What is the Amendment 80 Program? a 2022 Overview

If you are related to the commercial fishing business in (or close to) Alaska, then you must have heard of Amendment 80. If you have not, or you want to know more about it, then this article is for you: we will tell you everything you need to know about Amendment 80 Program, up to date until 2022.

What is the Amendment 80 Program?

The sea-food sector employs more workers than any other non-government sector in Alaska, around 60.000 people. In that context, the Amendment 80 sector is a fleet that is made up of trawl catcher-processors. They target a variety of fish species in the Bering sea, around the Aleutian Islands and in the Gulf of Alaska. Rock sole, Yellowfin sole and Flathead sole, Pacific cod, Pacific Ocean Perch and Atka Mackerel are some of them. Those fish are certified as sustainable.

As Alaska’s biggest export the fish caught has global destinations, though the impact is local. Amendment 80 has led to job creation in areas like shipping, ship repair and maintenance, longshore and cold shipping, which leads to a financially healthy state.

So, what if I am working in the commercial fishing industry but not as a processor? Things get a bit more complicated.

Exceptions to the Amendment 80

The amendment 80 allows the creation of cooperatives, so qualified vessels can enter partnership with the processors once they have submitted their proper applications. There are some exceptions, however, that give some species sideboard limits, prohibit vessels from participating in any fishing of Gulf of Alaska flatfish or disallows vessels with less than 10 weeks of experience from participating in the cooperatives.

Commercial Fishing Permits Center Can Help you With your Amendment 80 Permit

A list of marine life is covered by Amendment 80, a list commercial fishing boats should be aware of to avoid any legal complications. The rules you have to comply with vary depending on the type of vessel you sail, the years of experience in that area of commercial fishing, etcetera.

Furthermore, there are different types of Amendments 80 permits, that will depend on the type of fishing cooperative that you want to participate in.

Flatfish Exchange Application, Amendment 80 Vessel Replacement, Amendment 80 Quota Share App, Amendment 80 QS Transfer App, Amendment 80 Intercooperative Transfer CQ, Amendment 80 Cooperative Quota Permit App and Amendment 80 Limited Access Permit can be processed at our site.

You just need to decide which one of those permits is the one you need to get. After you have done that, fill the corresponding and we will take care of the rest. If there is any other help we may assist you with, reach to us and our friendly staff will shortly get back to you.