2.Harvests of primary rockfish by ISA member vessels (% of aggregate CV primary rockfish). Vessel harvest cap is 8% % Harvested of CV Primary Rockfish CQ (cap = 8%) Ocean Hope 3 Green Hope 0.00% 0.00% Laura 7.81% Chellissa 1.49% Mar Del Norte Mar Pacifico 2.78% 3.41% 0.00% 8.00% C. Retained and Discarded Catch of CQ Federal regulations require the RP participants to retain all Cooperative Quota (CQ) species: at-sea discards of Pacific Ocean Perch, Northern Rockfish, Dusky Rockfish, Pacific cod, Thornyheads, and Sablefish are not allowed. During the 2016 ISA Rockfish Cooperative s fishing season (May 1 November 15, 2016), there were no occurrences of at-sea discards of CQ species. D. Sideboard limits and rockfish sideboard fishery harvests The Rockfish Program established sideboard limits and/or prohibitions that limit LLP holders participating in the Program from expanding their harvests in other fisheries. These sideboard restrictions apply only in July, historically the most active month for rockfish fishing. For the CV sector, the sideboard limits established in the RPP have been removed for ease of management. The following prohibitions remain in place during the month of July: (1) For the month of July, limit all CVs to the shallow water complex fisheries (fishing in the deep complex is prohibited) (2) Directed fishing for WYAK and WGOA primary rockfish species in the month of July is prohibited ISA Rockfish Cooperative Final Report 2016 Page 6 of 9

25 V. COOPERATIVE PROHIBITED SPECIES CATCH A. Halibut: The cooperative s fishing plan instituted a management scheme to discourage high halibut bycatch rates since the co-op s RP fishing would cease once its halibut PSC mortality cap was reached. Standards were set and enforced by the co-op members to abide by the halibut PSC mortality rate limits (Table 6). The ISA Rockfish Co-op used 20,600 lbs or 48% of its final halibut PSC allocation of 42,715 lbs. Table 6. Halibut bycatch standards adopted by the ISA Rockfish Cooperative. Inter-coop standard Red Light Standard Yellow Light Standard Species % halibut Species % halibut Species % halibut POP 0.50% POP 0.45% POP 0.38% NR/Dusky 2.20% NR/Dusky 1.98% NR/Dusky 1.65% Sable/cod 4.00% Sable/cod 3.60% Sable/cod 3.00% Of the total mt halibut PSC allocated to the RP (CV and CP co-ops), only 69 mt were used. As part of the RP, 45% of the unused CQ halibut PSC (55 mt in 2016) remained in the water. Added to the initial 12.5% reduction (27 mt), the total amount of halibut PSC savings in the RP in 2016 was 82 mt (not for use in any trawl fishery). B. Chinook Salmon: Amendment 97 to the GOA FMP, effective January 1, 2015, established Chinook salmon bycatch limits in the W/CGOA non-pollock trawl fisheries. The cap for the RP is 1,200 Chinook: W/CGOACP W/CGOA CV non-rockfish CGOA CV Rockfish Total Chinook PSC Limit 3,600 2,700 1,200 7,500 All Shoreside Cooperatives agreed to the Salmon Bycatch Avoidance Plan adopted in The plan included four parts: i) slow start to test the fishing grounds; ii) individual vessel Chinook salmon bycatch standards for the months of May, June, July, and August, iii) Chinook salmon hotspot reporting requirements, and iv) full retention of all bycaught Chinook salmon (required by regulation as of January 1, 2015). Fish ticket data were used to monitor the cooperative vessel s bycatch performance. Operators agreed to promptly self-report Chinook salmon hotspot areas from the grounds to AGDB and/or their Cooperative s affiliated processor. As in 2015, four hot spot alerts were sent out in 2016 compared to three in 2014 and eight in According to NMFS catch accounting, there were only 155 Chinook salmon taken during the season, well below the 1,200 salmon cap and by far the lowest number and rate since the RPP started in 2007 (see Table 7). ISA Rockfish Cooperative Final Report 2016 Page 7 of 9

26 Table 7. Chinook PSC, total CV rockfish harvests and Chinook PSC rates for the RPP ( ) and the Rockfish Program ( ). Catcher vessel co-ops only. Source: Steve Whitney, NMFS. Year Rockfish Chinook Rate Harvest (no.) (Chinook/mt) (mt) , ,683 7, , ,017 7, , , ,271 8, , ,802 10, , Average 939 8, Rockfish Genetics Project: The Rockfish Genetics project that started 2013 continued into The genetic data collection is expected to continue in Over the 2016 season, DNA samples from 496 landed Chinook as well as snouts from 30 tagged salmon were collected and sent to NMFS Auke Bay Lab for processing. Preliminary results are expected Fall Results from the Rockfish fisheries are shown in Table 8 and Figure 3 (courtesy Jeff Guyon and Chuck Guthrie, NMFS Auke Bay). As in previous years, the 2015 data show that the majority of bycaught Chinook are from the West coast, SE Alaska and British Columbia (96.5% in combination). Table 8. Stock of Origin results, CGOA CV Rockfish fishery. Area 2013 Rockfish 2014 Rockfish 2015 Rockfish No. Samples Processed 2, Russia 0.0% 0.1% 0.0% Coast W AK 0.0% 0.3% 0.1% Mid Yukon 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% Up Yukon 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% N AK Pen 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% NW GOA 2.2% 3.2% 2.7% Copper 0.3% 0.1% 0.8% NE GOA 0.0% 0.1% 0.0% Coast SE AK 6.4% 7.1% 4.8% BC 31.3% 17.4% 18.9% West Coast US 59.9% 71.7% 72.8% SE, BC,WC combined 97.6% 96.2% 96.5% Total 100.1% 100.0% 100.0% ISA Rockfish Cooperative Final Report 2016 Page 8 of 9

27 Figure 3. Chinook stock of origin results from census collections of tissue samples. 80.0% 70.0% 60.0% 50.0% 2013 Rockfish 2014 Rockfish 2015 Rockfish 40.0% 30.0% 20.0% 10.0% 0.0% Russia Coast W Mid Up N AK NW Copper NE GOA Coast SE BC AK Yukon Yukon Pen GOA AK West Coast US VI. Other Prohibited Species Catch: The following were attributed to the combined in-shore catcher vessel cooperative catch accounts by NMFS CAS during the 2016 RP fishing season (May 1 st November 15 th ): 223 non-chinook salmon, 51 Golden king crab (source: Steve Whitney, NMFS as of Dec. 4, 2016). VII. PENALITIES/CIVIL ACTIONS The multispecies aspect of the RP precludes harvesting the co-op s allocation exactly on a vessel-byvessel basis: such is the advantage of fishing the quota cooperatively where the vessels can balance out each other s catches with no penalty incurred on the group as a whole. However, individuals who exceed their individual co-op quota share (except by prior agreement e.g. leases and clean up trips) are penalized monetarily as a disincentive for future occurrences. As per the ISA Co-op Member Agreement, 100% of the ex-vessel revenue of the overage is paid by the offender directly to the member vessel that covers the overage. This discourages future excessive overage events. There were no civil actions taken against any co-op member. ISA Rockfish Cooperative Final Report 2016 Page 9 of 9

28 Final Report OBSI Rockfish Cooperative 2016 December 15, 2016 Prepared by: Alaska Groundfish Data Bank, Inc. P.O. Box 788 Kodiak AK 99615

29 I. INTRODUCTION In Section 802 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2004, the U.S. Congress included a Directive to the Secretary of Commerce to establish, in consultation with the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (the Council), a pilot program for management of three primary rockfish species in the Central Gulf of Alaska (CGOA): Pacific Ocean perch (POP), northern rockfish (NR), and pelagic shelf rockfish fisheries (PSR) 1. The ensuing catcher vessel Rockfish Pilot Program (RPP) allowed each catcher vessel/harvester to join a cooperative in association with the processor to which it delivered the most pounds of CGOA rockfish during the processor qualifying period. Each cooperative receives an annual harvest share allocation based on the qualified harvest history of its members (combined vessel quota shares or QS). In addition to the allocation of target rockfish, catcher vessel cooperatives also receive allocations of secondary species, which include Sablefish, Pacific cod, and Thornyhead rockfish along with an allocation of Halibut PSC mortality. Allocations to the catcher vessel sector are based on the average percentage of retained secondary catch or Halibut PSC mortality in the target rockfish fisheries during the qualifying period. These allocations are distributed to the cooperative members based on the amount of primary rockfish that the cooperative member holds. The 5-year RPP ended in 2011 and was rolled over into a new, modified, catch share program in June 2010 under Amendment 88 of the GOA Fisheries Management Plan (FMP). This Rockfish Program (RP) went into effect in 2012 and is scheduled to sunset after 10 years in As in the RPP, the primary RP objective is to stabilize the residential processing work force by filling times of year with low processing volumes, particularly May and June, and to remove the processing conflict with salmon. Additionally, the RP reduces the competition for fish among harvesters thereby promoting safety, high quality seafood production, and increased economic performance and stability for co-op members, fishermen and processors. The extended, non-derby style season allows co-op members to improve harvesting efficiency in the target fisheries while minimizing incidental bycatch of prohibited species through better fishing practices and efficient fleet monitoring and information distribution. The OBSI Rockfish Cooperative is one of 7 inshore cooperatives (compared to five co-ops in the RPP) formed in March 2012 in accordance with Amendment 88 of the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska marked the fifth year of the new Rockfish Program and, in compliance with Amendment 88, this Final Report is submitted to NMFS and the Council as a summary of allocations, harvests, transfers and cooperative performance during the 2016 rockfish fishing season in the Central Gulf of Alaska (CGOA). Catch figures and statistics were provided by the cooperative s manager and representative, Alaska Groundfish Data Bank, Inc. (AGDB) and cross-checked with NMFS Co-op catch data accessed through the NMFS Co-op ledger website (efish). II. COOPERATIVE MEMBERSHIP In 2016, the OBSI Rockfish Cooperative consisted of six member licenses (compared to 7 in 2015) with five member vessels (Table 1) of which three actively fished during the 2016 RP season (New Life, Pacific Star, Bay Islander). Ocean Beauty Seafoods, Inc (OBSI) in Kodiak, Alaska served as the primary purchasing and processing facility for the OBSI Rockfish Cooperative. 1 As of 2012, Pelagic shelf rockfish consists only of dusky rockfish OBSI Rockfish Cooperative Final Report 2016 Page 2 of 9

30 Table 1.LLPs, LLP owners and member vessels of the OBSI Rockfish Cooperative LLP No. LLP Owner Member Vessel ADFG No NEW LIFE FISHERIES, INC DOMINION BAY ISLANDER, INC. BAY ISLANDER MARATHON FISHERIES, INC. MARATHON NEW LIFE FISHERIES, INC NEW LIFE DEFIANT FISHERIES, INC. TAASINGE PAC STAR, INC. PACIFIC STAR III. COOPERATIVE MANAGEMENT The OBSI Rockfish Cooperative was represented and managed by Alaska Groundfish Data Bank, Inc in collaboration and coordination with the co-op president, Kent Helligso, the OBSI plant manager, James Turner, and the National Marine Fisheries Service. Fishing plans were devised to harvest the allocations efficiently while minimizing the amount of prohibited and non-marketable species. Harvest numbers, observer data and fish ticket information were analyzed, updated and distributed to the appropriate parties in a timely manner to ensure proper management. Figure 1 shows the schematic outlining the Co-op s operations and flow of information among the contributing parties. A. Monitoring (1) Check-ins and Check-outs: To facilitate moving into and out of non-rp fisheries during the rockfish season, NMFS instituted Check-ins and Check-outs. Co-op vessels were required to check into the RP fishery 48 hours prior to starting a trip and to check out of the program before participating in other fisheries. For the RP, there were no limits to the number of check-ins or check-outs. (2) Observer Coverage: 100% Observer coverage was required by all participating vessels. (3) CMCP Monitor: For the Rockfish Program, NMFS hired a Catch Monitoring and Control Plan (CMCP) specialist to monitor each Processor s CMCP. RP Processors are required to file with NMFS their CMCP prior to the start of the RP season. This plan details how the processor monitors the deliveries and complies with monitoring requirements. This is in lieu of 200% observer coverage at the plants required during the RPP. (4) NOAA Fisheries/Restricted Access Management: NOAA RAM s Co-op ledger web site (efish) was used to perform transfers, conduct cross-checks, check co-op balances and detect missing database information. OBSI Rockfish Cooperative Final Report 2016 Page 3 of 9

31 Figure 1. Schematic of OBSI Rockfish Cooperative Operations and Management NOAA Fisheries Co-op members Board of Directors Allocation Tracking Problem solving NMFS Cost recovery Fee CQ leasing Reporting CMCP Volume/ex-vessel Report NMFS cost recovery fee Ocean Beauty Fisheries, Kodiak NMFS CQ Application Co-op Fishing Plan Membership and Inter-coop Agreement Inter and intra-coop monitoring Transfers/leases Allocation Tracking Database management PSC Board Meetings Trip Exchanges Fish Tickets Vessel trip accounting Check-ins, check-outs Inter co-op transfers Alaska Groundfish Data Bank, Inc OBSI Co-op Representative Inter-Coop Manager Annual Co-op Report NPFMC Trip Exchanges Landings, Allocation tracking, Check-ins, check-outs Catch Reporting Inter-coop transfers Co-op account cross-check, Annual Co-op Report NOAA Fisheries Sustainable Fisheries/RAM IV. COOPERATIVE PERFORMANCE A. Co-op Allocations, Transfers and Harvests The OBSI Rockfish Cooperative s harvests for the 2016 season are summarized by species and vessel in Table 2. Note that cooperative fishing allowed individual vessel overages to be offset by quota not harvested by other member vessels. Inter-coop transfers (Table 3) were arranged by the Inter-coop manager to maximize harvesting of the allocations among the seven catcher vessel cooperatives, adhere to cooperative agreements and to cover overages. OBSI Rockfish Cooperative Final Report 2016 Page 4 of 9

32 Table 2. OBSI Rockfish Cooperative 2016 harvests by species and co-op harvesting vessel. Weights are in round pounds. CQ totals from ADF&G Fish Tickets (includes dock and at-sea discards). Halibut mortality PSC is from NMFS/RAM Co-op ledger website (as of Dec 11, 2016). Vessel POP NR Dusky Sablefish P. cod Thornyhead Halibut PSC NEW LIFE 1,401, , ,487 47,285 16,873 14,514 5,618 BAY ISLANDER , ,517 PACIFIC STAR 1,206, , ,720 59,190 23,794 10,191 3,040 Total Co-op Harvest 2,607, , , , ,086 24,705 11,175 Final OBSI Allocation: 2,608, ,564 1,087, , ,594 24,707 37,010 % Harvested 99.97% 96.03% 91.75% 99.96% 60.52% 99.99% 30.19% Table 3. OBSI Rockfish Co-op allocations and inter-coop transfer summary (weights are in pounds). POP NR Dusky Sablefish P. cod Thornyhead Halibut Initial OBSI Allocation: 2,780, , ,336 93, ,410 26,464 40,075 Transfers (ISA): (214,021) (52,167) (86,083) (7,027) (36,816) (2,024) (3,065) Transfers (Pacific): 41, , ,710 18, Transfers (NP): 1,718 Transfers (WAF): 25,843 Total Transfers (172,066) 177, ,628 13,334 (36,816) (1,757) (3,065) Final OBSI Allocation: 2,608, ,564 1,087, , ,594 24,707 37,010 Total CV Coops*: 20,814,804 4,282,965 5,309, ,740 3,106, , ,602 OBSI % CV Allocation: 12.53% 22.24% 20.49% 17.59% 14.31% 14.47% 14.31% *Includes CP CQ transferred onshore B. Vessel Use, Co-op CQ and Processing Caps (1) Vessel harvests: A vessel harvest cap of 8% of total primary rockfish quota allocated to the CV sector was one of the changes to the RP. In 2016, this amounted to 2,432,548 lbs of primary rockfish in the aggregate. During the 2016 season, no vessel exceeded this limit (see Figure 2). (2) Co-op QS: Control of harvest shares by a CV cooperative shall be capped at 30% of aggregate POP, northern rockfish and Dusky rockfish allocated to the CV sector. Final quota share allocated to the OBSI co-op in 2016 amounted to 15.3% of the aggregate CV rockfish cooperative quota (Table 5). (3) Processing limits: For the Rockfish Program, a provision was approved that states no processor shall process or receive more than 30% of: (1) primary rockfish in the aggregate; (2) sablefish; (3) Pacific cod allocated to the CV sector. During the 2016 season, Ocean Beauty Seafoods, Kodiak did not exceed these caps. See Table 4. Table 4. LBS and % of CV allocations by CQ species received and processed by OBSI Seafoods in Processing caps are 30% of the CV primary rockfish, sablefish and cod. Species Total Primary RF Sablefish Cod % RF % Sable % Cod OB Processed 4,546,077 93, , % 15.54% 8.66% CV Allocation 30,406, ,331 3,106,509 OBSI Rockfish Cooperative Final Report 2016 Page 5 of 9

33 Table 5. Primary rockfish CQ (POP, Northern Rockfish, Dusky rockfish): % of Final CV sector allocations by species and co-op (includes CQ transferred to the CV coops from the offshore coops) CV Co-op CQ POP NR Dusky Total Rockfish NP 17.5% 22.7% 22.7% 19.2% SOK 25.0% 24.6% 27.8% 25.4% WAF 17.3% 9.7% 11.0% 15.1% OBSI 12.5% 22.2% 20.5% 15.3% ISA 16.8% 17.3% 16.2% 16.7% Global 6.7% 3.4% 1.8% 5.4% Pacific 4.2% 0.0% 0.1% 2.9% Final Allocation 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% Figure 2.Harvests of primary rockfish by OBSI member vessels (% of aggregate CV primary rockfish). Vessel harvest cap is 8% % Harvested of CV Rockfish CQ (cap = 8%) Pacific Star 7.37% Bay Islander 0.00% Marathon 0.00% New Life 7.49% 0.00% 8.00% C. Retained and Discarded Catch of CQ Federal regulations require the RP participants to retain all Cooperative Quota (CQ) species except halibut: at-sea discards of Pacific Ocean Perch, Northern Rockfish, Dusky Rockfish, Pacific cod, Thornyheads, and Sablefish are not allowed. During the 2016 OBSI Rockfish Cooperative s fishing season (May 1 November 15, 2016), there were no occurrences of at-sea discards of CQ species. D. Sideboard limits and rockfish sideboard fishery harvests The Rockfish Program established sideboard limits and/or prohibitions that limit LLP holders participating in the Program from expanding their harvests in other fisheries. These sideboard restrictions apply only in July, historically the most active month for rockfish fishing. For the CV sector, the sideboard limits established in the RPP were removed for ease of management. The following prohibitions remain in place during the month of July: (1) For the month of July, limit all CVs to the shallow water complex fisheries (fishing in the deep complex is prohibited) (2) Directed fishing for WYAK and WGOA primary rockfish species in the month of July is prohibited OBSI Rockfish Cooperative Final Report 2016 Page 6 of 9

34 V. COOPERATIVE PROHIBITED SPECIES CATCH A. Halibut: The cooperative s fishing plan instituted a management scheme to discourage high halibut bycatch rates since the co-op s RP fishing would cease once its halibut PSC mortality cap was reached. Standards were set and enforced by the co-op members to abide by the halibut PSC mortality rate limits (Table 6). The OBSI Rockfish Co-op used 11,175 lbs or 30% of its final halibut PSC allocation of 37,010 lbs. Table 6. Halibut bycatch standards adopted by the OBSI Rockfish Cooperative. Inter-coop standard Red Light Standard Yellow Light Standard Species % halibut Species % halibut Species % halibut POP 0.50% POP 0.45% POP 0.38% NR/Dusky 2.20% NR/Dusky 1.98% NR/Dusky 1.65% Sable/cod 4.00% Sable/cod 3.60% Sable/cod 3.00% Of the total mt halibut PSC allocated to the RP (CV and CP co-ops), only 69 mt were used. As part of the RP, 45% of the unused CQ halibut PSC (55 mt in 2016) remained in the water. Added to the initial 12.5% reduction (27 mt), the total amount of halibut PSC savings in the RP in 2016 was 82 mt (not for use in any trawl fishery). B. Chinook Salmon: Amendment 97 to the GOA FMP, effective January 1, 2015, established Chinook salmon bycatch limits in the W/CGOA non-pollock trawl fisheries. The cap for the RP is 1,200 Chinook: W/CGOACP W/CGOA CV non-rockfish CGOA CV Rockfish Total Chinook PSC Limit 3,600 2,700 1,200 7,500 All Shoreside Cooperatives agreed to the Salmon Bycatch Avoidance Plan adopted in The plan included four parts: i) slow start to test the fishing grounds; ii) individual vessel Chinook salmon bycatch standards for the months of May, June, July, and August, iii) Chinook salmon hotspot reporting requirements, and iv) full retention of all bycaught Chinook salmon (required by regulation as of January 1, 2015). Fish ticket data were used to monitor the cooperative vessel s bycatch performance. Operators agreed to promptly self-report Chinook salmon hotspot areas from the grounds to AGDB and/or their Cooperative s affiliated processor. As in 2015, four hot spot alerts were sent out in 2016 compared to three in 2014 and eight in According to NMFS catch accounting, there were only 155 Chinook salmon taken during the season, well below the 1,200 salmon cap and by far the lowest number and rate since the RPP started in 2007 (see Table 7). OBSI Rockfish Cooperative Final Report 2016 Page 7 of 9

35 Table 7. Chinook PSC, total CV rockfish harvests and Chinook PSC rates for the RPP ( ) and the Rockfish Program ( ). Catcher vessel co-ops only. Source: Steve Whitney, NMFS. Year Rockfish Chinook Rate Harvest (no.) (Chinook/mt) (mt) , ,683 7, , ,017 7, , , ,271 8, , ,802 10, , Average 939 8, Rockfish Genetics Project: The Rockfish Genetics project that started 2013 continued into The genetic data collection is expected to continue in Over the 2016 season, DNA samples from 496 landed Chinook as well as snouts from 30 tagged salmon were collected and sent to NMFS Auke Bay Lab for processing. Preliminary results are expected Fall Results from the Rockfish fisheries are shown in Table 8 and Figure 3 (courtesy Jeff Guyon and Chuck Guthrie, NMFS Auke Bay). As in previous years, the 2015 data show that the majority of bycaught Chinook are from the West coast, SE Alaska and British Columbia (96.5% in combination). Table 8. Stock of Origin results, CGOA CV Rockfish fishery. Area 2013 Rockfish 2014 Rockfish 2015 Rockfish No. Samples Processed 2, Russia 0.0% 0.1% 0.0% Coast W AK 0.0% 0.3% 0.1% Mid Yukon 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% Up Yukon 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% N AK Pen 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% NW GOA 2.2% 3.2% 2.7% Copper 0.3% 0.1% 0.8% NE GOA 0.0% 0.1% 0.0% Coast SE AK 6.4% 7.1% 4.8% BC 31.3% 17.4% 18.9% West Coast US 59.9% 71.7% 72.8% SE, BC,WC combined 97.6% 96.2% 96.5% Total 100.1% 100.0% 100.0% OBSI Rockfish Cooperative Final Report 2016 Page 8 of 9

36 Figure 3. Chinook stock of origin results from census collections of tissue samples. 80.0% 70.0% 60.0% 50.0% 40.0% 2013 Rockfish 2014 Rockfish 2015 Rockfish 30.0% 20.0% 10.0% 0.0% Russia Coast W AK Mid Yukon Up Yukon N AK Pen NW GOA Copper NE GOA Coast SE AK BC West Coast US C. Other Prohibited Species Catch: The following were attributed to the combined in-shore catcher vessel cooperative catch accounts by NMFS CAS during the 2016 RP fishing season (May 1 st November 15 th ): 223 non-chinook salmon, 51 Golden king crab (source: Steve Whitney, NMFS as of Dec. 4, 2016). VI. PENALITIES/CIVIL ACTIONS The multispecies aspect of the RP precludes harvesting the co-op s allocation exactly on a vessel-byvessel basis: such is the advantage of fishing the quota cooperatively where the vessels can balance out each other s catches with no penalty incurred on the group as a whole. However, individuals who exceed their individual co-op quota share (except by prior agreement e.g. leases and clean up trips) are penalized monetarily as a disincentive for future occurrences. As per the OBSI Co-op Member Agreement, 100% of the ex-vessel revenue of the overage is paid by the offender directly to the member vessel that covers the overage. This discourages future excessive overage events. There were no civil actions taken against any co-op member. OBSI Rockfish Cooperative Final Report 2016 Page 9 of 9

37 Final Report WAF Rockfish Cooperative 2016 December 15, 2016 Prepared by: Alaska Groundfish Data Bank, Inc. P.O. Box 788 Kodiak AK 99615

38 I. INTRODUCTION In Section 802 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2004, the U.S. Congress included a Directive to the Secretary of Commerce to establish, in consultation with the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (the Council), a pilot program for management of three primary rockfish species in the Central Gulf of Alaska (CGOA): Pacific Ocean perch (POP), northern rockfish (NR), and pelagic shelf rockfish fisheries (PSR) 1. The ensuing catcher vessel Rockfish Pilot Program (RPP) allowed each catcher vessel/harvester to join a cooperative in association with the processor to which it delivered the most pounds of CGOA rockfish during the processor qualifying period. Each cooperative receives an annual harvest share allocation based on the qualified harvest history of its members (combined vessel quota shares or QS). In addition to the allocation of target rockfish, catcher vessel cooperatives also receive allocations of secondary species, which include Sablefish, Pacific cod, and Thornyhead rockfish along with an allocation of Halibut PSC mortality. Allocations to the catcher vessel sector are based on the average percentage of retained secondary catch or Halibut PSC mortality in the target rockfish fisheries during the qualifying period. These allocations are distributed to the cooperative members based on the amount of primary rockfish that the cooperative member holds. The 5-year RPP ended in 2011 and was rolled over into a new, modified, catch share program in June 2010 under Amendment 88 of the GOA Fisheries Management Plan (FMP). This Rockfish Program (RP) went into effect in 2012 and is scheduled to sunset after 10 years in As in the RPP, the primary RP objective is to stabilize the residential processing work force by filling times of year with low processing volumes, particularly May and June, and to remove the processing conflict with salmon. Additionally, the RP reduces the competition for fish among harvesters thereby promoting safety, high quality seafood production, and increased economic performance and stability for co-op members, fishermen and processors. The extended, non-derby style season allows co-op members to improve harvesting efficiency in the target fisheries while minimizing incidental bycatch of prohibited species through better fishing practices and efficient fleet monitoring and information distribution. The WAF Rockfish Cooperative is one of 7 inshore cooperatives (compared to five co-ops in the RPP) formed in March 2012 in accordance with Amendment 88 of the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska marked the fifth year of the new Rockfish Program and, in compliance with Amendment 88, this Final Report is submitted to NMFS and the Council as a summary of allocations, harvests, transfers and cooperative performance during the 2016 rockfish fishing season in the Central Gulf of Alaska (CGOA). Catch figures and statistics were provided by the cooperative s manager and representative, Alaska Groundfish Data Bank, Inc. (AGDB) and cross-checked with NMFS Co-op catch data accessed through the NMFS Co-op ledger website (efish). II. COOPERATIVE MEMBERSHIP In 2016, as in 2015, the WAF Rockfish Cooperative consisted of six member licenses with six member vessels (Table 1), five of which actively fished during the 2016 RP season: Elizabeth F, Walter N, Collier 1 As of 2012, Pelagic shelf rockfish consists only of dusky rockfish WAF Rockfish Cooperative Final Report 2016 Page 2 of 9

39 Brothers, Progress, Golf Rush. Trident Seafoods in Kodiak, Alaska served as the primary purchasing and processing facility for the WAF Rockfish Cooperative (Star of Kodiak plant). Table 1.LLPs, LLP owners and member vessels of the WAF Rockfish Cooperative LLP No. LLP Owner Member Vessel ADFG No ELIZABETH F, INC. ELIZABETH F ELIZABETH F, INC. WALTER N COLLIER BROS LLC COLLIER BROTHERS EVENING STAR, INC. HICKORY WIND PROGRESS FISHING, LLC ET AL. PROGRESS F/V GOLD RUSH FISHERIES LLC GOLD RUSH III. COOPERATIVE MANAGEMENT The WAF Rockfish Cooperative was represented and managed by Alaska Groundfish Data Bank, Inc in collaboration and coordination with the co-op president, Don Ashley, the Trident plant manager, Paul Lumsden, and the National Marine Fisheries Service. Fishing plans were devised to harvest the allocations efficiently while minimizing the amount of prohibited and non-marketable species. Harvest numbers, observer data and fish ticket information were analyzed, updated and distributed to the appropriate parties in a timely manner to ensure proper management. Figure 1 shows the schematic outlining the Co-op s operations and flow of information among the contributing parties. A. Monitoring (1) Check-ins and Check-outs: To facilitate moving into and out of non-rp fisheries during the rockfish season, NMFS instituted Check-ins and Check-outs. Co-op vessels were required to check into the RP fishery 48 hours prior to starting a trip and to check out of the program before participating in other fisheries. For the RP, there were no limits to the number of check-ins or check-outs. (2) Observer Coverage: 100% Observer coverage was required by all participating vessels. (3) CMCP Monitor: For the Rockfish Program, NMFS hired a Catch Monitoring and Control Plan (CMCP) specialist to monitor each Processor s CMCP. RP Processors are required to file with NMFS their CMCP prior to the start of the RP season. This plan details how the processor monitors the deliveries and complies with monitoring requirements. This is in lieu of 200% observer coverage at the plants required during the RPP. (4) NOAA Fisheries/Restricted Access Management: NOAA RAM s Co-op ledger web site (efish) was used to perform transfers, conduct cross-checks, check co-op balances and detect missing database information. WAF Rockfish Cooperative Final Report 2016 Page 3 of 9

40 Figure 1. Schematic of WAF Rockfish Cooperative Operations and Management NOAA Fisheries Co-op members Board of Directors Allocation Tracking Problem solving NMFS Management Fee CQ leasing Reporting CMCP Volume/ex-vessel Report NMFS cost recovery fee Trident Seafoods, Kodiak NMFS CQ Application Co-op Fishing Plan Membership and Inter-coop Agreement Inter and intra-coop monitoring Transfers/leases Allocation Tracking Database management PSC Board Meetings Trip Exchanges Fish Tickets Vessel trip accounting Check-ins, check-outs Inter co-op transfers Alaska Groundfish Data Bank, Inc WAF Co-op Representative Inter-Coop Manager Annual Co-op Report NPFMC NOAA Fisheries Sustainable Fisheries/RAM Trip Exchanges Landings, Allocation tracking, Check-ins, check-outs Catch Reporting Inter-coop transfers Co-op account cross-check, Annual Co-op Report IV. COOPERATIVE PERFORMANCE A. Co-op Allocations, Transfers and Harvests The WAF Rockfish Cooperative s harvests for the 2016 season are summarized by species and vessel in Table 2. Note that cooperative fishing allowed individual vessel overages to be offset by quota not harvested by other member vessels. Inter-coop transfers (Table 3) were arranged by the Inter-coop manager to maximize harvesting of the allocations among the seven catcher vessel cooperatives, adhere to cooperative agreements and to cover overages. WAF Rockfish Cooperative Final Report 2016 Page 4 of 9

41 Table 2. WAF Rockfish Cooperative 2016 harvests by species and co-op harvesting vessel. Weights are in round pounds. CQ totals from ADF&G Fish Tickets (includes dock and at-sea discards). Halibut mortality PSC is from NMFS/RAM Co-op ledger website (as of Dec. 12, 2016). Vessel POP NR Dusky Sablefish P. cod Thornyhead Halibut PSC Walter N 719, ,208 13, Elizabeth F 691, ,170 8, ,062 3,015 Collier Brothers 432, ,273 87,456 15,039 2,777 3,299 0 Progress 952,109 41, ,255 23,308 6,681 4, Gold Rush 800, , ,014 20,200 14,831 4, Total Co-op Harvest 3,596, , ,103 80,906 25,287 13,350 4,612 Final WAF Allocation: 3,596, , ,960 82, ,741 23,513 35,607 % Harvested % 70.40% 80.36% 97.71% 5.91% 56.78% 12.95% Table 3. WAF Rockfish Co-op allocations and inter-coop transfer summary (weights are in pounds). POP NR Dusky Sablefish P. cod Thornyhead Halibut Initial WAF Allocation: 3,514, , ,545 82, ,741 23,513 35,607 Transfers (OBSI) (25,843) Transfers (SOK) 81, ,415 Total Transfers 81,393 (25,843) 101, Final WAF Allocation: 3,596, , ,960 82, ,741 23,513 35,607 Total CV Coops*: 20,814,804 4,282,965 5,309, ,740 3,106, , ,602 WAF % CV Allocation: 17.28% 9.70% 11.02% 13.67% 13.77% 13.77% 13.77% *Includes CP CQ transferred onshore B. Vessel Use, Co-op CQ and Processing Caps (1) Vessel harvests: A vessel harvest cap of 8% of total primary rockfish quota allocated to the CV sector is one of the new changes to the RP. In 2016, this amounted to 2,432,548 lbs of primary rockfish in the aggregate. During the 2016 season, no vessel exceeded this limit (see figure 2). (2) Co-op QS: Control of harvest shares by a CV cooperative shall be capped at 30% of aggregate POP, northern rockfish and Dusky rockfish allocated to the CV sector. Final quota share allocated to the WAF co-op in 2016 amounted to 15.1% of the aggregate CV rockfish cooperative quota (Table 5). (3) Processing limits: For the Rockfish Program, a provision was approved that states no processor shall process or receive more than 30% of: (1) primary rockfish in the aggregate; (2) sablefish; (3) Pacific cod allocated to the CV sector. During the 2016 season, Trident Seafoods in Kodiak did not exceed these caps. See Table 4. Note: Trident Seafoods purchased the Western Alaska Fisheries plant in Kodiak in December NMFS ruled that the processing cap applies to the processor entity, not the facility. Therefore, all CQ landed at the Star of Kodiak plant, the old WAF plant (renamed in 2016 Trident s Pillar Mountain plant) as well as Trident s newly constructed addition next door to SOK which went online July 1, 2015 counted towards the 30% caps. Table 4. LBS and % of CV allocations by CQ species received and processed by Trident Seafoods in Processing caps are 30% of the CV primary rockfish, sablefish and cod. Species Total Primary RF Sablefish Cod % RF % Sable % Cod Trident Processed 8,441, ,354 47, % 29.99% 1.52% CV Allocation 30,406, ,331 3,106,509 WAF Rockfish Cooperative Final Report 2016 Page 5 of 9

42 Table 5. Primary rockfish CQ (POP, Northern Rockfish, Dusky rockfish): % of Final CV sector allocations by species and co-op CV Co-op CQ POP NR Dusky Total Rockfish NP 17.5% 22.7% 22.7% 19.2% SOK 25.0% 24.6% 27.8% 25.4% WAF 17.3% 9.7% 11.0% 15.1% OBSI 12.5% 22.2% 20.5% 15.3% ISA 16.8% 17.3% 16.2% 16.7% Global 6.7% 3.4% 1.8% 5.4% Pacific 4.2% 0.0% 0.1% 2.9% Final Allocation 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% Figure 2.Harvests of primary rockfish by WAF member vessels (% of aggregate CV primary rockfish). Vessel harvest cap is 8% % Harvested of CV Rockfish CQ (cap = 8%) Gold Rush Progress 3.84% 3.72% Hickory Wind 0.00% Collier Bros Elizabeth F Walter N 2.11% 2.28% 2.38% 0.00% 8.00% C. Retained and Discarded Catch of CQ Federal regulations require the RP participants to retain all Cooperative Quota (CQ) species except halibut: at-sea discards of Pacific Ocean Perch, Northern Rockfish, Dusky Rockfish, Pacific cod, Thornyheads, and Sablefish are not allowed. During the 2016 WAF Rockfish Cooperative s fishing season (May 1 November 15, 2016), there were no occurrences of at-sea discards of CQ species. D. Sideboard limits and rockfish sideboard fishery harvests The Rockfish Program established sideboard limits and/or prohibitions that limit LLP holders participating in the Program from expanding their harvests in other fisheries. These sideboard restrictions apply only in July, historically the most active month for rockfish fishing. For the CV sector, the sideboard limits established in the RPP have been removed for ease of management. The following prohibitions remain in place during the month of July: (1) For the month of July, limit all CVs to the shallow water complex fisheries (fishing in the deep complex is prohibited) (2) Directed fishing for WYAK and WGOA primary rockfish species in the month of July is prohibited WAF Rockfish Cooperative Final Report 2016 Page 6 of 9

43 V. COOPERATIVE PROHIBITED SPECIES CATCH A. Halibut: The cooperative s fishing plan instituted a management scheme to discourage high halibut bycatch rates since the co-op s RP fishing would cease once its halibut PSC mortality cap was reached. Standards were set and enforced by the co-op members to abide by the halibut PSC mortality rate limits (Table 6). The WAF Rockfish Co-op used 4,612 lbs or 13% of its final halibut PSC allocation of 35,607 lbs. Table 6. Halibut bycatch standards adopted by the WAF Rockfish Cooperative. Inter-coop standard Red Light Standard Yellow Light Standard Species % halibut Species % halibut Species % halibut POP 0.50% POP 0.45% POP 0.38% NR/Dusky 2.20% NR/Dusky 1.98% NR/Dusky 1.65% Sable/cod 4.00% Sable/cod 3.60% Sable/cod 3.00% Of the total mt halibut PSC allocated to the RP (CV and CP co-ops), only 69 mt were used. As part of the RP, 45% of the unused CQ halibut PSC (55 mt in 2016) remained in the water. Added to the initial 12.5% reduction (27 mt), the total amount of halibut PSC savings in the RP in 2016 was 82 mt (not for use in any trawl fishery). B. Chinook Salmon: Amendment 97 to the GOA FMP, effective January 1, 2015, established Chinook salmon bycatch limits in the W/CGOA non-pollock trawl fisheries. The cap for the RP is 1,200 Chinook: W/CGOACP W/CGOA CV non-rockfish CGOA CV Rockfish Total Chinook PSC Limit 3,600 2,700 1,200 7,500 All Shoreside Cooperatives agreed to the Salmon Bycatch Avoidance Plan adopted in The plan included four parts: i) slow start to test the fishing grounds; ii) individual vessel Chinook salmon bycatch standards for the months of May, June, July, and August, iii) Chinook salmon hotspot reporting requirements, and iv) full retention of all bycaught Chinook salmon (required by regulation as of January 1, 2015). Fish ticket data were used to monitor the cooperative vessel s bycatch performance. Operators agreed to promptly self-report Chinook salmon hotspot areas from the grounds to AGDB and/or their Cooperative s affiliated processor. As in 2015, four hot spot alerts were sent out in 2016 compared to three in 2014 and eight in According to NMFS catch accounting, there were only 155 Chinook salmon taken during the season, well below the 1,200 salmon cap and by far the lowest number and rate since the RPP started in 2007 (see Table 7). WAF Rockfish Cooperative Final Report 2016 Page 7 of 9

44 Table 7. Chinook PSC, total CV rockfish harvests and Chinook PSC rate for the RPP ( ) and the RP. Catcher vessel co-ops only. Source: Steve Whitney, NMFS. Year Rockfish Chinook Rate Harvest (no.) (Chinook/mt) (mt) , ,683 7, , ,017 7, , , ,271 8, , ,802 10, , Average 939 8, Rockfish Genetics Project: The Rockfish Genetics project that started 2013 continued into The genetic data collection is expected to continue in Over the 2016 season, DNA samples from 496 landed Chinook as well as snouts from 30 tagged salmon were collected and sent to NMFS Auke Bay Lab for processing. Preliminary results are expected Fall Results from the Rockfish fisheries are shown in Table 8 and Figure 3 (courtesy Jeff Guyon and Chuck Guthrie, NMFS Auke Bay). As in previous years, the 2015 data show that the majority of bycaught Chinook are from the West coast, SE Alaska and British Columbia (96.5% in combination). Table 8. Stock of Origin results, CGOA CV Rockfish fishery. Area 2013 Rockfish 2014 Rockfish 2015 Rockfish No. Samples Processed 2, Russia 0.0% 0.1% 0.0% Coast W AK 0.0% 0.3% 0.1% Mid Yukon 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% Up Yukon 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% N AK Pen 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% NW GOA 2.2% 3.2% 2.7% Copper 0.3% 0.1% 0.8% NE GOA 0.0% 0.1% 0.0% Coast SE AK 6.4% 7.1% 4.8% BC 31.3% 17.4% 18.9% West Coast US 59.9% 71.7% 72.8% SE, BC,WC combined 97.6% 96.2% 96.5% Total 100.1% 100.0% 100.0% WAF Rockfish Cooperative Final Report 2016 Page 8 of 9

45 Figure 3. Chinook stock of origin results from census collections of tissue samples. 80.0% 70.0% 60.0% 50.0% 40.0% 2013 Rockfish 2014 Rockfish 2015 Rockfish 30.0% 20.0% 10.0% 0.0% Russia Coast W AK Mid Yukon Up Yukon N AK Pen NW GOA Copper NE GOA Coast SE AK BC West Coast US C. Other Prohibited Species Catch: The following were attributed to the combined in-shore catcher vessel cooperative catch accounts by NMFS CAS during the 2016 RP fishing season (May 1 st November 15 th ): 223 non-chinook salmon, 51 Golden king crab (source: Steve Whitney, NMFS as of Dec. 4, 2016). VI. PENALITIES/CIVIL ACTIONS The multispecies aspect of the RP precludes harvesting the co-op s allocation exactly on a vessel-byvessel basis: such is the advantage of fishing the quota cooperatively where the vessels can balance out each other s catches with no penalty incurred on the group as a whole. However, individuals who exceed their individual co-op quota share (except by prior agreement e.g. leases and clean up trips) are penalized monetarily as a disincentive for future occurrences. As per the WAF Co-op Member Agreement, 100% of the ex-vessel revenue of the overage is paid by the offender directly to the member vessel that covers the overage. This discourages future excessive overage events. There were no civil actions taken against any co-op member. WAF Rockfish Cooperative Final Report 2016 Page 9 of 9

46 Final Report Global Rockfish Cooperative 2016 December 15, 2016 Prepared by: Alaska Groundfish Data Bank, Inc. P.O. Box 788 Kodiak AK 99615

47 I. INTRODUCTION In Section 802 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2004, the U.S. Congress included a Directive to the Secretary of Commerce to establish, in consultation with the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (the Council), a pilot program for management of three primary rockfish species in the Central Gulf of Alaska (CGOA): Pacific Ocean perch (POP), northern rockfish (NR), and pelagic shelf rockfish fisheries (PSR) 1. The ensuing catcher vessel Rockfish Pilot Program (RPP) allowed each catcher vessel/harvester to join a cooperative in association with the processor to which it delivered the most pounds of CGOA rockfish during the processor qualifying period. Each cooperative receives an annual harvest share allocation based on the qualified harvest history of its members (combined vessel quota shares or QS). In addition to the allocation of target rockfish, catcher vessel cooperatives also receive allocations of secondary species, which include Sablefish, Pacific cod, and Thornyhead rockfish along with an allocation of Halibut PSC mortality. Allocations to the catcher vessel sector are based on the average percentage of retained secondary catch or Halibut PSC mortality in the target rockfish fisheries during the qualifying period. These allocations are distributed to the cooperative members based on the amount of primary rockfish that the cooperative member holds. The 5-year RPP ended in 2011 and was rolled over into a new, modified, catch share program in June 2010 under Amendment 88 of the GOA Fisheries Management Plan (FMP). This Rockfish Program (RP) went into effect in 2012 and is scheduled to sunset after 10 years in As in the RPP, the primary RP objective is to stabilize the residential processing work force by filling times of year with low processing volumes, particularly May and June, and to remove the processing conflict with salmon. Additionally, the RP reduces the competition for fish among harvesters thereby promoting safety, high quality seafood production, and increased economic performance and stability for co-op members, fishermen and processors. The extended, non-derby style season allows co-op members to improve harvesting efficiency in the target fisheries while minimizing incidental bycatch of prohibited species through better fishing practices and efficient fleet monitoring and information distribution. The Global Rockfish Cooperative is one of 7 inshore cooperatives (compared to five co-ops in the RPP) formed in March 2012 in accordance with Amendment 88 of the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska marked the fifth year of the new Rockfish Program and, in compliance with Amendment 88, this Final Report is submitted to NMFS and the Council as a summary of allocations, harvests, transfers and cooperative performance during the 2015 rockfish fishing season in the Central Gulf of Alaska (CGOA). Catch figures and statistics were provided by the cooperative s manager and representative, Alaska Groundfish Data Bank, Inc. (AGDB) and cross-checked with NMFS Co-op catch data accessed through the NMFS Co-op ledger website (efish). II. COOPERATIVE MEMBERSHIP In 2016, the Global Rockfish Cooperative consisted of three member licenses with three member vessels (Table 1) of which two actively fished during the 2016 RP season: Leslie Lee and Vanguard. Global 1 As of 2012, Pelagic shelf rockfish consists only of dusky rockfish Global Rockfish Cooperative Final Report 2016 Page 2 of 8

48 Seafoods, Kodiak served as the primary purchasing and processing facility for the Global Rockfish Cooperative. Table 1.LLPs, LLP owners and member vessels of the Global Rockfish Cooperative LLP No. LLP Owner Member Vessel ADFG No LESLIE LEE, INC LESLIE LEE PACIFIC STORM FISHERIES, LLC. PACIFIC STORM FUTURA FISHERIES, INC. VANGUARD III. COOPERATIVE MANAGEMENT The Global Rockfish Cooperative was represented and managed by Alaska Groundfish Data Bank, Inc in collaboration and coordination with the co-op president, Lee Woodard, the Global Seafoods assistant plant manager, Nik Morozov, and the National Marine Fisheries Service. Fishing plans were devised to harvest the allocations efficiently while minimizing the amount of prohibited and non-marketable species. Harvest numbers, observer data and fish ticket information were analyzed, updated and distributed to the appropriate parties in a timely manner to ensure proper management. Figure 1 shows the schematic outlining the Co-op s operations and flow of information among the contributing parties. A. Monitoring (1) Check-ins and Check-outs: To facilitate moving into and out of non-rp fisheries during the rockfish season, NMFS instituted Check-ins and Check-outs. Co-op vessels were required to check into the RP fishery 48 hours prior to starting a trip and to check out of the program before participating in other fisheries. For the RP, there were no limits to the number of check-ins or check-outs. (2) Observer Coverage: 100% Observer coverage was required by all participating vessels. (3) CMCP Monitor: For the Rockfish Program, NMFS hired a Catch Monitoring and Control Plan (CMCP) specialist to monitor each Processor s CMCP. RP Processors are required to file with NMFS their CMCP prior to the start of the RP season. This plan details how the processor monitors the deliveries and complies with monitoring requirements. This is in lieu of 200% observer coverage at the plants required during the RPP. (4) NOAA Fisheries/Restricted Access Management: NOAA RAM s Co-op ledger web site (efish) was used to perform transfers, conduct cross-checks, check co-op balances and detect missing database information. Global Rockfish Cooperative Final Report 2016 Page 3 of 8

49 Figure 1. Schematic of Global Rockfish Cooperative Operations and Management NOAA Fisheries Co-op members Board of Directors Allocation Tracking Problem solving NMFS cost recovery fee CQ leasing Global Seafoods, Kodiak Reporting CMCP Volume/ex-vessel Report NMFS cost recovery fee NMFS CQ Application Co-op Fishing Plan Membership and Inter-coop Agreement Inter and intra-coop monitoring Transfers/leases Allocation Tracking Database management PSC Board Meetings Trip Exchanges Fish Tickets Vessel trip accounting Check-ins, check-outs Inter co-op transfers Alaska Groundfish Data Bank, Inc Global Co-op Representative Inter-Coop Manager Annual Co-op Report NPFMC Trip Exchanges Landings, Allocation tracking, Check-ins, check-outs Catch Reporting Inter-coop transfers Co-op account cross-check, Annual Co-op Report NOAA Fisheries Sustainable Fisheries/RAM IV. COOPERATIVE PERFORMANCE A. Co-op Allocations, Transfers and Harvests The Global Rockfish Cooperative s harvests for the 2016 season are summarized by species and vessel in Table 2. Note that cooperative fishing allowed individual vessel overages to be offset by quota not harvested by other member vessels. Inter-coop transfers (Table 3) were arranged by the Inter-coop manager to maximize harvesting of the allocations among the seven catcher vessel cooperatives, adhere to cooperative agreements and to cover overages. Table 2. Global Rockfish Cooperative 2016 harvests by species and co-op harvesting vessel. Weights are in round pounds. CQ totals from ADF&G Fish Tickets (includes dock and at-sea discards). Halibut mortality PSC is from NMFS/RAM Co-op ledger website (as of December 11, 2016). Vessel POP NR Dusky Sablefish P. cod Thornyhead Halibut PSC LESLIE LEE 543, ,034 33,319 11,181 5,976 2,314 1,374 VANGUARD 811, ,316 15,063 6,544 4,718 3,435 Total Co-op Harvest 1,354, ,423 49,635 26,244 12,520 7,032 4,809 Final Global Allocation: 1,393, ,440 93,426 26, ,686 7,624 11,545 % Harvested 97.21% 99.99% 53.13% 97.76% 9.03% 92.24% 41.65% Global Rockfish Cooperative Final Report 2016 Page 4 of 8

50 Table 3. Global Rockfish Co-op allocations and inter-coop transfer summary (weights are in pounds). POP NR Dusky Sablefish P. cod Thornyhead Halibut Initial Global Allocation: 1,420,201 54,149 93,426 26, ,686 7,624 11,545 Transfers (SOK): (26,500) 93,291 Total Transfers (26,500) 93, Final Global Allocation: 1,393, ,440 93,426 26, ,686 7,624 11,545 Total CV Coops*: 20,814,804 4,282,965 5,309, ,740 3,106, , ,602 Global % CV Allocation: 6.70% 3.44% 1.76% 4.43% 4.46% 4.46% 4.46% *Includes CP CQ transferred onshore B. Vessel Use, Co-op CQ and Processing Caps (1) Vessel harvests: A vessel harvest cap of 8% of total primary rockfish quota allocated to the CV sector was one of the changes to the RP. In 2016, this amounted to 2,432,548 lbs of primary rockfish in the aggregate. During the 2016 season, no vessel exceeded this limit (see Figure 2). (2) Co-op QS: Control of harvest shares by a CV cooperative shall be capped at 30% of aggregate POP, northern rockfish and Dusky rockfish allocated to the CV sector. Final quota share allocated to the Global co-op in 2016 amounted to 5.4% of the aggregate CV rockfish cooperative quota (Table 5) (3) Processing limits: For the Rockfish Program, a provision was approved that states no processor shall process or receive more than 30% of: (1) primary rockfish in the aggregate; (2) sablefish; (3) Pacific cod allocated to the CV sector. During the 2016 season, Global Seafoods, Kodiak did not exceed these caps. See Table 4 Table 4. LBS and % of CV allocations by CQ species received and processed by Global Seafoods in Processing caps are 30% of the CV primary rockfish, sablefish and cod. Species Total Primary RF Sablefish Cod % RF % Sable % Cod Global Processed 1,551,843 26,244 12, % 4.36%.40% CV Allocation 30,406, ,331 3,106,509 Table 5. Primary rockfish CQ (POP, Northern Rockfish, Dusky rockfish): % of Final CV sector allocations by species and co-op CV Co-op CQ POP NR Dusky Total Rockfish NP 17.5% 22.7% 22.7% 19.2% SOK 25.0% 24.6% 27.8% 25.4% WAF 17.3% 9.7% 11.0% 15.1% OBSI 12.5% 22.2% 20.5% 15.3% ISA 16.8% 17.3% 16.2% 16.7% Global 6.7% 3.4% 1.8% 5.4% Pacific 4.2% 0.0% 0.1% 2.9% Final Allocation 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% Global Rockfish Cooperative Final Report 2016 Page 5 of 8

51 Figure 2.Harvests of primary rockfish by Global member vessels (% of aggregate CV primary rockfish). Vessel harvest cap is 8% % Harvested (cap = 8%) Vanguard 2.72% Pacific Storm 0.00% Leslie Lee 2.38% 0.00% 8.00% C. Retained and Discarded Catch of CQ Federal regulations require the RP participants to retain all Cooperative Quota (CQ) species: at-sea discards of Pacific Ocean Perch, Northern Rockfish, Dusky Rockfish, Pacific cod, Thornyheads, and Sablefish are not allowed. During the 2016 Global Rockfish Cooperative s fishing season (May 1 November 15, 2016), there were no occurrences of at-sea discards of CQ species. D. Sideboard limits and rockfish sideboard fishery harvests The Rockfish Program established sideboard limits and/or prohibitions that limit LLP holders participating in the Program from expanding their harvests in other fisheries. These sideboard restrictions apply only in July, historically the most active month for rockfish fishing. For the CV sector, the sideboard limits established in the RPP have been removed for ease of management. The following prohibitions remain in place during the month of July: (1) For the month of July, limit all CVs to the shallow water complex fisheries (fishing in the deep complex is prohibited) (2) Directed fishing for WYAK and WGOA primary rockfish species in the month of July is prohibited V. COOPERATIVE PROHIBITED SPECIES CATCH A. Halibut: The cooperative s fishing plan instituted a management scheme to discourage high halibut bycatch rates since the co-op s RP fishing would cease once its halibut PSC mortality cap was reached. Standards were set and enforced by the co-op members to abide by the halibut PSC mortality rate limits (Table 6). The Global Rockfish Co-op used 4,809 lbs or 42% of its final halibut PSC allocation of 11,545 lbs Table 6.Halibut bycatch standards adopted by the Global Rockfish Cooperative. Inter-coop standard Red Light Standard Yellow Light Standard Species % halibut Species % halibut Species % halibut POP 0.50% POP 0.45% POP 0.38% NR/Dusky 2.20% NR/Dusky 1.98% NR/Dusky 1.65% Sable/cod 4.00% Sable/cod 3.60% Sable/cod 3.00% Global Rockfish Cooperative Final Report 2016 Page 6 of 8

52 Of the total mt halibut PSC allocated to the RP (CV and CP co-ops), only 69 mt were used. As part of the RP, 45% of the unused CQ halibut PSC (55 mt in 2016) remained in the water. Added to the initial 12.5% reduction (27 mt), the total amount of halibut PSC savings in the RP in 2016 was 82 mt (not for use in any trawl fishery). B. Chinook Salmon: Amendment 97 to the GOA FMP, effective January 1, 2015, established Chinook salmon bycatch limits in the W/CGOA non-pollock trawl fisheries. The cap for the RP is 1,200 Chinook: W/CGOACP W/CGOA CV non-rockfish CGOA CV Rockfish Total Chinook PSC Limit 3,600 2,700 1,200 7,500 All Shoreside Cooperatives agreed to the Salmon Bycatch Avoidance Plan adopted in The plan included four parts: i) slow start to test the fishing grounds; ii) individual vessel Chinook salmon bycatch standards for the months of May, June, July, and August, iii) Chinook salmon hotspot reporting requirements, and iv) full retention of all bycaught Chinook salmon (required by regulation as of January 1, 2015). Fish ticket data were used to monitor the cooperative vessel s bycatch performance. Operators agreed to promptly self-report Chinook salmon hotspot areas from the grounds to AGDB and/or their Cooperative s affiliated processor. As in 2015, four hot spot alerts were sent out in 2016 compared to three in 2014 and eight in According to NMFS catch accounting, there were only 155 Chinook salmon taken during the season, well below the 1,200 salmon cap and by far the lowest number and rate since the RPP started in 2007 (see Table 7). Table 7. Chinook PSC, total CV rockfish harvests and Chinook PSC rates for the RPP ( ) and the Rockfish Program ( ). Catcher vessel co-ops only. Source: Steve Whitney, NMFS. Year Rockfish Chinook Rate Harvest (no.) (Chinook/mt) (mt) , ,683 7, , ,017 7, , , ,271 8, , ,802 10, , Average 939 8, Rockfish Genetics Project: The Rockfish Genetics project that started 2013 continued into The genetic data collection is expected to continue in Over the 2016 season, DNA samples from 496 landed Chinook as well as snouts from 30 tagged salmon were collected and sent to NMFS Auke Bay Lab for processing. Preliminary results are expected Fall Results from the Rockfish fisheries are shown in Table 8 and Figure 3 (courtesy Jeff Guyon and Chuck Guthrie, NMFS Auke Bay). As in previous years, the 2015 data show that the majority of bycaught Chinook are from the West coast, SE Alaska and British Columbia (96.5% in combination). Global Rockfish Cooperative Final Report 2016 Page 7 of 8

53 Table 8. Stock of Origin results, CGOA CV Rockfish fishery. Area 2013 Rockfish 2014 Rockfish 2015 Rockfish No. Samples Processed 2, Russia 0.0% 0.1% 0.0% Coast W AK 0.0% 0.3% 0.1% Mid Yukon 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% Up Yukon 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% N AK Pen 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% NW GOA 2.2% 3.2% 2.7% Copper 0.3% 0.1% 0.8% NE GOA 0.0% 0.1% 0.0% Coast SE AK 6.4% 7.1% 4.8% BC 31.3% 17.4% 18.9% West Coast US 59.9% 71.7% 72.8% SE, BC,WC combined 97.6% 96.2% 96.5% Total 100.1% 100.0% 100.0% Figure 3. Chinook stock of origin results from census collections of tissue samples. 80.0% 70.0% 60.0% 2013 Rockfish 2014 Rockfish 2015 Rockfish 50.0% 40.0% 30.0% 20.0% 10.0% 0.0% Russia Coast W Mid Up N AK NW Copper NE GOA Coast BC West AK Yukon Yukon Pen GOA SE AK Coast US C. Other Prohibited Species Catch: The following were attributed to the combined in-shore catcher vessel cooperative catch accounts by NMFS CAS during the 2016 RP fishing season (May 1 st November 15 th ): 223 non-chinook salmon, 51 Golden king crab (source: Steve Whitney, NMFS as of Dec. 4, 2016). VI. PENALITIES/CIVIL ACTIONS The multispecies aspect of the RP precludes harvesting the co-op s allocation exactly on a vessel-byvessel basis: such is the advantage of fishing the quota cooperatively where the vessels can balance out each other s catches with no penalty incurred on the group as a whole. However, individuals who exceed their individual co-op quota share (except by prior agreement e.g. leases and clean up trips) are penalized monetarily as a disincentive for future occurrences. As per the Global Co-op Member Agreement, 100% of the ex-vessel revenue of the overage is paid by the offender directly to the member vessel that covers the overage. This discourages future excessive overage events. There were no civil actions taken against any co-op member. Global Rockfish Cooperative Final Report 2016 Page 8 of 8

54 Final Report Pacific Rockfish Cooperative 2016 December 15, 2016 Prepared by: Alaska Groundfish Data Bank, Inc. P.O. Box 788 Kodiak AK 99615

55 I. INTRODUCTION In Section 802 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2004, the U.S. Congress included a Directive to the Secretary of Commerce to establish, in consultation with the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (the Council), a pilot program for management of three primary rockfish species in the Central Gulf of Alaska (CGOA): Pacific Ocean perch (POP), northern rockfish (NR), and pelagic shelf rockfish fisheries (PSR) 1. The ensuing catcher vessel Rockfish Pilot Program (RPP) allowed each catcher vessel/harvester to join a cooperative in association with the processor to which it delivered the most pounds of CGOA rockfish during the processor qualifying period. Each cooperative receives an annual harvest share allocation based on the qualified harvest history of its members (combined vessel quota shares or QS). In addition to the allocation of target rockfish, catcher vessel cooperatives also receive allocations of secondary species, which include Sablefish, Pacific cod, and Thornyhead rockfish along with an allocation of Halibut PSC mortality. Allocations to the catcher vessel sector are based on the average percentage of retained secondary catch or Halibut PSC mortality in the target rockfish fisheries during the qualifying period. These allocations are distributed to the cooperative members based on the amount of primary rockfish that the cooperative member holds. The 5-year RPP ended in 2011 and was rolled over into a new, modified, catch share program in June 2010 under Amendment 88 of the GOA Fisheries Management Plan (FMP). This Rockfish Program (RP) went into effect in 2012 and is scheduled to sunset after 10 years in As in the RPP, the primary RP objective is to stabilize the residential processing work force by filling times of year with low processing volumes, particularly May and June, and to remove the processing conflict with salmon. Additionally, the RP reduces the competition for fish among harvesters thereby promoting safety, high quality seafood production, and increased economic performance and stability for co-op members, fishermen and processors. The extended, non-derby style season allows co-op members to improve harvesting efficiency in the target fisheries while minimizing incidental bycatch of prohibited species through better fishing practices and efficient fleet monitoring and information distribution. The Pacific Rockfish Cooperative is one of 7 inshore cooperatives (compared to five co-ops in the RPP) formed in March 2012 in accordance with Amendment 88 of the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska marked the fifth year of the new Rockfish Program and, in compliance with Amendment 88, this Final Report is submitted to NMFS and the Council as a summary of allocations, harvests, transfers and cooperative performance during the 2016 rockfish fishing season in the Central Gulf of Alaska (CGOA). Catch figures and statistics were provided by the cooperative s manager and representative, Alaska Groundfish Data Bank, Inc. (AGDB) and cross-checked with NMFS Co-op catch data accessed through the NMFS Co-op ledger website (efish). II. COOPERATIVE MEMBERSHIP In 2016, as in 2015, the Pacific Rockfish Cooperative consisted of two member licenses with two member vessels (Table 1) of which one actively fished during the 2016 RP season: Stella. Pacific 1 As of 2012, Pelagic shelf rockfish consists only of dusky rockfish Pacific Rockfish Cooperative Final Report 2016 Page 2 of 8

56 Seafoods, Kodiak served as the primary purchasing and processing facility for the Pacific Rockfish Cooperative. Table 1.LLPs, LLP owners and member vessels of the Pacific Rockfish Cooperative LLP No. LLP Owner Member Vessel ADFG No PACIFIC FUTURE LLC PACIFIC FUTURE LOUGHBEG FISHERIES, INC STELLA III. COOPERATIVE MANAGEMENT The Pacific Rockfish Cooperative was represented and managed by Alaska Groundfish Data Bank, Inc in collaboration and coordination with the co-op president, Carmel Carty, the Pacific Seafoods plant manager, Rey Blanco, and the National Marine Fisheries Service. Fishing plans were devised to harvest the allocations efficiently while minimizing the amount of prohibited and non-marketable species. Harvest numbers, observer data and fish ticket information were analyzed, updated and distributed to the appropriate parties in a timely manner to ensure proper management. Figure 1 shows the schematic outlining the Co-op s operations and flow of information among the contributing parties. A. Monitoring (1) Check-ins and Check-outs: To facilitate moving into and out of non-rp fisheries during the rockfish season, NMFS instituted Check-ins and Check-outs. Co-op vessels were required to check into the RP fishery 48 hours prior to starting a trip and to check out of the program before participating in other fisheries. For the RP, there were no limits to the number of check-ins or check-outs. (2) Observer Coverage: 100% Observer coverage was required by all participating vessels. (3) CMCP Monitor: For the Rockfish Program, NMFS hired a Catch Monitoring and Control Plan (CMCP) specialist to monitor each Processor s CMCP. RP Processors are required to file with NMFS their CMCP prior to the start of the RP season. This plan details how the processor monitors the deliveries and complies with monitoring requirements. This is in lieu of 200% observer coverage at the plants required during the RPP. (4) NOAA Fisheries/Restricted Access Management: NOAA RAM s Co-op ledger web site (efish) was used to perform transfers, conduct cross-checks, check co-op balances and detect missing database information. Pacific Rockfish Cooperative Final Report 2016 Page 3 of 8

57 Figure 1. Schematic of Pacific Rockfish Cooperative Operations and Management NOAA Fisheries Co-op members Board of Directors Allocation Tracking Problem solving NMFS cost recovery fee CQ leasing Reporting CMCP Volume/ex-vessel Report NMFS cost recovery fee Pacific Seafoods, Kodiak NMFS CQ Application Co-op Fishing Plan Membership and Inter-coop Agreement Inter and intra-coop monitoring Transfers/leases Allocation Tracking Database management PSC Board Meetings Trip Exchanges Fish Tickets Vessel trip accounting Check-ins, check-outs Inter co-op transfers Alaska Groundfish Data Bank, Inc Pacific Co-op Representative Inter-Coop Manager Annual Co-op Report NPFMC NOAA Fisheries Sustainable Fisheries/RAM Trip Exchanges Landings, Allocation tracking, Check-ins, check-outs Catch Reporting Inter-coop transfers Co-op account cross-check, Annual Co-op Report IV. COOPERATIVE PERFORMANCE A. Co-op Allocations, Transfers and Harvests The Pacific Rockfish Cooperative s harvests for the 2016 season are summarized by species and vessel in Table 2. Note that cooperative fishing allowed individual vessel overages to be offset by quota not harvested by other member vessels. Inter-coop transfers (Table 3) were arranged by the Inter-coop manager to maximize harvesting of the allocations among the seven catcher vessel cooperatives, adhere to cooperative agreements and to cover overages. Pacific Rockfish Cooperative Final Report 2016 Page 4 of 8

58 Table 2.Pacific Rockfish Cooperative 2016 harvests by species and co-op harvesting vessel. Weights are in round pounds. CQ totals from ADF&G Fish Tickets (includes dock and at-sea discards). Halibut mortality PSC is from NMFS/RAM Co-op ledger website (as of Dec 11, 2016). Vessel POP NR Dusky Sablefish P. cod Thornyhead Halibut PSC STELLA 871, ,943 7, , Total Co-op Harvest 871, ,943 7, , Final Pacific Allocation: 871, ,946 7, ,166 7,218 11,335 % Harvested % 99.41% 99.93% % 0.26% 19.48% 4.27% Table 3. Pacific Rockfish Co-op allocations and inter-coop transfer summary (weights are in pounds). POP NR Dusky Sablefish P. cod Thornyhead Halibut Initial Pacific Allocation: 913, , ,656 26, ,166 7,485 11,335 Transfers (OBSI) (41,955) (203,506) (198,710) (18,643) (267) - Total Transfers (41,955) (203,506) (198,710) (18,643) 0 (267) 0 Final Pacific Allocation: 871, ,946 7, ,166 7,218 11,335 Total CV Coops*: 20,814,804 4,282,965 5,309, ,740 3,106, , ,602 Pacific % CV Allocation: 4.18% 0.02% 0.07% 1.27% 4.38% 4.23% 4.38% *Includes CP CQ transferred onshore B. Vessel Use, Co-op CQ and Processing Caps (1) Vessel harvests: A vessel harvest cap of 8% of total primary rockfish quota allocated to the CV sector was one of the changes to the RP. In 2016, this amounted to 2,432,548 lbs of primary rockfish in the aggregate. During the 2016 season, no vessel exceeded this limit (see Figure 2). (2) Co-op QS: Control of harvest shares by a CV cooperative shall be capped at 30% of aggregate POP, northern rockfish and Dusky rockfish allocated to the CV sector. Final quota share allocated to the Pacific co-op in 2016 amounted to 2.9% of the aggregate CV rockfish cooperative quota (Table 5). (3) Processing limits: For the Rockfish Program, a provision was approved that states no processor shall process or receive more than 30% of: (1) primary rockfish in the aggregate; (2) sablefish; (3) Pacific cod allocated to the CV sector. During the 2016 season, Pacific Seafood Kodiak did not exceed these caps. See Table 4. Table 4. LBS and % of CV allocations by CQ species received and processed by Pacific Seafoods in Processing caps are 30% of the CV primary rockfish, sablefish and cod. Species Total Primary RF Sablefish Cod % RF % Sable % Cod Pac. Processed 1,065,751 28, % 4.71% 0.01% CV Allocation 30,406, ,331 3,106,509 Table 5. Primary rockfish CQ (POP, Northern Rockfish, Dusky rockfish): % of Final CV sector allocations by species and co-op CV Co-op CQ POP NR Dusky Total Rockfish NP 17.5% 22.7% 22.7% 19.2% SOK 25.0% 24.6% 27.8% 25.4% WAF 17.3% 9.7% 11.0% 15.1% OBSI 12.5% 22.2% 20.5% 15.3% ISA 16.8% 17.3% 16.2% 16.7% Global 6.7% 3.4% 1.8% 5.4% Pacific 4.2% 0.0% 0.1% 2.9% Final Allocation 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% Pacific Rockfish Cooperative Final Report 2016 Page 5 of 8

59 Figure 2.Harvests of primary rockfish by Pacific Rockfish Co-op member vessels (% of aggregate CV primary rockfish). Vessel harvest cap is 8% % Harvested of CV Rockfish CQ (cap = 8%) Stella 2.88% Pacific Future 0.00% 0.00% 8.00% C. Retained and Discarded Catch of CQ Federal regulations require the RP participants to retain all Cooperative Quota (CQ) species: at-sea discards of Pacific Ocean Perch, Northern Rockfish, Dusky Rockfish, Pacific cod, Thornyheads, and Sablefish are not allowed. During the 2016 Pacific Rockfish Cooperative s fishing season (May 1 November 15, 2016), there was one occurrence of at-sea discards of CQ species: the Stella bled an estimated 10,000 lbs POP from a codend on his May 5 th POP trip (the bag was too big to bring on board safely). The amount was deducted from the vessel and co-op accounts. D. Sideboard limits and rockfish sideboard fishery harvests The Rockfish Program established sideboard limits and/or prohibitions that limit LLP holders participating in the Program from expanding their harvests in other fisheries. These sideboard restrictions apply only in July, historically the most active month for rockfish fishing. For the CV sector, the sideboard limits established in the RPP have been removed for ease of management. The following prohibitions remain in place during the month of July: (1) For the month of July, limit all CVs to the shallow water complex fisheries (fishing in the deep complex is prohibited) (2) Directed fishing for WYAK and WGOA primary rockfish species in the month of July is prohibited V. COOPERATIVE PROHIBITED SPECIES CATCH A. Halibut: The cooperative s fishing plan instituted a management scheme to discourage high halibut bycatch rates since the co-op s RP fishing would cease once its halibut PSC mortality cap was reached. Standards were set and enforced by the co-op members to abide by the halibut PSC mortality rate limits (Table 6). The Pacific Rockfish Co-op used 484 lbs or 4% of its final halibut PSC allocation of 11,335 lbs. Table 6.Halibut bycatch standards adopted by the Pacific Rockfish Cooperative. Inter-coop standard Red Light Standard Yellow Light Standard Species % halibut Species % halibut Species % halibut POP 0.50% POP 0.45% POP 0.38% NR/Dusky 2.20% NR/Dusky 1.98% NR/Dusky 1.65% Sable/cod 4.00% Sable/cod 3.60% Sable/cod 3.00% Pacific Rockfish Cooperative Final Report 2016 Page 6 of 8