The public is being asked to weigh in on an innovative new catch sharing plan that for the first time would allow transfers of halibut quota between commercial and charter operators in Southeast Alaska and the Central Gulf of Alaska. The plan, under the direction of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, would allocate each year's halibut catch limits between the two sectors.
"The Council saw it as a way to provide some compensated way of transferring between the two," said Rachel Baker, a fisheries specialist with NOAA Fisheries in Juneau. "We don't know how many people will use it or what the lease prices will be. That all remains to be seen. But it will be authorized by the plan if it is approved."
Currently, the commercial and charter halibut fisheries operate under different management programs. The commercial fishery has been managed under an IFQ program since 1995. Since 2003 the charter sector has been managed using harvest guidelines, which give operators a number of fish they can catch per guided angler per day, but it does not ensure the overall catch stays within a defined limit.
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