As the first season under crab rationalization regulations starts today, local fishermen are hoping a grassroots effort and local testimony will sway Congress to make some important changes to the Magnuson-Stevens Act.

“This is the first day of fishing under the program,” said Glenn Merrill, a regulation specialist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Under rationalization, fisheries are divided up into quota shares among fishing boats and processors.

The Alaska golden king crab season, which starts today, is the first crab fishery to open under the new federally regulated program.

Merrill said “significantly” fewer fishermen will be involved in the fishery than in past years, and because of the rationalized nature of the program, fishing for some boats may not begin for weeks.

With a fixed quota, fishermen may opt to wait until the market hits a higher price, Merrill said. Potentially, some boats may not start fishing for golden king crab until March, he added. Other crab seasons under the program are set to being in the fall.

As crab pots hit the water under the program, the Magnuson-Stevens Act is up for reauthorization this year and two local crabbers are collecting information from displaced crabbers to show its impact on small fishing communities like Kodiak.

The Magnuson-Stevens Act manages fishery resources in federal waters. One of the controversial portions of the law assigns sellable quotas and shares to individual boats and processors.

Kodiak resident Mark Monteiro wants changes to controversial issues like limited catches and assigning quotas to individual boats — aka rationalization.

“Look at this, how many people are really benefiting out of (rationalization) happening?” Monteiro asked.

Monteiro said he has collected about four interviews but acknowledges that many crabbers are at sea right now.

“That’s why I carry around my camcorder with me,” Monteiro said.

Local fisherman Stosh Anderson is also trying to document the effect rationalization has had on Kodiak boats.

“I served on the (North Pacific Fishery Management) Council when it was adopted,” Anderson said. “I predicted some of the impacts happening now and tried to influence the Council at that time to put provisions in the rationalization plan.”

If Congress would have known about the implications of rationalization in the Gulf of Alaska and the Bering Sea, Anderson said, things might have been different. He thinks the plan has made a permanent change to the landscape of Alaska crabbing.

“I think things are going to change in Magnuson-Stevens, but do I think those things are going to retroactively change the crab fishery? Probably not,” Anderson said.

During the review period, there will be a chance to make some adjustments to crab rationalization, Anderson said.

Anderson said crab rationalization is taking away profits from captains and crabbers and making crabbing much more difficult on those actually doing the work.

“Because of unrestricted leasing provisions and access privileges, people are making a lot of money at the cost of the crew,” Anderson said.

One local fisherman said crab rationalization is doing a lot of harm in Kodiak.

“I already have friends that have sold their houses,” said Gene LeDoux, a local crab boat captain who said he lost his job because of rationalization. “I stand to lose $80,000 or $90,000 in the fall.”

Anderson said he will give the results of his findings to the city, borough and other state and federal entities that have an influence on any changes to the Magnuson-Stevens Act.

Monteiro and Anderson are hoping to collect their data before the comment period ends in September. Anderson can be reached at crabcrews@msn.com and Monteiro’s phone number is 486-1419.

Mirror writer Kyle Arnold can be reached via e-mail at karnold@kodiakdailymirror.com.