Alaska Rockfish Fishers Owe 3% Fee for Management
Published Date: 4/9/2026
Notice
Summary
If you’re part of the Central Gulf of Alaska Rockfish Program, here’s the scoop: for the 2025 fishing year, the cost recovery fee is set at 3% of the fish’s value. This fee helps cover management and enforcement costs, and payments were due by February 15, 2026. So, rockfish fishers, keep these numbers in mind for smooth sailing!
Analyzed Economic Effects
5 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 3 costs, 1 mixed.
Nonpayment Leads to Quota Consequences
If a rockfish cooperative or quota holder fails to pay the required cost recovery fee by the February 15 due date, the permit holder's rockfish quota share becomes non-transferable and the person is ineligible to receive additional quota share by transfer. Cooperative members will not receive any rockfish cooperative quota the following year until full payment is received by NMFS.
3.00% Cost Recovery Fee Set for 2025
If you participate in a Central Gulf of Alaska rockfish cooperative, the cost recovery fee for the 2025 fishing year is 3.00 percent of the fish's ex-vessel value. The 2025 rockfish season was authorized April 1 through November 15, and fee payments were due on or before February 15, 2026.
Fee Formula and Statutory 3% Cap Applied
NMFS sets the fee by dividing direct program costs by the total standard ex-vessel value for the previous year, but the fee cannot exceed the statutory cap of 3.00 percent. For 2025 the formula produced an estimated 3.05 percent, so the fee was capped at 3.00 percent; NMFS reported 2025 program costs decreased by 35 percent and fishery value increased by about 60 percent.
Standard Prices Used; Processors Must Report
NMFS calculates fees using published standard ex-vessel prices (dollars per pound) for each rockfish species and month rather than each quota holder's actual prices. Rockfish processors that buy quota landing must submit an annual volume and value report for the period April 1 to November 15.
Some Fishery Participants Are Exempt
The rockfish entry-level longline fishery and trawl vessels that opt out of joining a rockfish cooperative are not subject to cost recovery fees because those participants do not receive rockfish cooperative quota (CQ).
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