7 / 14
April 2015
| Business World
107
op and institute Amendment 80 to the Ber-
ing Sea Fishery Management Plan.
According to Jason Anderson, General Man-
ager of AKSC, Amendment 80 took rough-
ly 10 years to develop. What it does is allow
eligible and likeminded
flatfish vessels to form and
own cooperatives such as
the AKSC.
AKSC, like all coopera-
tives, is responsible for
its own target catch and
bycatch. Every year, they
apply for a permit that’s
based on the number of
people in the cooperative
and the history of differ-
ent target species. They
bring the resulting quota
to the cooperative to be
allocated to the individual
vessels.
Anderson said the AKSC
has resulted in lower by-
catch rates and allowed
members to fish more
cleanly and efficiently.
Now, instead of prema-
turely reaching target allocations and being
shut down for months at a time, members
are essentially fishing from when the season
begins, all the way to the end of the year.
“We’re one of the big success stories of