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Question 9: What steps, in re-allocating the whiting catch, did 

 the Department take to assist small fishing fleets, shore-based 

 processors and dependent communities to address problems, such as 

 unemployment and bankruptcy, that will result from the 

 Department's allocation? 



If approved, the Council's recommendation would have 



provided the shoreside sector with more than twice the actual 



amount of whiting processed in 1992. The Department's partial 



disapproval attempted to maintain the relative proportion of 



whiting taken by each sector in 1992, thus sharing the 



conservation burden of a lower allowable harvest equitably 



between sectors. Unfortunately, any time resource allocation 



occurs in an overcapitalized fishery, participants are adversely 



affected. NOAA does not have the authority or the funding to 



assist these groups financially. 



NOAA recently approved and is currently implementing a 

 limited entry program for Pacific groundfish, including Pacific 

 whiting, which will protect harvesting opportunities for vessels 

 that historically harvested whiting on the West Coast. Many of 

 the vessels that will receive initial permits are the small 

 coastal vessels that provide fish to shoreside processors. Few, 

 if any, at-sea catchers or processors are expected to receive 

 initial permits. 



Question 10: What is the total value of loans guaranteed by the 

 federal government under the Fishing Vessel Obligation Guarantee 

 Program? Specifically, what is the number of factory trawlers, 

 shore-based processing plants and shore-based catcher boats? 



The total value of loans under the Fishing Vessel obligation 



9 



