Sam Asci Council staff Scallop Advisory PanelMarch 21 st , 2018 - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Sam Asci Council staff Scallop Advisory Panel—March 21 st , 2018 Scallop Committee—March 22 nd , 2018

2018 Work Priority Recent Activity: The Council has identified the consideration of LAGC IFQ trip limits as a priority for 2018. The Council discussed addressing this issue though FW29 in 2017, but ultimately decided to begin work in 2018. The PDT discussed this issue on both conference calls (Feb. 28 & March 12). Today: Presentation on background information (see discussion document) and preliminary analyses on this topic, as well as initial PDT input. Anticipated Outcomes: Consider a range of trip limits to recommend to the Committee for analysis that will help to inform the scope of this priority.

2018 Work Priority (contd.) Council discussion stemmed from a letter requesting the LAGC trip limit be raised to 1,200 lbs in FW29. Request letter suggested some of the following benefits to the IFQ fishery: Increase profit & economic efficiency 1) 2) Improve safety at sea 3) Focus fishing on the months of the year when the meats are the largest and most valuable. 4) Target scallops throughout the range of the fishery 5) Improve crew wages

LAGC IFQ management overview Amendment 4 (1994) est. open access general category permit • No qualification criteria required • Set possession limit to 400 lb • Amendment 11 (2008) est. LAGC IFQ program to control gen cat fleet capacity • • Maintained 400 lb possession limit set in A4 Vision statement: “…day boat fleet with possession limits to maintain historical character of fishery, provide • opportunities to various participants…” Amendment 15 (2011) Made fishery compliant with re-authorized M-S Act • Increased LAGC IFQ possession limit to 600 lbs • Initial pref. raised limit to 1,000 lbs, but was dropped due to Council/public concerns of compromising “dayboat” • fishery

Annual allocation & quota restrictions  5% of LA APL allocated to LAGC IFQ Annual LAGC IFQ allocation (excluding LA vessels with LAGC permit) from FY2011- FY2018. The right columns show quota accumulation caps for individual vessels, fleet ownership entities, and sectors for each year. quota cap restriction Maximum quota caps * : individual ownership IFQ scallop vessel entity sector - 2.5% per vessel LAGC sub-ACL (2.5% of sub- (5% of (20% of FY (5% of APL/ACL) ACL) sub-ACL) sub-ACL) - 5% per ownership entity 2011 2,910,102 72,753 145,505 582,020 - 20% per voluntary sector 2012 3,095,450 77,386 154,773 619,090 2013 2,227,142 55,679 111,357 445,428 2014 2,202,859 55,071 110,143 440,572 * does not include quota carried over 2015 2,700,663 67,517 135,033 540,133 from previous year (up to 15% carry over 2016 4,067,529 101,688 203,376 813,506 allowed) 2017 2,261,943 56,549 113,097 452,389 2018 2,805,500 70,138 140,275 561,100

Expected Harvest Expected Vessel Level Harvest (FY 2018) 180,000 160,000 140,000 120,000 Pounds 100,000 80,000 60,000 40,000 20,000 0 LA Full Time LA Part Time 2.5% of IFQ Allocation (max vessel level holding) 6

Fishery trends Use fishery data to: Data used: Describe annual trends in fleet • Pooled VMS, VTR, dealer reports 1) activity from FY2010- at trip level for declared LAGC FY2016/2017 scallop trips. Does not include LA/LAGC combo vessels (FY2010 2) Understand activity on monthly to May 30, 2017) basis • Pooled observed hauls/trips on 3) Compare LAGC capability to LA LAGC IFQ and LA vessels (FY2010 component to Dec 30, 2017)

Active permits (FY2010 to FY2016) The number of active permits Active Active with at least one scallop permits (including declaration. (LAGC combo Total FY only) vessels) permits “Total” includes inactive/CPH 2010 131 151 330 permits. 2011 124 138 330 2012 109 123 318 Vessel activity has 2013 108 118 316 fluctuated over time, but 2014 113 131 316 appears to be increasing in 2015 115 128 313 recent years. 2016 130 141 314

Vessel participation, FY2010-FY2017 The number of LAGC vessels binned by number of trips taken from FY2010 to FY2017 (bin size  Number of trips taken vary = 10 trips; FY2017 data reported through May 30, 2017). Note that the y-axis starts at 4. in concert with allocation  Most take 50 trips or less per year  Vessels appear to take more trips per year in FY2015  compared to previous years

Monthly activity The number of active LAGC IFQ vessels by month in FY2010 to FY2016.  Vessel activity varies 120 year to year, but 100 relatively consistent on Active LAGC IFQ vessels 80 monthly basis 2010 2011 60 2012 2013  Most vessels active in 2014 40 2015 late spring/early 2016 summer  optimal 20 meat yield 0 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 1 2 Month

Figure 7. The number of LAGC IFQ trips taken by month from FY2010 to FY2016. Monthly activity  Trip frequency follows vessel activity trend—increase trips in spring/summer months  average trips per vessel also Figure 9. The average number of trips taken by LAGC IFQ vessels per month from FY2010 to FY2016. Monthly averages were calculated using data from active vessels increases in spring/summer only. 14 months average trips per vessel 12 2010 10 2011 8 2012 6 LAGC vessels fish year-round, 2013 4 2014 however, fishing stacks up in 2 2015 0 2016 months with best meat yield. 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 1 2 Month

Trips by pounds landed (updated) 5,000 FY2011: roughly same 4,500 number of 400, 500, 600 lbs 4,000 trips  due to mid-season 3,500 100 lbs increase in trip limit. 3,000 number of trips 200 lbs 300 lbs 2,500 400 lbs 500 lbs 2,000 600 lbs The majority of LAGC > 600 lbs 1,500 trips land ~600 lbs. 1,000 500 0 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Doesn’t include NGOM or research trips.

Trips by pounds landed by state 100% Breakdown shows 90% proportion of declared scallop trips per state by 80% pounds landed, FY2012- 70% FY2016 100 lbs percentage of trips 60% 200 lbs 300 lbs 50% States in descending order, 400 lbs 500 lbs most trips (left) to least trips 40% 600 lbs (right). > 600 lbs 30% 20% Note spread of <500 lb 10% trips in RI, NH, ME vs. NJ 0% and MA. NJ MA NY RI MD VA CT NH NC ME Doesn’t include NGOM or research trips.

Trips by pounds landed by vessel size 90% Pooled FY2012-FY2016 trip data shows percentage of declared scallop trips in 80% “trip group” landed by vessel size. 70% Ex: 83% of 100 lb trips were landed by 60% 100 lbs vessels less than 50 ft. percent of trips 200 lbs 50% 300 lbs 400 lbs 40%  Smaller vessels (< 50’) land 500 lbs greater proportion of ≤ 400 lbs 600 lbs 30% > 600 lbs trips. 20%  Smaller vessels (< 50’) and larger vessels (50- 74’) land 10% similar proportion of 500-600 0% lbs trips. ≥ 75 ft < 50 ft 50 ft to 74 ft Doesn’t include NGOM or research trips.

Trip length The average trip length (days) of LAGC IFQ vessels fishing open trips and access area trips. • Overall trip length = ~1 day • AA trips typically longer than open (with exceptions)

Access Area fishing • Notably greater trip time to The percent of allocated access area trips taken by LAGC IFQ vessels from FY2010 to FY2016. Data used in the table also includes RSA compensation trips. AA usually corresponded with fewer allocated trips CAI AA NLS AA DMV AA ET AA HC AA MA AA being taken (and vice versa). FY Trips Taken Trips Taken Trips Taken Trips Taken Trips Taken Trips Taken 69.5% 96.6% 4.3% • FY2011—trip time to ET 2010 was highest in time 5.5% 11.8% 0.8% 103.9% 2011 series. Less than 1% of 12.8% 1.7% 14.2% 2012 ET trips were taken. 31.1% 2.8% 2013 • FY2016—trip time to 1.2% 79.3% 2014 NLS and MAAA less than 101.5% 2015 open trips. All allocated NLS and MAAA trips 100.0% 100.2% 2016 were taken.

Haul vs steam time CAI DMV HC MAAA NL Open FY haul steam haul steam haul steam haul steam haul steam haul steam Average hours with gear 5.6 7.2 6.5 10 6.9 3 2010 in the water compared 2.7 9.7 7.5 14 7.7 8.6 6.8 3.2 2011 to average hours 7.2 5.2 4.4 13 8 3.2 2012 transiting to fishing 5 8.9 13 4 2013 grounds (observed). 7.7 6.3 30 8.3 16 3.9 2014 7.2 6.7 18 4.2 2015 Tradeoff between 11 7.6 3 9.5 16 5.1 2016 steam time and quality 12 7.8 5.3 9.8 16 5 2017 of fishing evident, ex: • FY2016—haul v steam time in NLS and LAGC fleet will transit farther to MAAA less than open trips. All reach optimal fishing conditions. allocated NLS and MAAA trips were taken.

Harvest rate from AA FY2017 NLS as an example: LAGC fishery completed NLS AA allocation in ~2 months (837 trips). - Nature of LAGC fishery means potential for ‘derby’ in AA’s exists (i.e. AA trips allocated at fleet level) Green line—rate of harvest in NLS What are the consequences of a Blue line—theoretical harvest rate with 1,200 lb trip limit Red line—FY2017 NLS trip allocation in lbs (837 trips * 600 lbs). ~1 month fishery in NLS?