International Pacific Halibut Commission Archives - Page 5 of 6

Alaska: Decline in Pacific halibut fishery not as severe as feared

March 26, 2018 — Pacific halibut catches for 2018 won’t decline as severely as initially feared, but the fishery faces headwinds from several directions.

Federal fishery managers announced just a few days before the March 24 start of the halibut opener that commercial catches for Alaska will be down 10 percent for a total of 17.5 million pounds.

The industry was on tenterhooks awaiting the catch information, which typically is announced by the International Pacific Halibut Commission in late January. However, representatives from the U.S. and Canada could not agree on how to apportion the halibut catches in fishing regions that stretch from the West Coast and British Columbia to the Bering Sea.

“The Canadians felt there was justification in the survey and commercial fishery data that, in concert with a long-held position that the IPHC’s apportionment scheme was not accurate, supported a higher catch limit. They were also opposed to the slow pace the U.S. has taken in reducing its bycatch of halibut in the Bering Sea,” said Peggy Parker of Seafoodnews.com.

The impasse put the decision in the laps of federal managers at NOAA Fisheries in Washington, D.C., who were pushed to the wire to get the halibut catch limits and regulations on the rule books in time for the fishery start.

Adding to the halibut drama are reports of hefty holdovers of fish in freezers, and competition again from Atlantic halibut from eastern Canada.

Prices for Alaska halibut are typically very high for the season’s first deliveries and then decrease after a few weeks. Last year they started out topping $7 per pound to fishermen at major ports. Prices remained in the $5-$6 range for the duration of the eight-month fishery, prompting a push-back from buyers who complained of “price fatigue” and switched their sourcing to less-expensive Atlantic fish.

How that scenario plays out this year remains to be seen, but the combination of fish inventories and availability from elsewhere will likely provide a downward push on Alaska halibut prices.

Read the full story at the Anchorage Daily News

Alaska: Halibut fishery poised to open as NMFS works on 2018 catch limits

March 15, 2018 — Alaska’s halibut fishery is set to open this month, but the final quota was still not completely set as of March 14, even as fishermen began to receive permits in the mail.

Indications, however, are that the quota will decrease this year compared to last.

Under regulations published by the National Marine Fisheries Service this month, the fishery will open March 24 and run through Nov. 7. But the total catch limits remain unknown.

That’s because this year, for just the second time in the commission’s history that dates to its creation by a 1923 treaty, the International Pacific Halibut Commission could not come to an agreement about the 2018 catch limits at its annual meeting. That leaves it up to regulatory bodies in each country to determine the limits instead.

Halibut Coalition Executive Director Tom Gemmell said he expects the quota to decrease by about 15 percent overall compared to 2017, when Alaskan fishermen had their total statewide quota set at about 22.62 million pounds. In 2017, and for a few years prior, the quota had increased slightly after nearly a decade of annual cuts totaling more than 70 percent from mid-2000 highs.

The halibut commission is the six-member body (three each from the U.S. and Canada) charged with regulating the halibut fishery from Northern California to the Bering Sea under the international Pacific halibut treaty, including setting the catch limit each year. The IPHC meets each January and decides on the coastwide halibut catch limits, based on input from staff scientists. But this past January, at its annual meeting in Portland, the commission was not able to come to an agreement on the 2018 limits.

Read the full story at the Alaska Journal of Commerce

At the Center of the IPHC Impasse is Apportionment, A Word No One Uses Any More

February 6, 2018 — SEAFOOD NEWS — The failure to reach agreement on catch limits for Pacific halibut last month had roots in a 2006 decision by the International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC) to shift from managing halibut area by area to a single coastwide assessment.

The change was triggered by data from tagging studies that showed significant migration between distinct geographical areas. There was evidence to support ‘resident’ populations, but new data showed complex migration patterns that had not been understood before.

So the scientists, who had used a closed-area assessment up to then, changed to a coastwide assessment to measure total biomass, then apportioned catch limits based on area surveys and geographical size.

It was a significant change in IPHC’s harvest policy and called for a stock assessment workshop and an independent evaluation from the Center for Independent Experts in June of 2006.

CIE’s Dr. Chris Francis, an independent evaluator and stock assessment expert, commented on the biggest snag he saw with the change.

“The problem for me (and for the IPHC, I believe) is that the coast-wide model requires some way of apportioning the estimated current biomass amongst the regulatory areas. It is important to distinguish between accepting the coast-wide model over the closed-area, and accepting the area-apportionment scheme,” Francis said.

Read the full story with a subscription at Seafood News

No agreement yet on conservation cuts in halibut harvest

February 2, 2018 — Commercial fishing for halibut opens on March 24 and runs through Nov. 7, with no decision reached by the International Pacific Halibut Commission at its annual meeting in Portland, Ore., on conservation cuts for 2018.

NOAA Fisheries is considering the implications of the IPHC meeting and now trying to determine what steps to take, and some are hoping the impasse may yet be resolved by an additional IPHC meeting soon.

Bob Alverson, general manager of the Fishing Vessel Owners Association in Seattle, and one of three U.S. commissioners, is one of those hoping for another meeting soon. “I think we have an excellent corps of scientists and the inability of the commissioners to come to an agreement is unfortunate,” he said. “I think it is worth one more shot for the commissioners to try to figure it out. I knew it was going to be difficult going in to it.”

Back in 2014 harvest reductions put in place included 33 percent in Area 3A, 30 percent in Area 3B, 42 percent in 4A, 20 percent in 4B and 20 percent in 2C, but Canada did not take such aggressive reductions, Alverson said. That done, U.S. percentage reductions are less for this year, while Canada needed almost a 42 percent reduction and it was too much to bite off, he said.

Read the full story at the Cordova Times

U.S. and Canada Fail to Agree on Cuts to Annual Halibut Harvest; May Delay Opening

January 30, 2018 — SEAFOOD NEWS –As expected, catches of Pacific halibut will decrease for this year, and likely into the foreseeable future.

Following an increase in catches last year for the first time in several decades, the International Pacific Halibut Commission on Friday set a “suggested” coastwide catch for 2018 at 28.03 million pounds, a 10.7 million pound reduction. Alaska’s share could be 20.52 million pounds, a drop of 2.1 million pounds from 2017.

The numbers could decline further, as for the first time in memory since the IPHC began its oversight of the stocks in 1923, the six commissioners were not able to agree on catch allocations for the eight halibut fishing regions.

Halibut catch limits are determined by summer surveys at more than 1,200 stations from Oregon to the Aleutians.

“There was agreement that the general halibut stock is in decline, but no consensus on what the catches should be. Due to this impasse, the commissioners made suggestions for 2018 for their own countries,” said Tom Gemmell, executive director of the Juneau-based Halibut Coalition.

“The Canadians’ main issue on harvest reduction is that they do not agree with the U.S. on the distribution of the stocks. However, all agreed that stocks are down and that reductions are needed,” Gemmell added in email posts from the Oregon meeting.

“The bottom line is both parties agreed on what we needed to do in terms of reductions, but couldn’t agree on how to get it done,” said IPHC chairman Jim Balsiger. “That’s an awkward place to be, but I don’t believe for a second that any of the commissioners did anything other than what they thought was best and what they were required to do by their own ideals as we try to get to a solution.”

“The Canadians are not in agreement with the U.S. over their share of the responsibility. That is where the rub is,” said Bob Alverson, a Washington fishing-industry official who is one of three U.S. commissioners.

The impasse means that each country will set its own catch guidelines within recommended limits.

“The need to adopt quotas outside the IPHC process may result in a delay to the March 24 opening date,” cautioned Gemmell. The U.S. halibut fishery will close Nov. 7.

By all accounts, the five-day meeting was “spirited but agreeable.”

“The U.S. and Canada are good friends and neighbors and we do not consider the result a failure,” attendee Bruce Gabrys said in closing remark. “Principled people sometimes disagree. I do not see our relations changing irrespective of what path the IPHC takes as we move forward. We thank the commissioners for their efforts.”

Here are the 2018 suggested catches in millions of pounds compared to last year:

Area, 2017, 2018, percent difference

2A: WA/OR/CA, 1.33 million pounds, 1.19 million pounds, -10.5 percent

2B: Canada, 7.45 million pounds, 6.32 million pounds, -15.2 percent

2C: Southeast AK, 5.25 million pounds, 4.45 million pounds, -15.2 percent

3A: Central Gulf, 10 million pounds, 9.45 million pounds, -5.5 percent

3B: Western Gulf, 3.14 million pounds, 2.62 million pounds, -16.6 percent

4A: Aleutians/Bering Sea, 1.39 million pounds, 1.37 million pounds, -1.4 percent

4B: Aleutians/Bering Sea, 1.14 million pounds, 1.05 million pounds, -7.9 percent

4CDE: Bering Sea, 1.7 million pounds, 1.58 million pounds, -7.1 percent

Total area, 31.4 million pounds, 28.03 million pounds, -10.7 percent

(Source: Alaska Boats and Permits, Homer)

Total halibut removals in 2017 were 42.8 million pounds, up slightly from 2016. Of that, an estimated 26.6 million pounds were landed from commercial fisheries, 7.9 million pounds from recreational fisheries, 6 million pounds from bycatch, and 1.2 million pounds from subsistence.

This story originally appeared on Seafoodnews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

ALASKA: Suggested catches of Pacific halibut decrease this year

January 29, 2018 — As expected, catches of Pacific halibut will decrease for this year, and likely into the foreseeable future.

Following an increase in catches last year for the first time in several decades, the International Pacific Halibut Commission on Friday set a “suggested” coastwide catch for 2018 at 28.03 million pounds, a 10.7 percent reduction. Alaska’s share could be 20.52 million pounds, a drop of 2.1 million pounds from 2017.

Halibut catch limits are determined by summer surveys at more than 1,200 stations from Oregon to the Aleutians.

Read the full story at the Anchorage Daily News

Alaska: Kodiak fishermen find extra work through halibut research amid stock concern

January 10, 2018 — The Pacific halibut fishery may see a drop in stock over the next few years and the International Pacific Halibut Commission, which regulates the fishery, uses surveys in Kodiak waters to collect data.

The surveys also give local fishermen another job to tackle during the winter season, especially with the recent announcement of the 80 percent cut to Pacific cod quota in 2018.

Dock workers throw frozen fish through the hatch and into a large bin, and deckhands help transfer the headed and gutted bait into containers.

Longtime Kodiak fisherman Terry Haines and his son are deckhands on the trip. They set gear and bring in the fish so scientists on board can focus on the research.

“They can see how we harvest the resource and then we can see how they assess the stock and it’s kinda great to have that interaction between, I think, the harvester and the scientist,” Haines said.

It’s also a good way to make some extra cash.

“With the cod stock the way it is, this is a pretty good job right now this winter, and it’s not during the regular longline season when I would be doing regular halibut and black cod,” Haines said.

This particular research trip focuses on the halibut reproductive cycle.

Read the full story at KTOO Public Media

ALASKA: NOAA proposes compensated reallocation program between halibut commercial and charter sectors

October 3, 2017 — NOAA Fisheries is proposing to authorize formation of a recreational quota entity (RQE), which could purchase and hold commercial halibut quota shares for use by charter anglers in International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC) regulatory Areas 2C (Southeast Alaska) and 3A (Southcentral Alaska).

The proposed regulatory amendment would allow one non-profit RQE to obtain a limited amount of commercial halibut quota shares under a willing buyer-willing seller model. The harvest pounds associated with the quota shares would become recreational fishing quota (RFQ) that could be used to augment the amount of halibut available for harvest in the charter halibut fishery annually under the halibut catch sharing plan.

In recent years, restrictions on charter anglers have become more stringent as halibut abundance has dropped and catch limits have been reduced. Typical restrictions include daily and annual limits on the number of fish retained, fish size limits, and closures on specific days of the week.

If the RQE obtains enough quota share, restrictions on halibut size and bag limits could be relaxed for charter anglers in years of low abundance, up to a point where charter anglers could potentially retain up to the daily limit for unguided anglers-currently two fish of any size per day.

Read the full story at Alaska Native News

ALASKA: As salmon defenders gather, more signs of a 2018 fish fight

June 8, 2017 — There are more signs that the hook has been set for Alaska’s biggest fisheries fight in a decade.

As members of the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council and the International Pacific Halibut Commission gather in Juneau this week, salmon-supporting groups have been holding meetings about a double-barreled proposal to significantly strengthen legal protections for rivers that contain salmon.

That proposal has major implications for the state’s construction and mining industries.

Speaking Wednesday in downtown Juneau, Emily Anderson of the Wild Salmon Center said the proposal — now in the Legislature and simultaneously being considered for a 2018 ballot measure — is intended to fix a law created at statehood.

“It’s a very old law. It’s actually a holdover from the territorial government. It was changed just a little bit, but it’s very, very simple,” she said.

The law is Alaska Statute 16.05.871, which says in clause (d) that the commissioner of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game should approve a project that disrupts a salmon stream “unless the commissioner finds the plans and specifications insufficient for the proper protection of fish and game.”

“The only standard there is the proper protection of fish and game. So what does that mean?” Anderson asked. “There’s nothing in statute, there’s nothing in regulation that actually defines what the proper protection of fish and game is. That’s a problem.”

Read the full story at the Juneau Empire

Alaska Longline fleet awaits word on fishing season start

February 27, 2017 — Commercial longline fishing fleets in Alaska are awaiting word about whether the season for halibut and black cod will actually start on March 11th. That’s the date voted on for halibut fishing by the International Pacific Halibut Commission in January. Typically the National Marine Fisheries Service also opens long-line fishing for black cod on the same day. This year that’s all up in the air.

The reason for the uncertainty is an executive order from President Trump in January requiring for every one new regulation issued, at least two prior regulations be identified for elimination. Trump also issued a 60-day freeze on new and pending regulations until they had been reviewed by the head of an agency appointed by the president.

The start dates for the fishing seasons require the publishing of regulations in the Federal Register. As of late February those regulations had not yet been published. During a recent stop in Ketchikan, Republican U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski said she’s trying to get to the bottom of what the president’s executive order means for Alaska fisheries.

“While I like the idea of eliminating some of the regulatory underbrush I think we recognize that in certain areas and this is exactly one of those we count on our agencies to be prompt and diligent in laying down these regs so that people can engage in their business and their livelihood,” Murkowski said. “We need to make that happen.” Murkowski said she didn’t yet know about whether the season would be able to start on March 11.

Read the full story at KFSK Community Radio