Regulatory Impact Review for a proposed regulatory amendment to remove vessel cap limitations for IFQ halibut harvested in IPHC regulatory Areas 4A, 4B, 4C, and 4D for the 2023-2027 IFQ fishing seasons

This Regulatory Impact Review analyzes management measures under consideration by the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council to modify the halibut Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) Program to remove vessel cap limitations for IFQ halibut harvested in International Pacific Halibut Commission regulatory Areas 4A, 4B, 4C, and 4D for the 2023-2027 IFQ fishing seasons. This action would not modify any other aspects of the IFQ Program.

The intention of vessel IFQ caps is to limit IFQ consolidation on vessels which could reduce the number of vessels needed to prosecute the fishery (or the number of trips taken in a season) and subsequently reduce the number (or duration) of available crew jobs as well as opportunities for new entrants. Maintaining vessel use caps may help preserve opportunities for smaller operations that would not otherwise participate in the fishery if exemptions from vessel use caps are granted and additional consolidation occurred. However, due to potential changes in the fishery after three years of exemptions from vessel caps, circumstances that have arisen due to the global pandemic, and potential changes in processing capacity due to declining crab stocks; vessel use caps may not ensure additional opportunity for vessels and crew, particularly in remote Area 4 halibut IFQ fisheries.