Code of Federal Regulations Title 50. Wildlife and Fisheries § 50.600.1107—Bid

This Bid (Bid) is entered between the individual named in section III, 11(a) of the Agreement and the Southeast Revitalization Association (SRA).

I. Definitions

Unless otherwise defined, the following terms have the following meanings for the purpose of this Agreement.

Acceptance means SRA acceptance of a Bid.

Act means Section 209 of Title II of Division B of Public Law 108–447, Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2005;  as amended by Section 121 of Public Law 109–447, Magnuson–Stevens (MSA) Reauthorization Act of 2006.

Bid means a bidder's irrevocable offer to relinquish a permit.

Bid amount means the dollar amount submitted by a bidder.

Bidder means a permit holder who submits a bid.

Conditional notice means the Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission (CFEC) form that any Bidder must sign and agree to abide by upon submission of a Bid Agreement.

Conditional relinquishment means the CFEC form that any Permit Holder, agreeing to relinquish a permit, must sign and agree to abide by upon SRA acceptance of the bid.

Fishery means the Southeast Alaska administrative area as defined under Title 5 Alaska Administrative Code Section 33.100 for salmon with purse seine gear.

Permit means a valid entry permit issued by CFEC to operate in the Southeast Alaska purse seine salmon fishery.

Permit holder means an individual who at the time of bidding is the holder of record of a permit.

Reduction plan means the aggregate of all Bids, Relinquishment Contracts (Appendix B), Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission (“CFEC”) Conditional Notice and Conditional Relinquishment (Appendices C & D), and supporting documents and rationale;  submitted to the Secretary for approval.

Referendum means the voting procedure to determine the Permit Holder's willingness to repay a fishing capacity reduction loan to purchase the permits identified in the Plan.

Relinquishment contract means the contract that any bidder agreeing to relinquish a permit pursuant to Alaska Statute (A.S. 16.43.150(i) must sign and agree to abide by upon acceptance of the Bid, and before payment of the bid amount.

Secretary means the Secretary of Commerce or his/her designee.

Southeast Revitalization Association (SRA) means the qualified fishery association authorized to develop and implement this capacity reduction program under Alaska Statute 16.40.250 and Federal law.

II. Recitals

Whereas Alaska Statute 16.40.250 and the Act authorize a fishing capacity reduction program for the fishery;

Whereas, within 30 days of concluding the selection process, the SRA shall submit the Reduction Plan, together with supporting documents and rationale, to NMFS for final approval on behalf of the Secretary;

Whereas, the reduction Plan's express objective is to reduce fishing capacity by permanently revoking permits thereby promoting economic efficiency, improving flexibility in the conservation and management of the fishery and obtain the maximum reduction in permits at the least cost;

Whereas, the SRA can implement the Reduction Plan only after giving notice to all Permit Holders and subsequent approval of the reduction Plan by referendum.

Whereas, the Agreement submitted by the bidder and the SRA is an integral element of the Reduction Plan.

Now, therefore, for good and valuable consideration, the sufficiency of which is hereby acknowledged, the SRA and bidder agree as follows:

III. Terms and Conditions

1. Form. By completing and submitting this Bid to the SRA the bidder hereby offers to permanently relinquish, and have the CFEC revoke, the permit. The SRA signing the Bid and subsequent NMFS payment to bidder in the exact bid amount set forth in section III, 11(f) of the Bid is full and complete consideration.

2. Irrevocable. The bidder expressly acknowledges that by submitting the Bid he/she makes an irrevocable offer to relinquish the permit and once having submitted the Bid is not entitled to withdraw or in any manner amend the Bid. The receipt date that the SRA marks on the Bid constitutes the date of the bidder's submittal.

3. Warranty. The bidder warrants and represents that he/she is the holder of record of the permit, according to the CFEC records, and that he/she has read and understands the terms of the Program Regulations, Bid, Relinquishment Contract, Conditional Notice and the Conditional Relinquishment and has had the opportunity to seek independent legal counsel regarding such documents and the consequences of submitting the Bid.

4. Validity. The SRA, in consultation with the CFEC, shall examine each Bid for completeness and consistency. The SRA shall notify the bidder if the Bid is non-conforming. In such cases, the bidder may submit a revised, conforming Bid within the prescribed period (i.e., until the bid closing date).

5. Ranking. The SRA shall rank the bid amount entered in section III, 11(f) of this Bid by using a reverse auction in which the SRA ranks the Bid with the lowest dollar amount and successively ranks each additional Bid with the next lowest dollar amount until there are no more Bids or the ranking of the next lowest Bid would exceed the total program cost. In the event of a tie with bids which results in the tied bids exceeding $23,476,500, the SRA will select the tied bid first received.

6. Acceptance and Rejection. If the Bid is accepted, the SRA shall formally notify the bidder in writing. If the SRA rejects the Bid, the SRA will formally notify the bidder in writing and the Bid shall terminate without further obligation.

7. Restriction of Transfer of permit:  Upon acceptance, the SRA will send the CFEC the Conditional Notice, restricting transfer of the permit until such time as:  The SRA notifies the bidder that the Plan is not in compliance with the Act and will not be approved;  or NMFS notifies the bidder the referendum was unsuccessful.

8. Payment. Within 60 days from the close of the voting period of a successful referendum, the CFEC will provide notice to NMFS of the permits retired from the Reduction Fishery. Upon receiving such notice, NMFS will then tender the accepted bid amounts to the Permit Holders.

9. Specific Performance. The failure of a bidder whose Bid was accepted to comply with the terms of this Bid will result in irreparable damage to the SRA and its members because the Bid was part of the basis for the Plan submitted to the Secretary for approval. Accordingly, the SRA and bidder expressly acknowledge that money damages are an inadequate means of redress and agree that specific performance of those obligations may be obtained by suit in equity brought by the SRA in any court of competent jurisdiction without obligation to arbitrate such action.

10. Submission. This Bid must be submitted within the prescribed period to the SRA, c/o Elgee, Rehfeld, Mertz, LLC, Professional Plaza Building B, 9309 Glacier Highway, Suite B–200, Juneau, AK 99801.

11. Complete Bid Information:  To fully and accurately complete this Bid, the bidder must fully complete the following questions and provide an exact photocopy of the permit. The Bidder must further sign this form, Appendices B, C, and D to § 600.1107, and acknowledge the signature before a notary public.

(a) BIDDER'S NAME. This must be the full and exact legal name of record of the person bidding. Insert the name of the bidder.

(b) BIDDER'S ADDRESS OF RECORD. Insert the full and exact address of record for the bidder.

(c) BIDDER'S TELEPHONE NUMBER. Insert the full and exact telephone number of the bidder.

(d) BIDDER'S ELECTRONIC MAIL ADDRESS (if available). Insert the full and exact e-mail address of the bidder.

(e) PERMIT. Insert the full and exact permit number(s) of the bidder. Enclose with this Bid an exact photocopy of the permit.

(f) BID AMOUNT. Insert, in U.S. dollars, the bid's full and exact amount, both in words and numbers.

(g) SECURITY INTERESTS. Insert the name of any authorized third party that may hold a security interest in the permit.

(h) SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER. Insert the full and exact social security number of the bidder.

(i) BID SIGNATURE. In compliance with applicable law and this Bid, the bidder submits the above bid amount as an offer to the SRA for the permanent relinquishment of his/her permit. By completing the sections above and signing below, the bidder acknowledges that the bidder has completely reviewed this Bid and attachments. The bidder warrants that the bidder is fully able to enter into the Relinquishment Contract. The bidder expressly warrants and attests that all information included herein is accurate.

State of:  ________ County/Borough of:  ________

I certify that ____________ is the person who appeared before me and said person acknowledged that he/she signed this Bid and on oath stated that he/she was authorized to execute such document and acknowledged it to be the free and voluntary act of him/her for the uses and purposes mentioned in such document.

Notary Public's Signature:  ____________Dated:  ______

My Commission Expires:  ____________

12. SRA SIGNATURE. By signing below, the SRA acknowledges acceptance of this Bid, including the bidder's bid amount.