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http://homertribune.com/2010/02/halibut-capital-maintains-sport-quota/
Halibut capital maintains sport quota
• IPHC’s annual meeting squeaks through with no loss in numbers
By Naomi Klouda
Homer Tribune
A Homer captain washes down a catch of halibut at day’s end. At the IPHC annual meeting, Homer charter captains retained catch limits at last year’s level.
The International Pacific Halibut Commission allotted 3.6 million pounds of halibut to Area 3A at its annual meeting on Friday in Seattle.
The IPHC, the body that, under treaty, has a responsibility for determining overall catch levels each year, kept the allocation at last year’s Guideline Harvest Level.
The amount is to be shared among all guided recreational sport halibut fishermen in south central.
“We’re not under threat as far as being restricted this year,” said Rex Murphy, who attended the IPHC’s annual meeting. “One of the reasons is that the estimated guided limit for area 3A was 2.5 million pounds last year.”
That means the 3A halibut fishermen did not reach their limit. Area 2C’s halibut allocation also remained level with last year’s numbers. That area was limited to one halibut per fishermen, per day, though the Homer/Kodiak area maintains its two-halibut daily limit.
A motion was raised asking the commission to further restrict guided harvest in 2C, which received a GHL of 788,000 pounds.
“We objected to that on that grounds that this is a domestic allocation issue that, by law, needs to be taken up by the National Marine Fisheries Service,” Murphy said. “That was good news: the international body did not further restrict 2C harvest, but there is a mild threat to do that in the future.”
The commission can institute restrictions in a number of ways. They can close or shorten the season, require one halibut of a maximum size, or limit fishing for halibut to certain days when the season opens.
Murphy said they could also consider an annual limit.
“It’s all been discussed before at the north council level,” he explained. “The long and short of it is that, in 2007, they started to do this, but the council said ‘no’.”
There was some discussion informally about the recently applied moratorium on halibut charters. However, no official action or discussion took place. since the restrictions were already adopted, Murphy said.
“The only way it would work (to rescind the moratorium) is through a lawsuit, because the process is so far along,” he said. “Or, if someone introduced a motion to do away with it, that could come at a later date. But it would require a majority vote.”
The 11-member commission comprises one State of Alaska representative (Fish and Game Commissioner Denby Lloyd,) the director of National Marine Fisheries, Oregon and Washington State Department of Fish and Game representatives, one recreational fishing representative and five commercial fishermen.
Murphy noted that it is unlikely the State of Alaska will fight the moratorium capping the number of halibut charters as Commissioner Denby Lloyd, representing the State, had voted in favor of the moratorium at the time of its passage in the first week of January.
All halibut charter captains must now apply for permits to operate. They also will have to fulfill the required number of years and trips to qualify, as outlined by the National Marine Fisheries Service. The application process opens tomorrow, Thursday, and runs through April 5. NOAA Fisheries mail out applications. Or go to www.alaskafisheries.noaa.gov, or call 1800-304-4846 1800-304-4846.
According to a news release put out by the IPHC, it is recommending catch limits for 2010 of 50,670,000 pounds to the governments of Canada and the United States. That reflects a 6.4-percent decrease from the 2009 catch limit of 54,080,000 pounds. Alaska, Washington, Oregon and British Columbia share the 50.67 million pounds, said Greg Williams, senior biologist the IPHC.
The Commission staff reported on the 2009 Pacific halibut stock assessment survey. For 2010, the Commission staff recommended a 20 percent harvest rate for use in Areas 2A(Oregon, Washington and California) through 3A (Yakatat to Kodiak.) The Commission staff expressed concern over continued declining catch rates in Area 3B (from west Kodiak to Unimak Pass) and recommended a reduction of the harvest rate for this area to 15 percent, similar to that used for the Bering Sea (Areas 4A, 4B, and 4CDE). Catch limits adopted for 2010 were lower for most regulatory areas except Areas 4B and 4CDE, for which the recommended catch limits increased approximately 15 and 3 percent, respectively.
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Posted by Tribune Moderator on Feb 3rd, 2010 and filed under Headline News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response by filling out the following comment form, or trackback to this entry from your site. Please read the comment policy before commenting.
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Halibut capital maintains sport quota
• IPHC’s annual meeting squeaks through with no loss in numbers
By Naomi Klouda
Homer Tribune
A Homer captain washes down a catch of halibut at day’s end. At the IPHC annual meeting, Homer charter captains retained catch limits at last year’s level.
The International Pacific Halibut Commission allotted 3.6 million pounds of halibut to Area 3A at its annual meeting on Friday in Seattle.
The IPHC, the body that, under treaty, has a responsibility for determining overall catch levels each year, kept the allocation at last year’s Guideline Harvest Level.
The amount is to be shared among all guided recreational sport halibut fishermen in south central.
“We’re not under threat as far as being restricted this year,” said Rex Murphy, who attended the IPHC’s annual meeting. “One of the reasons is that the estimated guided limit for area 3A was 2.5 million pounds last year.”
That means the 3A halibut fishermen did not reach their limit. Area 2C’s halibut allocation also remained level with last year’s numbers. That area was limited to one halibut per fishermen, per day, though the Homer/Kodiak area maintains its two-halibut daily limit.
A motion was raised asking the commission to further restrict guided harvest in 2C, which received a GHL of 788,000 pounds.
“We objected to that on that grounds that this is a domestic allocation issue that, by law, needs to be taken up by the National Marine Fisheries Service,” Murphy said. “That was good news: the international body did not further restrict 2C harvest, but there is a mild threat to do that in the future.”
The commission can institute restrictions in a number of ways. They can close or shorten the season, require one halibut of a maximum size, or limit fishing for halibut to certain days when the season opens.
Murphy said they could also consider an annual limit.
“It’s all been discussed before at the north council level,” he explained. “The long and short of it is that, in 2007, they started to do this, but the council said ‘no’.”
There was some discussion informally about the recently applied moratorium on halibut charters. However, no official action or discussion took place. since the restrictions were already adopted, Murphy said.
“The only way it would work (to rescind the moratorium) is through a lawsuit, because the process is so far along,” he said. “Or, if someone introduced a motion to do away with it, that could come at a later date. But it would require a majority vote.”
The 11-member commission comprises one State of Alaska representative (Fish and Game Commissioner Denby Lloyd,) the director of National Marine Fisheries, Oregon and Washington State Department of Fish and Game representatives, one recreational fishing representative and five commercial fishermen.
Murphy noted that it is unlikely the State of Alaska will fight the moratorium capping the number of halibut charters as Commissioner Denby Lloyd, representing the State, had voted in favor of the moratorium at the time of its passage in the first week of January.
All halibut charter captains must now apply for permits to operate. They also will have to fulfill the required number of years and trips to qualify, as outlined by the National Marine Fisheries Service. The application process opens tomorrow, Thursday, and runs through April 5. NOAA Fisheries mail out applications. Or go to www.alaskafisheries.noaa.gov, or call 1800-304-4846 1800-304-4846.
According to a news release put out by the IPHC, it is recommending catch limits for 2010 of 50,670,000 pounds to the governments of Canada and the United States. That reflects a 6.4-percent decrease from the 2009 catch limit of 54,080,000 pounds. Alaska, Washington, Oregon and British Columbia share the 50.67 million pounds, said Greg Williams, senior biologist the IPHC.
The Commission staff reported on the 2009 Pacific halibut stock assessment survey. For 2010, the Commission staff recommended a 20 percent harvest rate for use in Areas 2A(Oregon, Washington and California) through 3A (Yakatat to Kodiak.) The Commission staff expressed concern over continued declining catch rates in Area 3B (from west Kodiak to Unimak Pass) and recommended a reduction of the harvest rate for this area to 15 percent, similar to that used for the Bering Sea (Areas 4A, 4B, and 4CDE). Catch limits adopted for 2010 were lower for most regulatory areas except Areas 4B and 4CDE, for which the recommended catch limits increased approximately 15 and 3 percent, respectively.
Contact the writer
Posted by Tribune Moderator on Feb 3rd, 2010 and filed under Headline News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response by filling out the following comment form, or trackback to this entry from your site. Please read the comment policy before commenting.
Jim's Fishing Charters
www.JimsFishing.com
http://ca.youtube.com/user/Sushihunter250
