Bering Sea crab crewmen scored a victory this morning in Dutch Harbor as the North Pacific council will analyze the benefits of collecting both contracts and settlement sheets.
Over industry objections and a majority of the Advisory Panel, the council voted 7-4 to advance the analysis in both alternatives under consideration within its broader revisions to the Economic Data Reporting program.
The AP recommendation was to completely strip requirements for reporting deductions charged to crew.
The council decision is an analysis, not a final action, and the council is not obliged to eventually collect the contracts and settlement sheets.
However, this is the first time the council has recognized the longstanding demand from crew advocates to consider collecting contracts and settlement sheets that would verify whether the EDR data on crew compensation is accurate.
Crew advocates have also cited lay share law as a binding requirement to collect contracts and settlement sheets, another topic that was broached — though not explicitly — by Sam Cotten of Eagle River during the council discussion.
Read the complete story from The Alaska Journal of Commerce