(a) How will inshore sector cooperative allocations be made? An inshore catcher vessel cooperative that applies for and receives an AFA inshore cooperative fishing permit under §679.4(l)(6) will receive a sub-allocation of the annual BS subarea inshore sector directed fishing allowance. Each inshore cooperative's annual allocation amount(s) will be determined using the following procedure:

(1) Determination of individual vessel catch histories. The Regional Administrator will calculate an official AFA inshore cooperative catch history for every inshore-sector endorsed AFA catcher vessel according to the following steps:

(i) Determination of annual landings. For each year from 1995 through 1997 the Regional Administrator will determine each vessel's total non-CDQ inshore pollock landings from the Bering Sea Subarea and Aleutian Islands Subarea separately, except for the F/V PROVIDIAN (USCG documentation number 1062183).

(ii) Determination of annual landings for the F/V PROVIDIAN. For the F/V PROVIDIAN, pursuant to Public Law 106-562, the Regional Administrator will substitute the 1992 through 1994 total Bering Sea subarea and Aleutian Islands subarea pollock non-CDQ inshore landings made by the F/V OCEAN SPRAY (USCG documentation number 517100 for the purpose of determining annual cooperative quota share percentage.

(iii) Offshore compensation. If a catcher vessel made a total of 500 or more mt of landings of non-CDQ Bering Sea Subarea pollock or Aleutian Islands Subarea pollock to catcher/processors or offshore motherships other than the EXCELLENCE (USCG documentation number 967502); GOLDEN ALASKA (USCG documentation number 651041); or OCEAN PHOENIX (USCG documentation number 296779) over the 3-year period from 1995 through 1997, then all non-CDQ offshore pollock landings made by that vessel during from 1995 through 1997 will be added to the vessel's inshore catch history by year and subarea.

(iv) Best two out of three years. After steps (a)(1)(i) and (ii) of this section are completed, the 2 years with the highest landings will be selected for each subarea and added together to generate the vessel's official AFA inshore cooperative catch history for each subarea. A vessel's best 2 years may be different for the Bering Sea subarea and the Aleutian Islands Subarea.

(2) Determination of individual vessel catch histories after approval of replacement of catcher vessel and approval of removal of catcher vessel from the AFA directed pollock fishery.

(i) If NMFS approves the application of an owner of a catcher vessel that is a member of an inshore vessel cooperative to replace a catcher vessel pursuant to §679.4(l)(7), NMFS will assign the AFA inshore pollock catch history of the replaced vessel to the replacement vessel.

(ii) If NMFS approves the application of an owner of a catcher vessel that is a member of an inshore vessel cooperative to remove a catcher vessel from the AFA directed pollock fishery pursuant to §679.4(l)(7), NMFS will assign the AFA inshore pollock catch history of the removed vessel to one or more vessels in the inshore vessel cooperative to which the removed vessel belonged as required by §679.4(l)(7); NMFS will not assign the catch history for any non-pollock species of the removed vessel to any other vessel, and NMFS will permanently extinguish any exemptions from sideboards that were specified on the AFA permit of the removed vessel.

(3) Conversion of individual vessel catch histories to annual cooperative quota share percentages. Each inshore pollock cooperative that applies for and receives an AFA inshore pollock cooperative fishing permit will receive an annual quota share percentage of pollock for the BS subarea that is equal to the sum of each member vessel's official AFA inshore cooperative catch history for the BS subarea divided by the sum of the official AFA inshore cooperative catch histories of all inshore-sector endorsed AFA catcher vessels. The cooperative's quota share percentage will be listed on the cooperative's AFA pollock cooperative permit.

(4) Conversion of quota share percentage to TAC allocations. (Effective April 1, 2005) Each inshore pollock cooperative that receives a quota share percentage for a fishing year will receive an annual allocation of Bering Sea and/or Aleutian Islands pollock that is equal to the cooperative's quota share percentage for that subarea multiplied by the annual inshore pollock allocation for that subarea. Each cooperative's annual pollock TAC allocation may be published in the proposed and final BSAI harvest specifications notice.

(b) What are the restrictions on fishing under a cooperative fishing permit? A cooperative that receives a cooperative fishing permit under §679.4(l)(6) must comply with all of the fishing restrictions set out in this subpart. The owners and operators of all the member vessels that are named on an inshore cooperative fishing permit and the owners and operators of any vessels under contract to the cooperative under paragraph (c) of this section are jointly and severally responsible for compliance with all of the requirements of a cooperative fishing permit pursuant to §679.4(l)(6).

(1) What vessels are eligible to fish under an inshore cooperative fishing permit? Only catcher vessels listed on a cooperative's AFA inshore cooperative fishing permit or vessels under contract to the cooperative under paragraph (c) of this section are permitted to harvest any portion of an inshore cooperative's annual pollock allocation.

(2) What harvests accrue against an inshore cooperative's annual pollock allocation? The following catches will accrue against a cooperative's annual pollock allocation regardless of whether the pollock was retained or discarded:

(i) Member vessels. All pollock caught by a member vessel while engaged in directed fishing for pollock in the BS subarea unless the vessel is under contract to another cooperative and the pollock is assigned to another cooperative.

(ii) Contract vessels. All pollock contracted for harvest and caught by a vessel under contract to the cooperative under paragraph (c) of this section while the vessel was engaged in directed fishing for pollock in the BS subarea.

(c) Contract fishing by non-member vessels. A cooperative that wishes to contract with a non-member vessel to harvest a portion of the cooperative's annual pollock allocation must comply with the following procedures.

(1) How does a cooperative contract with a non-member vessel? A cooperative that wishes to contract with a non-member vessel must submit a completed contract fishing application to the Alaska Region, NMFS, in accordance with the contract fishing application instructions.

(2) What information must be included on a contract fishing application? The following information must be included on a contract fishing application:

(i) Co-op name(s). The names of the cooperative or cooperatives that wish to contract with a non-member vessel.

(ii) Designated representative(s). The names and signatures of the designated representatives for the cooperatives that wish to contract with a non-member vessel and the vessel's home cooperative.

(iii) Vessel name. The name and AFA permit number of the contracted vessel.

(iv) Vessel owner. The name and signature of the owner of the contracted vessel.

(v) Harvest schedule. A completed harvest schedule showing how all catch and any overages by the contracted vessel will be allocated between the contracting cooperative (or cooperatives) and the contract vessel's home cooperative. In the event that multiple cooperatives are jointly contracting with a non-member vessel, the harvest schedule must clearly specify how all catch and any overages will be allocated among the various cooperatives.

(3) What vessels are eligible to conduct contract fishing on behalf of an inshore cooperative? Only AFA catcher vessels with an inshore fishing endorsement that are members of an inshore cooperative may conduct contract fishing on behalf of another inshore cooperative.

(4) Who must be informed? A cooperative that has contracted with a non-member vessel to harvest a portion of its inshore pollock allocation must inform any AFA inshore processors to whom the vessel will deliver pollock while under contract to the cooperative prior to the start of fishing under the contract.

(5) How must contract fishing be reported to NMFS? An AFA inshore processor that receives pollock harvested by a vessel under contract to a cooperative must report the delivery to NMFS on the electronic delivery report by using the co-op code for the contracting cooperative rather than the co-op code of the vessel's home cooperative.

[67 FR 79734, Dec. 30, 2002, as amended at 68 FR 6836, Feb. 11, 2003; 69 FR 64688, Nov. 8, 2004; 70 FR 9868, Mar. 1, 2005; 79 FR 54602, Sept. 12, 2014; 84 FR 2728, Feb. 8, 2019]