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Honorable Marsha J. Pechman

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON

) ) Plaintiffs, ) ) v. ) ) JOHN BRYSON, in his official capacity as Secretary ) Of Commerce, et al., ) ) Defendants. ) ) ________________________________________________) Brent Paine declares under penalty of perjury: 1.

TRIDENT SEAFOODS CORPORATION, et al.,

Case No. 2:12-cv-00134-MJP AMENDED DECLARATION OF BRENT PAINE IN SUPPORT OF UCB MOTION TO INTERVENE

My name is Brent Conrad Paine and I am the Executive Director of United

Catcher Boats (UCB). I make this declaration on personal knowledge. 2. UCB is a trade association founded in 1993 to provide a strong, unified voice for

the owners of vessels that trawl for groundfish in the Gulf of Alaska, Bering Sea, Aleutian Islands and West Coast commercial fisheries. UCB currently represents the owners of 64 vessels engaged in these groundfish fisheries as well as crab fisheries in the Eastern Bering Sea. UCBs mission is to represent groundfish harvesters in support of rational fisheries management, sustained yields, reduced bycatches, and maintaining and expanding our vessel members market PAINE DECL. IN SUPPORT OF UCB MOTION TO INTERVENE PAGE 1 (No. 2:12-cv-00134-MJP)
ZIONTZ, CHESTNUT, VARNELL, BERLEY & SLONIM
2101 Fourth Ave, Suite 1230 ~ Seattle, WA 98121

Tel. 206 448 1230; Fax 206 448 0962

www.zcvbs.com

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opportunities in a competitive industry.

Although some UCB members also own onshore

processing facilities (such as Trident Seafoods Corporation) UCB moves to intervene in this case to protect the interests of its members who own independent catcher boats, that is, catcher boats that are not affiliated with onshore processors. 3. I have been the Executive Director of UCB since its founding in December 1993.

My professional responsibilities as Executive Director include representing the interests of UCB before regional fishery management bodies (North Pacific Fishery Management Council, Alaska Board of Fisheries, Pacific Fishery Management Council) and Congress, as well as federal and state agencies and other bodies responsible for the conservation and management of fisheries in which UCB members participate. In my capacity as Executive Director, I regularly attend meetings of these management bodies, serve on advisory panels, provide oral and written public testimony on various management issues, and work with government officials to promote the interests of UCBs members. 4. I have read the First Amended Complaint filed in this case on March 16, 2012 by

plaintiffs Trident Seafoods, Westward Seafoods, North Pacific Seafoods, and Ocean Beauty Seafoods (collectively Plaintiffs), against Secretary of Commerce John Bryson, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Marine Fisheries service (NMFS) (collectively Defendants). The Plaintiffs challenge the Defendants approval and implementation of Amendment 88 to the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska developed by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC). This

amendment implements regulations that establish a new harvest cooperative program for Central Gulf of Alaska rockfish fisheries.

PAINE DECL. IN SUPPORT OF UCB MOTION TO INTERVENE PAGE 2 (No. 2:12-cv-00134-MJP)

ZIONTZ, CHESTNUT, VARNELL, BERLEY & SLONIM

2101 Fourth Ave, Suite 1230 ~ Seattle, WA 98121

Tel. 206 448 1230; Fax 206 448 0962

www.zcvbs.com

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5.

Under Amendment 88, certain holders of licenses issued under the License

Limitation Program (LLP) for Central Gulf of Alaska rockfish fisheries are eligible to receive rockfish quota shares. However, the quota shares can only be fished through membership in a cooperative; on an annual basis, the holder of an LLP license with rockfish quota shares must assign its LLP license to a rockfish cooperative in order to participate in the Amendment 88 rockfish program. By pooling rockfish quota shares, the cooperative can determine when and how to best harvest its total allocation of rockfish species in order to maximize economic efficiencies and avoid bycatch of unwanted species. 6. The Amendment 88 rockfish program replaces the Rockfish Pilot Program, which

was in effect from 2007 through 2011. Although the Rockfish Pilot Program also provided for cooperatives, the Amendment 88 program changes the calculation of quota shares and the rules governing the marketing of the catch. Of particular note here, under the Rockfish Pilot Program, each cooperative was required to deliver its catch to a particular processor. This requirement limited the ability of the cooperatives to negotiate the prices that would be paid by the processor for fish harvested by the cooperatives members, since the cooperatives could not sell the fish to any other processor. Unlike the Rockfish Pilot Program, the Amendment 88 rockfish program does not require a rockfish cooperative to deliver all of its catch to a single processor. However, under the Amendment 88 rockfish program, the cooperatives must deliver all of their catch to a processor within the City of Kodiak, Alaska, and no processor may process more than 30% of the total of all quota shares for any species. These and other factors (such as the need for cooperatives and processors to reach agreement on a fishing plan so that rockfish will be delivered when the processors are not processing other fish, such as salmon, herring or crab) will result in more balanced negotiations between cooperatives and processors. PAINE DECL. IN SUPPORT OF UCB MOTION TO INTERVENE PAGE 3 (No. 2:12-cv-00134-MJP)
ZIONTZ, CHESTNUT, VARNELL, BERLEY & SLONIM
2101 Fourth Ave, Suite 1230 ~ Seattle, WA 98121

Tel. 206 448 1230; Fax 206 448 0962

www.zcvbs.com

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7.

UCB members own nine of the 46 LLP licenses eligible to participate in the The nine licenses held by UCB members represent

Amendment 88 rockfish program.

approximately 25 percent of the Amendment 88 programs quota shares for rockfish species. In addition, UCB members owned 13 of the 45 vessels that were active in the last year of the Rockfish Pilot Program (2011). UCB member vessels engaged in this fishery are trawl catcher vessels that harvest rockfish and deliver their catches to shore-based processing facilities in the City of Kodiak. 8. UCB members who participate in Central Gulf of Alaska rockfish fisheries have a

direct economic stake in the Amendment 88 rockfish program. Their ability to fish for rockfish and to market their catch is dependent upon the quota shares and marketing rules established under the program. The relief the Plaintiffs seek in this case which includes an order vacating the final rule implementing the Amendment 88 rockfish program and reinstating the Rockfish Pilot Program pending development of a new program would directly affect these UCB members by, among other things, altering their quota shares and changing the rules governing the marketing of their catch. 9. Because the Amendment 88 rockfish program became effective in January 2012,

UCB members are now working with fellow harvesters and processors to prepare for the Central Gulf of Alaska rockfish fishery that will occur this summer. They are drafting cooperative agreements, developing harvesting plans with other fishermen and processing plants, and developing marketing agreements with the Kodiak-based processors to whom they will deliver their catch. UCB members are therefore already committing resources and entering into

contracts in reliance upon the allocations of rockfish quota they received and the marketing rules under the Amendment 88 rockfish program. These commitments would be threatened by any PAINE DECL. IN SUPPORT OF UCB MOTION TO INTERVENE PAGE 4 (No. 2:12-cv-00134-MJP)
ZIONTZ, CHESTNUT, VARNELL, BERLEY & SLONIM
2101 Fourth Ave, Suite 1230 ~ Seattle, WA 98121

Tel. 206 448 1230; Fax 206 448 0962

www.zcvbs.com

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suspension, modification or termination of the program, including a return to the Rockfish Pilot Program. 10. A major benefit of the cooperatives implemented by Amendment 88 is the ability

of fishermen to maximize their ability to harvest target species (here, rockfish) while minimizing the encounter of bycatch species. Under prior rules, attainment of a bycatch species cap, such as for halibut (known as Prohibited Species Catch, or PSC) would prematurely close the rockfish fishery. Under the cooperative structure, vessel members can pool their allowable harvest of bycatch species, develop rules to avoid high encounter rates of bycatch, share on-the-grounds information of where high bycatch encounter rates occur, and have the flexibility to fish during times of the year when bycatch rates are at a minimum. If the Plaintiffs are successful in suspending, modifying or terminating the cooperative management program, the ability of UCB members and other cooperative members to avoid exceeding bycatch caps and to maximize their harvests of target species would be severely threatened. 11. Another benefit of the cooperatives is the ability of fishermen to harvest their

allocations of rockfish in a manner that fishes for the market. In other words, fishermen can fish when the rockfish quota has the most value by working with their processors to increase quality of the fish delivered and develop delivery schedules based on when the processor has the time to best process the harvest and when the market demand is high. Conversely, fishermen can leave their cooperative allocation of rockfish in the water until such time as market conditions are deemed good, or if their processor is using its processing capacity to process other species, such as salmon, herring or crab. The cooperative management structure allows fisherman and processors to work cooperatively to maximize the value of each fish and to create new market opportunities. If this program is suspended, modified or terminated, the ability to obtain these PAINE DECL. IN SUPPORT OF UCB MOTION TO INTERVENE PAGE 5 (No. 2:12-cv-00134-MJP)
ZIONTZ, CHESTNUT, VARNELL, BERLEY & SLONIM
2101 Fourth Ave, Suite 1230 ~ Seattle, WA 98121

Tel. 206 448 1230; Fax 206 448 0962

www.zcvbs.com

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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I, Chris Kelsey, hereby certify that I am over the age of eighteen, employed by Ziontz, Chestnut, Varnell, Berley & Slonim, and not a party to this action. On April 19, 2012, I caused to be filed the foregoing Declaration of Brent Paine in Support of UCB Motion to Intervene by using the Western Districts ECF system, which will send notification to all parties of record. Dated: April 19, 2012.

s/ Chris Kelsey Chris Kelsey

PAINE DECL. IN SUPPORT OF UCB MOTION TO INTERVENE PAGE 7 (No. 2:12-cv-00134-MJP)

ZIONTZ, CHESTNUT, VARNELL, BERLEY & SLONIM

2101 Fourth Ave, Suite 1230 ~ Seattle, WA 98121

Tel. 206 448 1230; Fax 206 448 0962

www.zcvbs.com