Sector Allocation as a Management Tool
 

Sector Allocation as a Management Tool
January 15-16, 2008
The Village Inn Hotel and Conference Center
1 Beach Street
Narragansett, Rhode Island 02882

PROCEEDINGS (posted 6/23/08)

Agenda | Registration form

Updated participants list 1/29/08

Presentations and photos

Description
The focus of this regional workshop will be on providing education and information on sector allocation (allocation of quota to a group of fishermen to be fished in accordance with an approved plan) as a management tool, and exploring how this method might be applied to New England’s quota-managed fisheries.  The workshop is intended to answer questions on how sectors function, and to discuss the pros and cons of this approach. Presenters will include commercial fishermen, fisheries managers, government agency spokespersons, and members of the private sector and academic institutions. 

The workshop is being organized by the Rhode Island Sea Grant Sustainable Fisheries Extension Program at the University of Rhode Island, in partnership with Sea Grant Extension Programs in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and New York; the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC); NOAA Fisheries Science Center, Woods Hole and Northeast Regional Office; the Marine Affairs Institute, School of Law, Roger Williams University; Bradley Fund for the Environment; and Environmental Defense.

Background
The reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act in 2006 established national policy regarding the development and implementation of Limited Access Privilege Programs [LAPPs] by regional fishery management councils, and set the stage for the consideration of sector allocation as a management approach. In June 2007, the NEFMC approved a sector policy developed by its Sector Omnibus Committee. The policy sets out the framework within which each species committee, if there is an initiative, can develop sectors.

The NEFMC through previous actions had established two groundfish sectors: 1) the Georges Bank Cod Hook Sector and 2) the Georges Bank Cod Fixed Gear Sector.  Within the past year, the NEFMC has received proposals from 17 different commercial fishing groups requesting the establishment of new sectors through Amendment 16.  In September 2007, the Council put on hold the consideration of sectors to first focus on establishing biological targets, and to allow more time to fully consider the complexities involved in forming sectors and address all of the policy questions.  This action was reversed in November 2007, with the Council directing the Groundfish Committee to resume work on sectors in Amendment 16 to the Multispecies FMP.

The workshop is being offered in response to requests from members of the NEFMC, fisheries managers, and commercial fishermen to provide education and information on how sector allocation, as one possible management approach, might work.

Workshop objectives
The primary objective of the education workshop is to provide information on:

  • How sectors may be formed
  • How sectors operate
  • Options for deciding initial allocations
  • Legal considerations involved in forming a sector
  • How recreational fisheries might be incorporated
  • Evaluations of experiences with sector allocation programs already in place
  • Other management options.

The workshop is also aimed at providing an opportunity to briefly examine the differences and similarities between sectors and different forms of LAPPs [Individual Fishing Quotas/Individual Transferable Quotas; community quotas; quotas issued to regional fishing organizations], and to briefly discuss the pros and cons associated with sector allocation.

Background reading

More information
For more information, contact Barbara Somers at barbs@uri.edu.

 
Sea Grant - Northeast programs
 NEFMC NOAA Marine Affairs Institute Bradley Fund for the Environment Environmental Defense