Halibut Bycatch

Halibut Bycatch

Compliments to Les Palmer’s recent article in the Outdoor section of the Kenai Peninsula Clarion in regards to Halibut bycatch in the Gulf of Alaska and compliments to the North Pacific Fishery Management Council  for taking the time in the fisheries management process they are responsible for to reduce the bycatch of halibut (Halibut PSC) in the Gulf of Alaska. National Standard 9 of the Magnuson-Stevens Act mandates that we do that and I compliment them for taking action on this agenda item. It is difficult for me discus this issue without getting emotional as we have witnessed a decline of 58% of the exploitable biomass that is available for commercial harvest and Area 2C Charter sport catch limits have been reduced by 34% to help conserve halibut stocks while the trawl bycatch caps have not been reduced since 1989. Reducing bycatch to help conserve and rebuild our halibut resource is the responsible thing to do as bycatch now kills as many halibut in numbers of fish as are harvested in the commercial halibut fishery.

The ability to manage so much so well has benefited a wide variety of user groups who have been dependent upon this resource for a long time. To continue to do so will involve making a very difficult decision as do all biological and allocative decisions. The Council should respectfully consider reducing the halibut bycatch in the Gulf of Alaska by 15%. Reducing bycatch is critical to conserve and rebuild the halibut resource.

Every year, 2,300 metric tons – just over 5 million pounds – of halibut bycatch is taken out of the Gulf of Alaska. None of this fish ever goes to market, thus impacting local economies and small businesses which rely on halibut fishing to survive.

Everyone should do their part to help protect and rebuild our halibut fisheries – By continuing to cut harvest limits for commercial and sport fishermen, we are creating long-term struggles to the communities who depend on halibut as both an economic and nutritional resource.

On June 4^th the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council will be meeting in Kodiak to discuss halibut bycatch and determine whether a cut in limits are necessary. I encourage you to attend the meetings or email npfmc.comments@noaa.gov  or visit the Alaska Marine Councils web site at www.akmarine.org to tell the Council halibut bycatch should be reduced by 15 percent. It will help protect our fisheries long into the future.

Compliments to Les Palmer’s recent article in the Outdoor section of the Kenai Peninsula Clarion in regards to Halibut bycatch in the Gulf of Alaska and compliments to the North Pacific Fishery Management Council  for taking the time in the fisheries management process they are responsible for to reduce the bycatch of halibut (Halibut PSC) in the Gulf of Alaska. National Standard 9 of the Magnuson-Stevens Act mandates that we do that and I compliment them for taking action on this agenda item. It is difficult for me discus this issue without getting emotional as we have witnessed a decline of 58% of the exploitable biomass that is available for commercial harvest and Area 2C Charter sport catch limits have been reduced by 34% to help conserve halibut stocks while the trawl bycatch caps have not been reduced since 1989. Reducing bycatch to help conserve and rebuild our halibut resource is the responsible thing to do as bycatch now kills as many halibut in numbers of fish as are harvested in the commercial halibut fishery.

The ability to manage so much so well has benefited a wide variety of user groups who have been dependent upon this resource for a long time. To continue to do so will involve making a very difficult decision as do all biological and allocative decisions. The Council should respectfully consider reducing the halibut bycatch in the Gulf of Alaska by 15%. Reducing bycatch is critical to conserve and rebuild the halibut resource.

Every year, 2,300 metric tons – just over 5 million pounds – of halibut bycatch is taken out of the Gulf of Alaska. None of this fish ever goes to market, thus impacting local economies and small businesses which rely on halibut fishing to survive.

Everyone should do their part to help protect and rebuild our halibut fisheries – By continuing to cut harvest limits for commercial and sport fishermen, we are creating long-term struggles to the communities who depend on halibut as both an economic and nutritional resource.

On June 4^th the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council will be meeting in Kodiak to discuss halibut bycatch and determine whether a cut in limits are necessary. I encourage you to attend the meetings or email npfmc.comments@noaa.gov  or visit the Alaska Marine Councils web site at www.akmarine.org to tell the Council halibut bycatch should be reduced by 15 percent. It will help protect our fisheries long into the future.

Catch Sharing Plan

AN INTERESTING QUOTE FROM THE ALASKA LONGLINE FISHERMEN ASSOCIATION NEWS LETTER! 3/30/2011


"The halibut biomass has dropped 50 percent over the past decade and catch
limits for the directed fisheries have been dramatically reduced to promote
rebuilding, yet halibut bycatch limits for the trawl industry have not been
reduced since they were set in 1986. Groundfish fisheries (trawl and fixed
gear) in the Gulf of Alaska are allowed to take 2,300 metric tons of halibut as
bycatch. In fact, the number of halibut annually taken as bycatch equals the
number of halibut taken each year in the directed fishery.
Halibut taken in trawls are mostly small fish (less than 32 inches), but since those small fish
represent the rebuilding potential of the halibut stock—and the economic survival of the halibut fishermen—that bycatch is unacceptable".
The same number of halibut being wasted as being harvested, good god! The NPFMC and NMFS solution, restrict the sport fisherman.

Halibut catch sharing is a "JOB KILLER"

John Boehner Where are you? The halibut catch sharing program proposed by the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council kills thousands of jobs and saves not one fish. The halibut catch sharing program takes fish from the guided sport fishermen and gives them to the large commercial fishing interests off the coast of Alaska. This is not a fish conservation issue in our area but it is an allocation issue. The management council is manned by the same commercial fishing industry that stands to gain by this action.We ask for your help in keeping these jobs by advising the secretary of commerce to not sign this proposal until a more accurate accounting of its repercussions on resource conservation and economic impact can be calculated.

The end of halibut sportfishing!

WE NEED YOUR HELP!


Halibut Political Front: Reducing the fleet and the bag limit

This year the Halibut Charter fleet was reduced by 30 - 40% through a federal permitting process. Now, even with this reduced number of charter boats, the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council is trying to reduce the bag limit as well.

What is the Catch Sharing Plan (CSP)?:

The Catch Sharing Plan has been passed by the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council and is headed to the Secretary of Commerce to be signed. If signed, it will reduce the allocation to guided sports fisherman by 30%. Our allowable harvest (Guideline Harvest Level-GHL) in 3A (Cook Inlet and Gulf of Alaska) right now is 3.65 million pounds. This will be cut by 900,000 lbs. Here’s a draft of the plan: http://www.alaskacharter.org/testimony/HalibutCSPmotion1008.pdf

What that means to you, the Guided Sport fisherman:

Right now, you are allowed 2 fish per person per day of any size. If passed, right now, the limit would drop to 1 fish per person per day and could ultimately drop to 1 fish under 37 inches per person per day. The other option would be to lease the fish from commercial boats at around $3 or $4 per pound, a cost that would be passed on to you. Under the CSP, the commercial fishermen get to sit on the beach while you catch their fish and pay them for the privilege.

Why? Good question. It’s not a conservation issue because the halibut not caught by you will be reallocated to increase the numbers caught by the commercial halibut fleet.

Who’s Next?

The private (non-guided, non-commercial) sportsman will be the next to be restricted. They will be receiving tags for fish caught to track numbers of fish. This is the first step towards their allocation.

What About the Bycatch (the non-targeted fish caught commercially and dump over the side of their boats)? What a Waste!

The Ground fish Trawl fleet drag a great big weighted net on the ocean floor or mid-water and scrape up everything, then pick out the one species of fish they want and throw the rest over the side. The total halibut bycatch for 2010 was 11,433,055 million pounds of dead fish (mostly by the trawl fisheries). The average fish caught is 5-7 lbs. so that means almost 2 million fish were wasted. They are not only dumping your halibut over the side but hundreds of other species of sea life including 44,355 king salmon just in the Gulf of Alaska alone. The real problem is that observer coverage of the by-catch is very limited. Most of the boats that take the largest share of the catch in the Gulf of Alaska have 0% or 30% observer coverage. This means we have no idea how much is thrown over the side. So these numbers are far from accurate. If you’d like to see a 4 minute video of Halibut bycatch check out: http://www.tholepin.blogspot.com/2009/10/filthy-video-of-halibut-waste.html

What Can You Do?- Go to www.homerfishing/politics.com for info and sample letters

Contact these people: ask questions, make comments, and fax or email letters

President of the United States, Barrack Obama- http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact

Secretary of Commerce, Gary Locke- http://www.commerce.gov/contact-us

Dr. Jane Lubchenco, NOAA Chief Administrator- jane.lubchenco@noaa.gov, Fax (202) 408-9674

Eric Schwaab, Assistant Administrator of Fisheries- eric.schwaab@noaa.gov, (301) 713-2239 x 195

Governor Sean Parnell, Senator Lisa Murkowski, Senator Mark Begich, Rep. Don Young

The contact information for these four can be found on http://www.electedlist.com/Alaska.html

Charter halibut IFQ.

Its time for fair treatment by the NPFMC of the charter halibut fishing fleet. Hundreds of established businesses and thousands of employees are at risk of losing there jobs because of the current management councils actions. The halibut IFQ system is the proven management tool for conservation of the resource and maintaining a viable businesses climate that depends on that healthy fish population. Inclusion into the IFQ management system is the only equitable solution to the halibut allocation issue.

List your permit here.

List your permits here, for sale, for lease, for fun. just leave your information and contact info and see what happens. The more listings the more interest from google and other searches

For lease! 6 angler halibut permit. Area 3A. $10,000.00/ yr

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Area 3A 20 angler halibut permit and boat for sale.

Well maintained 50' Delta charter boat available after summer 2010 season w/ 20-seat halibut permit.