(1) This report has been partially revised from an original version that was given limited distribution at the NPFMC meeting in September, 1995. This version contains an added appendix as well as minor changes to the original text and tables.

(2) The word "gap" is used throughout this report as a short term to refer to the 1991 to 1994 time period between the end of the eligibility period (1990) and the actual start of the IFQ program (1995). The authors have used the term herein only to simplify some of the narrative. In using the term "gap," the authors do not intend to connote any value judgement with respect to the years used for initial QS allocations. Every restricted access management program needs to choose a qualification or "cut-off" date and eligibility criteria to determine who should receive an initial allocation. These issues are often contentious.

(3) Under the Individual Fishing Quota program (IFQ), the Quota Share (QS) is a permit that conveys the use-privilege of harvesting a portion of the harvest in a management area. The portion of the harvest associated with a person's QS is determined by dividing a person's QS for an area by the total QS outstanding in the area. A person's IFQ is then determined on an annual basis by multiplying the IFQ- portion of the TAC for the area by the ratio of the person's QS divided by the total QS outstanding for the area.

(4) The term "person" herein has the same meaning that it has under the NPFMC's IFQ program. A person can be any entity that can legally hold IFQ. A person may be an individual (natural person), partnership, corporation, association, or other type of legal entity that can hold QS. The authors will use the terms "person" and "entity" as synonyms throughout this report.

(5) The word "leftout" is used throughout this report as a short term to refer to fishing operations that harvested an IFQ resource in a management area over the 1991 to 1994 time period but did not receive an initial allocation of QS for that resource and management area under the IFQ program. The term was first used when the study was conceptualized and the authors have used the term herein only to simplify some of the narrative. In using the term, the authors do not intend to connote any value-judgements with respect to initial QS allocations. Every restricted access management program needs to choose a qualification date and eligibility criteria to determine who will receive an initial allocation. Such issues are often contentious.

(6) In this report, the interim-use permit holder will be referred to simply as the "permit" holder. Under Alaska law, interim-use permits are required of persons commercially harvesting a fishery resource in a fishery that is not limited under a State of Alaska limited entry program. In the fisheries that are limited under the program, both interim-use and permanent "entry" permits are issued. These "permits" are always issued to natural persons, who are usually the skippers of the fishing operations. Vessel owners may be entities other than natural persons. In Alaska's small boat fisheries, the vessel owner and the skipper are often the same person (an owner-operator), but in many cases they may be two different persons.

(7) The phrase "too-littles" is used in this report as a short descriptive term to refer to fishing operations that increased their share of the harvest of an IFQ resource in a management area over the 1991 to 1994 time period over and above their share of the allocation under the QS program. The term was first used when the study was conceptualized and the authors have used the term herein only to simplify some of the narrative. In using the term, the authors do not intend to connote any value-judgements with respect to initial QS allocations. All restricted access programs need to choose a qualification date and eligibility criteria to determine who should receive an initial allocation. Such issues are often contentious.