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The most drastic changes for the 2011 Pacific halibut catch limits take place in Areas 2C and 3. (Photo: Icicle Seafoods)
Halibut catch limits should be cut by 19 pc for 2011: IPHC
UNITED STATES Tuesday, December 07, 2010, 16:40 (GMT + 9)
The International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC) has recommended lowering catch limits by 19 per cent for 2011 to 41.02 million lb in the Gulf of Alaska and the Bering Sea.
According to the commission, coastwide commercial fishery weight per unit effort (WPUE) fell by 6 per cent this year from 2009, primarily due to drops of 6-24 per cent in the central and western portions of the stock (Areas 3A to 4). Conversely, commercial WPUE rose strongly in Areas 2A and 2B and modereately in Area 2C.
On the other hand, the 2010 IPHC stock assessment survey WPUE values grew only in Areas 2A (109 per cent) and 2B (3 per cent) while skidding from 5-36 per cent in Areas 2C to 4. The coastwide survey index of abundance took a 15 per cent dive from 2009 to 2010.
Several analyses were conducted by the staff this year and added to the catch limit recommendations.
The staff and the Commission have also expressed concern that the IPHC’s Slow Up - Fast Down (SUFD) harvest policy alterations have not been successful in recent years. The staff thus advises incorporating the existing policy of a 33 per cent jump from previous year’s catch limits when stock yields are projected to increase but use a 100 per cent cut in recommended catch when stock yields are projected to diminish.
This year’s stock assessment yielded a coastwide estimate for the 2011 Fishery Constant Exploitation Yield (FCEY) of 41.89 Mlb, a drop of about 6 per cent from the 2010 value of 44.40 Mlb. While FCEY values rose in Areas 2A and 2B, these increases were counteracted by lower values for Areas 2C and 3; next year’s values for Area 4 remained mostly stable.
For 2011, the staff has evaluated potential adjustments to the apportionment procedure for the coastwide exploitable biomass and recommends ongoing use of the hook competition and survey timing factors. For all areas, direct deductions for all bycatch and wastage mortality of 26-32in are made in the area of occurrence to find the FCEY.
The most drastic changes for the 2011 catch limits take place in Areas 2C and 3.
For Area 2C, the difference in the catch limit recommendation mainly results from the application of the SUFullD harvest adjustment. For Area 3, the primary cause of the change is the estimated drop in exploitable biomass.
The Area 2A recommendation includes all removals allocated by the Pacific Fishery Management Council's Catch Sharing Plan. Area 4CDE is treated as a single regulatory unit by IPHC.
The Area 2B catch limit advice includes totals for the commercial and sport fisheries. Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) will assign the adopted catch limit between the two fisheries.
For Areas 2C and 3A, the catch limit recommendation entails using the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) authorized Guideline Harvest Levels (GHL) for the halibut recreational charter fisheries of 0.788 Mlb and 3.650 Mlb, respectively, for 2011.
Related article:
- Halibut fishery catch limits set
By Natalia Real
editorial@fis.com
www.fis.com
