Three upcoming meetings of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council will discuss, among other agenda items, rationalization of groundfish in the Gulf of Alaska.

The meetings are set for Oct. 3 and Dec. 5 in Anchorage and Feb. 5 in Seattle.

Currently, the council is discussing alternatives to rationalization.

“They started out with a laundry list of about 30 pages of different alternatives so they’re in the process of whittling those down to a manageable number for further analysis,” said Tom Pearson with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The selection of alternatives is one step on the way to making a decision on Gulf rationalization. While it is in the council’s power to make a decision on Gulf rationalization, Pearson said he expects the process to take several years.

The alternative “need to present a reasonable range for analysis so it could be maybe just three or four or it could be more, no matter how many they choose there’s going to be a long list of sub-options to work through,” Pearson said.

The list, he said, will probably include options for a program of Individual Fishing Quotas or a co-op program like the one currently in place in the Bering Sea.

Pearson will attend the meetings, to work out numbers for fishing quotas for 2006 and 2007.

Julie Bonney with the Alaska Groundfish Databank said that she attends all council meetings, whether rationalization is on the agenda or not.

She said the meetings usually see a large contingent from Kodiak. A handful of community members sit on the council’s Advisory Panel. Others make the trip to defend their own interests or testify before the council.

She said part of her job at the databank is to listen to harvesters and processors and come to a consensus opinion on issues affecting the fishing industry in Kodiak.

With groundfish rationalization, though, the issue is still too nebulous to decide on a proper opinion.

In general, though, she would like to see a vibrant industry after changes are made.

“Our overall goal is to do what’s best with the community first, and when you look at the community you have to have a healthy harvesting sector as well as a healthy processing sector,” Bonnie said.

Anybody who wishes to send written testimony to the meetings can mail or fax their comments to the council. Testimony must be received before Sept. 28 to be included in the packets distributed to members of the council, advisory panel and scientific and statistical committee.

Mirror writer Andrew Wellner can be reached via e-mail at awellner@kodiakdailymirror.com.