Recreational Halibut Fishing in Alaska is Under Attack.

The State of Alaska and the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) are playing Russian Roulette with Alaska's charter fishing businesses by recommending a one halibut daily limit for charter anglers.

The International Pacific Halibut Commission "(IPHC) does not view this as a conservation issue. The IPHC would never allow an overharvest of the Total CEY if there were a conservation issue. It should be very clear that due to the conservative nature of IPHC harvest calculations, overharvest of the Total CEY by 60 to 85 percent is possible without resulting in a conservation issue. The proposed rule deals with a pure allocation issue and does not present any resource conservation questions."

National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) agrees. The healthy status of the halibut stock is evidence that IPHC policies are conservative and successful".

The resource is healthy, and is owned by the public, so why do the State and the Council want to reduce safe public access to halibut when recreational fishing accounts for less than 10% of the halibut taken off Alaska?

Are you going to let this happen?

The Pacific Fishery Management Council -- which regulates halibut fishing off Washington, Oregon and California -- actually has a "catch sharing plan." Share the catch? That's an interesting idea.

Under the catch sharing plan, the harvest is divided between Washington treaty Indians who get 35 percent (they made a good deal long ago; more power to them), and all non-Indian fisheries. The 65 percent chunk for the non-Indian fisheries is split three ways:

Recreational fisheries north of the Columbia River get 36.6 percent.

 

Recreational fisheries south of the Columbia River get 31.7 percent.

 

Commercial fisheries get 31.7 percent.

 

Meanwhile in Alaska, where the halibut resource is in orders of magnitude larger, recreational fishermen get their 6.2 percent. If the Recreational Fisherman, guided or not, were given 30% there would finally be a Fair and Equitable Plan

Express your opposition to a one halibut daily limit for charter anglers. Insist that YOU, the public, be given a FAIR and EQUITABLE SHARE of the Halibut resource and that you not be penalized if you want to fish safely on a Guided Charter Fishing Vessel.

 

Contact the Governor of Alaska at governor@gov.alaska.ak.us

 

Below are some additional links with additional information:

 

Anchorage Daily News article "Allocation of halibut calls for revolution"

 

http://www.adn.com/outdoors/craig_medred/story/429933.html

Fish Alaska Magazine article "Balancing the Halibut Resource and the People Who Depend on it" http://www.fishalaskamagazine.com/archives/2008/608_creel.htm

 

The Charter Halibut Task Force website http://www.charterhalibut.org

 

The Charter Halibut Task Force continues to battle for our rightful share of the halibut. Letters or emails in opposition to the one halibut limit and supporting a Fair and Equitable Share of the Halibut resource can be sent to the Task Force and they will see that they are presented at the proper meetings. They can be contacted at;

Charter Halibut Task Force

P.O. Box 8500
Ketchikan, AK 99901
Phone: 1-877-588-8819 Phone: info@charterhalibut.org