Bering Sea Pollock Fishery IPA Amendment Instructions_6-28

Revised: 09/23/2014 OMB Control No. 0648-0401 Expiration Date XX/XX/20XX

Bering Sea Pollock Fishery (AFA) IPA Amendment Instructions

U.S. Dept. of Commerce/NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Restricted Access Management (RAM) P.O. Box 21668 Juneau, AK 99802-1668 (800) 304-484ll free / 586-7202 in Juneau (907) 586-7354 fax

An amendment to an approved IPA may be submitted at any time. However, once a member of an IPA, a vessel owner or CDQ group cannot withdraw from the IPA during the fishing year.

The IPA representative submits the proposed amended IPA to NMFS either electronically or by mail. Amendments to an IPA must include the identification number that was assigned by NMFS when it approved the IPA.

An amendment to an approved IPA is effective upon written notification of approval by NMFS to the IPA representative. Once approved, an IPA is effective until December 31 of the first year in which it is effective or until December 31 of the year in which the IPA representative notifies NMFS in writing that the IPA is no longer in effect, whichever is later.

An IPA must include an affidavit affirming that each eligible vessel owner or CDQ group, from whom the IPA representative received written notification requesting to join the IPA, has been allowed to join the IPA subject to the same terms and conditions that have been agreed on by, and are applicable to, all other parties to the IPA.

An IPA must identify at least one third party group. Third party groups include any organizations representing western Alaskans who depend on salmon and have an interest in salmon bycatch reduction but do not directly fish in a groundfish fishery.

An IPA must include the following information:

Bering Sea Pollock Fishery Incentive Plan Agreement (IPA)

Affidavit

Name of the IPA

IPA representative name, telephone number, and email address

Third party group

Description of the IPA

Incentive(s) to ensure each vessel avoid Chinook salmon and chum salmon bycatch under any condition of pollock and Chinook salmon abundance in all years

How the incentives to avoid chum salmon do not increase Chinook salmon bycatch

Rewards for avoiding Chinook salmon and penalties for failure to avoid Chinook salmon at the vessel level

How IPA incentive measures will promote reductions in a vessel’s Chinook salmon and chum salmon

bycatch rates relative to what would have occurred in absence of the incentive program

How the incentive measures in the IPA promote Chinook salmon savings and chum salmon savings in any condition of pollock abundance or Chinook salmon abundance in a manner that is expected to influence operational decisions by vessel operators to avoid Chinook salmon and chum salmon

How the IPA ensures that the operator of each vessel governed by the IPA will manage that vessel’s Chinook salmon bycatch to keep total bycatch below the performance standard for the sector in which the vessel participates

How the IPA ensures that the operator of each vessel governed by the IPA will manage that vessel’s chum salmon bycatch to avoid areas and times where the chum salmon are likely to return to western Alaska

A rolling hot spot program for salmon bycatch avoidance that operates throughout the entire A and B seasons and an agreement to provide notifications of closure areas and any violations of the rolling hot spot program to the third party organization representing western Alaskans who depend on salmon and do not directly fish in a groundfish fishery.

Restrictions or penalties targeted at vessels that consistently have significantly higher Chinook salmon PSC rates relative to other vessels fishing at the same time.

Require vessels to enter a fishery‐wide in‐season salmon prohibited species catch data sharing agreement

Require use of salmon excluder devices, with recognition of contingencies, from January 20 to March 31, and from September 1 until the end of the B season

Require for savings-credit-based IPAs that the salmon savings credits last for a maximum of three years.

Restrictions or performance criteria used to ensure that Chinook salmon PSC rates in October are not significantly higher than those achieved in the preceding months.

Compliance agreement.

IPA must include written statement that all IPA parties agree to comply with all provisions of IPA.

Signatures.

The names and signatures of the owner or representative for each vessel and CDQ group that is a party to the IPA. The representative of an inshore cooperative, or the representative of the entity formed to represent the AFA catcher/processor sector or the AFA mothership sector may sign a proposed IPA on behalf of all vessels that are members of that inshore cooperative or sector level entity

PUBLIC REPORTING BURDEN STATEMENT

Public reporting burden for this collection-of-information is estimated to average 50 hours per response, including the time for reviewing the instructions, searching the existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding the burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing the burden, to Assistant Regional Administrator, Sustainable Fisheries Division, NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service, P.O. Box 21668, Juneau, AK 99802-1668.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Before completing this form, please note the following: 1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no person is required to respond to, nor shall any person be subject to a penalty for failure to comply with, a collection-of-information subject to the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act, unless that collection-of-information displays a currently valid OMB Control Number; 2) This information is mandatory and is required to manage commercial fishing efforts under 50 CFR part 679 and under section 402(a) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act (16 U.S.C. 1801, et seq.) as amended in 2006; 3) Responses to this information request are confidential under section 402(b) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act as revised in 2006. They are also confidential under NOAA Administrative Order 216-100, which sets forth procedures to protect confidentiality of fishery statistics.

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AFA Annual Cooperative Report

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