NR-M-98-44E
SECOND ROUND OF BIDDING UNDERWAY IN GROUNDFISH LICENCE RETIREMENT PROGRAM
December 17, 1998
MONCTON - The Department of Fisheries
and Oceans, Gulf Fisheries Management Region announced that a total of
18 bids have been accepted in the first round of the Atlantic Groundfish
Licence Retirement Program launched in October 1998.
The current program consists of multiple
rounds of bidding opened to all groundfish licence holders. Fishers may
also re-apply if their bid was rejected in a previous round. The program
is being carried out using a reverse-auction process with bids being assessed
on the basis of the best value for money.
The second round of bidding will begin
December 18, 1998 and close January 15, 1999. Applications kits have already
been mailed to all groundfish licence holders in the Gulf Fisheries Management
Region . Applications must be received or postmarked by January 15, 1999.
Gulf fishers began their first round of
bidding in early October 1998, and the bidding round closed on November
6. A total of 73 bids were submitted from 1,935 groundfish licenses in
the region. Of these submitted bids, 18 were approved after being recommended
by the Independent Review Committee. In total, the accepted bids in Round
One amount to $2.2 million for the Gulf Fisheries Management Region.
The committee evaluated bids using the
following criteria:
- TAGS status
- Core status
- historical groundfish landings (volume)
- level of dependency on groundfish.
The average value of accepted bids were:
- Individual Transferable Quota (ITQ) fleet - $ 178,300
- Groundfish Specialist (Competitive) - $ 116,900
- Groundfish Generalist (marginally active or inactive) - $ 21,700
In future round(s) the committee will
continue to select bids that represent the best value for money.
The Atlantic Groundfish Licence Retirement
Program is one of the final measures the federal government has put in
place to allow fishers to permanently leave an industry affected by the
collapse of groundfish stocks.
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For information:
Michel Audet
Policy and Economics Branch
Fisheries and Oceans
Maritimes Region
Moncton, N.B.
(506) 851-7813
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