Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G): The Alaska Department of Fish and Game is a state of Alaska agency with a mission to protect, maintain, and improve the fish, game, and aquatic plant resources of the state, and manage their use and development for the maximum benefit of the people of the state, consistent with the sustained yield principle. The ADF&G have full management authority for salmon, herring, and most shellfish. They share management responsibilities for Bering Sea and Aleutian Island king and tanner crab, and statewide groundfish.

ADF&G vessel number Unique, permanent identification number issued the first time a vessel is licensed in the State of Alaska. The ADF&G vessel number is printed on a triangular metal plate and affixed to the vessel. The ADF&G vessel number is permanent to a vessel regardless of a transfer or change of vessel ownership (Alaska Statute 16.05.520).

Amount: The monetary amount paid/received by a fisher. The amount recorded on a fish ticket may reflect an in-season, pre-settlement amount.

Ancillary: ADF&G fish ticket product designation code. This code is used to indicate a product, such as meal, heads, internal organs, pectoral girdles, or any other secondary byproduct that has be made from the same fish as the primary product. See Primary.

At-sea operator: Any vessel whose primary operations are not land based. Vessels that fall into this category include catcher exporters, catcher processors, or motherships.

At-sea processor: A vessel which processes catch at-sea such as a catcher-processor or a mothership.

Buying station: A tender vessel or land based entity that receives unprocessed fish from a vessel for trans-shipping or delivery to a shoreside processor or mothership and that does not process those fish (NMFS 679.2 Definitions). Throughout a fishing season, a buying station is more stationary than a tender, making fewer trips to deliver fish and usually taking place on a scow (a barge-like vessel).

Bycatch: The harvest of fish or shellfish other than the species for which the fishing gear was set - the non-targeted species. Bycatch is also called incidental catch. A percentage of bycatch may be retained for sale. In most instances, prohibited species (salmon, crab and halibut) may not be retained for sale. For shellfish fisheries, bycatch also includes sublegal size or females of the target species.

CDQ ID number: An identification number assigned to a CDQ group by NMFS that must be recorded in all logbooks and all reports submitted by the CDQ group or by vessels and processors catching or processing CDQ quota under an approved community development program (CDP)(NMFS 679.2 Definitions). State of Alaska statutes also require CDQ groups to provide the number on all ADF&G fish tickets.

CFEC fishery permit: A permit issued annually to the designated vessel operator that allows participation in open access or limited entry fisheries managed by the state of Alaska. All shellfish fisheries off-shore Alaska are managed, fully or jointly, by the state of Alaska. CFEC fishery permits are issued annually for specific fisheries. Any commercial activity in state waters requires the operator to obtain a CFEC permit, including harvesting, landing of catch, selling product, or transshipping of catch. Open access fishers obtain an interim use permit. Limited access fisheries such as salmon, herring, and selected shellfish fisheries require a limited entry permit. All members of the crew are required to obtain a crew license to participate in commercial fishing. CFEC permit cards are issued to an individual, even if that individual is fishing for a Rationalized Crab cooperative or a CDQ group.

The CFEC permit card must be current for the calendar year and appropriate to the area, gear and harvest. CFEC regulation (20AAC 05.110) requires that each Individual Fishery Quota (IFQ) shareholder jointly fishing quota shares on a single vessel and a single trip have in their possession a valid interim-use CFEC permit. More information is available at: http://www.cfec.state.ak.us/

Catcher-processor: A vessel that processes its own catch. Catcher-processors are at-sea processors.

Catcher-seller: A vessel that catches and sells unprocessed or limited-process-catch to individuals (e.g. via dockside sales) for personal consumption, or to other fishers for bait, but not for resale. Catcher-sellers must be licensed as such.

Catcher vessel: A vessel that is used for catching fish or shellfish and that does not process fish or shellfish on board.

Commercial Fishery Entry Commission: Quasi-judicial state agency responsible for promoting the conservation and sustained yield management of Alaska's fisheries resources and the economic health and stability of commercial fishing in Alaska by limiting participation in Alaska's fisheries. More information available at: http://www.cfec.state.ak.us/

Community Development Quota Program: A joint federal/state program that allocates a portion of the total allowable catch for all federally managed Aleutian Island and Bering Sea groundfish and shellfish species to eligible communities in western Alaska. The designated fisher for the CDQ group must obtain and have in their possession a CFEC permit card for that specific fishery, even when jointly fishing CDQ and non-CDQ fish or shellfish.

Company Buyer: A designated agent for a company that buys fish or shellfish from fishers. A company buyer does not process or export fish or shellfish from the state.

Custom processor: A processor who provides the service of seafood processing but has not purchased (does not own) the seafood.

Date fishing began: The date the gear was deployed (in water) or harvest of fish or shellfish was initiated.

Date Landed: The date fish or shellfish are off-loaded or trans-shipped from the catcher vessel to the first purchaser. The date of landing is the day off-load is completed. For catcher-processors the land date is the date the product is caught and brought on board. For catcher-seller vessels the land date is the date the product is initially brought into port.

Days Fished: The number of days that the gear was in the water, actively fishing. This would include soak days (times) for pots and longline gear. Days spent traveling to and from the grounds, when gear has been removed from the water, should not be considered when calculating days fished.

Deadloss: Crab must be delivered live for the live/fresh market or for processing. Dead crab deteriorate quickly and are unsuitable for human consumption. Crab that are harvested live, but subsequently die prior to delivery to the processor or for dockside sales are considered deadloss. This harvest must be recorded on the landing report, as it is an extraction from the resource.

Delivery condition code: Condition of the fish or shellfish at the point it is weighed and recorded on the fish ticket. Delivery condition codes provide important information utilized to convert the scale weight to whole weight.

Discard: To throw away, reject, or dump a portion of the catch at-sea or at the dock before processing.

Discard Report: Discard reports are required by federal regulation to be given to the processor at the time of a groundfish offload if the vessel is federally permitted and is greater than or equal to 60 feet in overall length. The report includes discard or disposition information for all groundfish, prohibited species, and forage fish reported to the shoreside processor, stationary floating processor, or mothership by catcher vessels or buying stations.

Disposition: The intended use or disposal of the fish or shellfish. The most common disposition code is, ‘Sold for Human Consumption’ – code 60. Disposition codes can also indicate non-commercial disposal of catch. Examples of disposition codes include all discards of fish or shellfish at sea, or at the dock, fish or shellfish retained for personal use or bait, and discarded at sea or at the dock.

Ex-Vessel value: The post-season adjusted price per pound for the first purchase of commercial harvest. The ex-vessel value is usually established by determining the average price for an individual species, harvested by a specific gear, in a specific area. The delivery condition of the product is usually taken into consideration when the average price is established.

Federal Fishery Permit: A vessel permit, issued by the National Marine Fisheries Service, which is required to fish for groundfish in the EEZ of the Gulf of Alaska, the Aleutian Islands, and the Bering Sea.

Federal Crab Vessel Permit: The owner of a vessel must have a Federal Crab Vessel Permit (FCVP) on board that vessel when used to fish for Crab Rationalization crab. These annual permits that expire at the end of the crab fishing year for which they are issued (June 30) and may not be surrendered at any time during the crab fishing year for which they are issued.

Federal Processor Permit: A Federal processor permit (FPP) is a permit issued by the NMFS.  No shoreside processor of the United States or stationary floating processor may receive or process groundfish harvested in the GOA or BSAI, unless the owner first obtains a Federal processor permit issued under Federal regulations at 50 CFR Part 679.4.  A Federal processor permit is issued without charge. The permit applicant must be a "U.S. citizen" (individual or non-individual as defined at 679.2); and a separate permit is required for each business plus facility or vessel combination used for these purposes.  Permit applications and instructions can be found at: www.fakr.noaa.gov.

Fish ticket: Record of purchase required by the State of Alaska (Alaska Statute 16.05.690). Each CFEC permitted fisher will receive one fish ticket record per landing report in the eLandings System.

Fish ticket number (ADF&G): The unique fish ticket number generated by the eLandings System. Each landing report and each fish ticket are uniquely numbered in the eLandings System.

Gear (ADF&G Gear Code): The specific apparatus or equipment used to catch fish or shellfish. A few examples of gear include: longline, pots, beam trawl, and purse seine.

International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC): Regulatory authority responsible for the conservation, management, development, promotion, and protection of the halibut resources by commercial, subsistence, personal use, and recreational users.

Individual Transferable (Fishing) Quota (IFQ): A form of limited entry that gives private property rights to fishers, by assigning a fixed share of the total allowable catch to each fisher. ITQs are frequently referred to as an Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ). Alaskan halibut and sablefish fisheries, and the Rationalized Crab program fisheries of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands are exclusive IFQ fisheries. With each landing, poundage from the quota is debited from the individual’s IFQ account. The current balance in IFQ accounts is available at:

Individual Processor Quota (IPQ): A crab Individual Processing Quota (IPQ) permit authorizes the person identified on the permit to receive/process the IFQ carb identified on the permit during the crab fishing year for which the permit is issued, subject to conditions of the permit. A legible copy of the crag IPQ permit must be retained on the premises or vessel usedby the permitted person to process the IFQ carb at all times that IFQ crab are retained on the premises or vessel. These permits are valid only if unused IPQ remains. With each landing, poundage from the quota is debited from the IPQ account. The current balance in IPQ accounts is available at:

Intent to Operate: A registration required from any person (including corporations, partnerships, limited liability companies and joint ventures) who receives, prepares, processes or transports a seafood or fishery product including roe recovery to sell for human consumption, a person who custom processes a seafood or fishery product or a person who has a seafood or fishery product custom processed for them. A person who transports an unprocessed seafood or fishery product outside of Alaska must also complete this application form.

Intent to Operate License: A license issued to persons or companies wishing to purchase or process fish within the jurisdiction of the State of Alaska. Intent to Operate licenses are issued by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

Landing Report: The report required for the initial off-load of fish or shellfish to a shoreside receiver (processor, buyer, exporter) or, for an at-sea catcher-processor or floating processor, to a second vessel. A Landing Report may consist of more than one fish ticket and more than one IFQ report.

Landing Report Number: A unique number generated by the eLandings System to identify the report. The landing report may contain one or more fish ticket reports and one or more IFQ reports (if applicable).

Management Program: A unique fishery program with specific management strategies and/or allocation. Management programs that must be identified in the eLandings System include: IFQ, Adak crab and groundfish, CDQ (and specific ID number), AFA (and specific ID number), state managed groundfish, etc.

National Marine Fisheries Service: U.S. Department of Commerce agency that is responsible for the conservation, management, promotion, and protection of the nation's ocean and coastal resources. In Alaska, the National Marine Fisheries Service has primary management authority over most groundfish species.

Net Weight (IFQ Halibut Weight): This term refers to Pacific halibut only. Net weight is the weight of a halibut, gutted, head off. Belly slit and viscera removed.

NMFS ID: A NMFS ID is a unique identifying number assigned by the NMFS, Alaska Region for use in uniquely identifying persons.  These IDs are issued to a person (or in some cases, group of persons) that:

Number of animals: Unit for measuring catch or harvest. Number of animals is a count of each species in the catch or harvest. Most shellfish and salmon fish tickets record the number of animals harvested as well as the pounds.

Observer: A shore-based or on-board biologist that monitors the legal compliance of commercial fishing activity. Observers collect catch composition data by sampling a portion of the catch and recording information such as fish or shellfish age, length and weight. Observers also record fishing effort and location as well as condition information from delivered products. Observer duties vary between fisheries as well as within fisheries based on the operation or vessel type. National Marine Fisheries Service certify contract employees as groundfish employees. ADF&G require employee observers for many of the Bering Sea/ Aleutian Island crab fisheries.

Overage: Harvest of fish or shellfish by an individual fisher that exceeds bycatch, trip, seasonal, or IFQ quota limits.

Partial delivery: A delivery consisting of only a portion of a vessel's total harvest from one fishing trip. All fish tickets that represent only a portion of the harvest from one fishing trip must be identified as a partial delivery. The harvest from a single fishing trip can be documented on more than one fish ticket, either split among IFQ shareholders, divided for multiple fishery bycatch caps or permits, or delivered to more than one processor. A partial delivery constitutes a landing.

Personal use: Commercially harvested fish or shellfish that is intended for personal use and not for sale or barter. Harvest retained for personal use consumption in conjunction with commercial fishing must be recorded in pounds on the fish ticket.

Port: The location where fish or shellfish are processed (i.e., the shoreside plant location). The port of landing for tender operations is the location of the land-based processing facility. If at sea, the port is defined as the type of operation (i.e. mothership or catcher-processor).

Pot: A gear that is a portable structure designed and constructed to capture and retain fish and shellfish alive in the water.

Pot lifts: The total number of times pots are set and retrieved within an ADF&G statistical area to produce the catch. The number of pot lifts by area combined with area, catch, gear type, gear size, and length of time gear is used to catch fish or shellfish, assist in determining the catch per unit effort (CPUE), or more commonly referred to as ‘effort’.

Price per pound: The U.S. dollar amount paid to/received by fishers for one pound of each harvest item.

Production Report: (WPR) A report required by NMFS for shore-side processors, motherships and catcher-processors that provides information on the production of groundfish caught in the EEZ. A production report can be weekly or daily and contains the species, product code, and product weight.

Quota Share: Quota share (QS) is issued in the halibut, sablefish and rationalized crab fisheries to fishers. Processing quota share (PQS) is issued by the Regional Administrator to persons who successfully apply for an initial allocation or receive QS or PQS (respectively) by transfer.

Registered Crab Receiver (RCR): Registered Crab Receiver Permits (RCR) are required: for any person who receives unprocessed CR crab from the person(s) who harvested the crab, the owner or operator of a vessel that processes CR crab at sea, any person holding IPQ, and any person required to submit a Departure Report.

Registered Buyer Number (RBN): A permit issued by the NMFS, Alaska Region (under 50 CFR Part 679.4), that authorizes the person identified on the permit to receive and make an IFQ landing by an IFQ permit or cardholder or to receive and make a CDQ halibut landing by a CDQ permit or cardholder at any time during the fishing year for which it is issued until the Registered Buyer permit expires, or is revoked, suspended, or modified under applicable Federal law.  A Registered Buyer permit is required of:

Shoreside processor: Any land-based person, company or vessel that receives unprocessed or limited-processed fish or shellfish, except catcher/processors, motherships, buying stations, restaurants, or persons receiving groundfish for personal consumption or bait (NMFS 679.2 definitions).

Soak time: The measure of time between the setting of baited pot gear in water to begin fishing and the pulling and emptying of catch (frequently the pot is re-baited and set again). Soak time is utilized in a determination of effort.

Species A group of similar fish or shellfish that can freely interbreed. When recording the species on an ADF&G fish ticket, the specific species code must be indicated, as it is very important for management purposes. Group codes, such as shallow or deep-water flatfish, general flounder, or unspecified rockfish, may not be utilized. All species, including landed harvest, discards at sea and at the dock, personal use, and retained bait, must be specifically identified and recorded on the fish ticket.

Statistical area The five or six-digit ADF&G statistical code denoting a specific area of catch. Statistical areas are unique to the fishery "type". For example, there are unique statistical areas for salmon, herring, and shellfish/groundfish harvests. Also referred to as 'statarea.' Groundfish and shellfish (except Southeast Alaska) utilize a six-digit statarea number loosely based on latitude and longitude.

Trans-ship: The transport of fish, shellfish, or seafood products from vessel to port or from vessel to vessel.

Trip: One fishing trip includes all the days lapsed from the time a vessel departed shore, with an empty hull, with the intent to commercially harvest fish or shellfish to the point of final off-load (empty hull) which may include one or more partial deliveries to one or more processing facilities, tenders, or receiver/buyers. This definition applies only to catcher vessels that sell unprocessed catch and catcher-sellers that deliver catch to a shoreside processor. This term does not apply to at-sea operators.

For the at-sea fleet, the trip is defined by a designated period of time, usually every seven days, to report what was landed and processed, including freezing on board.

Vessel operator: The individual, by law, made responsible for the operation of the vessel.