Fisheries: Commerce Needs to Improve Fisheries Management in the North Pacific
RCED-91-96
Published: Mar 28, 1991. Publicly Released: Apr 29, 1991.
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Highlights
Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed: (1) federal management of the groundfish fishery in the Bering Sea and the Gulf of Alaska; (2) systems for calculating domestic processing capability; and (3) systems for releasing surplus allocations to joint-venture fishermen.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Commerce | The Secretary of Commerce should direct the NMFS Alaska regional office to improve the NFMS system and methods for estimating domestic processors' needs by requiring that the processors report changes in processing needs during the fishing season to NMFS as they occur so that any reallocation necessary can be made. |
Closed – Not Implemented
Domestic needs, according to Commerce, are now significantly higher than the groundfish catch limit, thus reallocation would take place.
|
| Department of Commerce | The Secretary of Commerce should direct the NMFS Alaska regional office to improve the NMFS system and methods for estimating domestic processors' needs by establishing a system for determining and enforcing penalties against processors who knowingly submit false estimates, as authorized in the Magnuson Act. |
Closed – Implemented
Commerce stated that, at this time, other reporting requirements are being considered in order to obtain a better prediction capability of estimating a fishing effort. Directing a significant portion of its enforcement capability to this effort might have reduced the exaggerated domestic processing needs, but it would have only been accomplished at the cost of foregoing enforcement efforts.
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