Program and Allocation Reviews

Limited Access Privilege Program

Limited Access Privilege Program (LAPP) reviews are required under the Magnuson-Stevens Act and would be conducted 5 years after implementation and every 7 years thereafter, coinciding with the fishery management plan policy review. Reviews are designed to attempt to objectively measure the success of the program by addressing issues raised in the amendment’s problem statement and the standards set forth in the Magnuson-Stevens Act, including the impact of this action on harvesting and processing sectors, and fishery dependent communities. After reviewing the impacts of the program, the Council would have the option of taking any necessary and appropriate action to modify or end the program.

Allocation Reviews

In July 2016, NMFS issued Fisheries Allocation Policy Directive 01-119 (further revised on 2/17) and two associated Procedural Directives. Collectively, these directives are intended to provide guidance to the Councils on reviewing fisheries allocations. The directives describe a mechanism to ensure fisheries allocations are periodically evaluated. The policy and directives establish three steps in an allocation review process, with the first step occurring if a review trigger is met. At its June 2017 meeting, the Council reviewed a discussion paper describing the new requirements for triggering an allocation review. 

In April 2023, staff prepared a workplan for program and allocation reviews to facilitate a more efficient process while still meeting review requirements. The revised approach provides two pathways for allocation reviews: 

1. for those allocations that are within the scope of athe program review, the program review will in future be considered sufficient to satisfy the allocation review requirement; 
2. for those allocation reviews that focus on stock-specific catch limits across multiple programs or user groups, a separate allocation review will be developed to satisfy the allocation review requirement. When these separate allocation reviews are necessary, Alaska Fishery Information Network (AKFIN) staff will follow a “dashboard” approach with identified fishery metrics and the review will be presented during the Council B reports when the review is due. Interactive versions of these dashboard metrics are available through AKFIN here.

Table of Current Review Documents

• AFA Report to Congress – A report on the impacts resulting from passage of the AFA (February 2002)