The CATCH project is a collaboration between the Alaska Charter Association (ACA) and the South East Alaska Guides Organization (SEAGO) to develop an innovative catch share plan for Alaska's charter recreational fishery. Through this conceptual design, we aim to maintain or increase halibut fishing opportunities for guided recreational anglers in Alaska (Areas 2C and 3A), while keeping the sector within its allocation. Although the specific details of our plan apply to Alaska, we are developing this as a model for all recreational fisheries. News & Updates * For the latest updates on the Council Review of the Recreational Quota Entity program Click Here. December 12, 2015 NPFMC published an initial review draft of CATCH proposal and passes a motion to conduct further analysis of the proposal. October 17, 2015 Initial Review of the CATCH proposal - i.e., the Halibut Recreational Quota Entity (RQE) Program - is on the agenda for the December 2015 Council meeting. http://www.npfmc.org/wp-content/PDFdocuments/meetings/threemeetingoutlook.pdf October, 2014 The North Pacific Fishery Management Council’s Recreational Quota Entity Committee was established in October, 2014 to contribute to the development of a Recreational Quota Entity program (i.e., CATCH) for analysis and review by the Council. The Committee meetings and agendas can be viewed here: http://www.npfmc.org/recreational-quota-entity-committee/October 14, 2014 NORTH COUNCIL ADVANCES SECTOR "COMMON POOL" PROPOSAL FOR FORMAL ANALYSIS (ANCHORAGE) - The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) voted unanimously to move forward, for formal analysis, the "Catch Accountability Through Compensate Halibut" (CATCH) proposal by Alaska's guided recreational sector. SouthEast Alaska Guide Organization (SEAGO) Executive Director, Heath Hilyard commented, "We're pleased that the Council recognized the merit of this proposal. There are still a number of important questions that need to be answered before this can become a reality, and our belief is that only a formal analysis can address those questions and concerns. By approving this motion, the Council has shown its willingness to consider a new and innovative approach that could resolve long standing allocation problems between two competing user groups. " |