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

Comment here!

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.

OCEAN FRIENDLY? THINK AGAIN. OCEANA QUESTIONS RATING OF ‘SUSTAINABLE’ FOR DESTRUCTIVE AND WASTEFUL BOTTOM TRAWL FISHERY

Check out the link above.

Charter Halibut Permit Endorsements!

The Council recommended an amendment to the charter halibut

limited entry (moratorium) program to revise the approach used to

assign angler endorsements to charter halibut permits held by

businesses that receive more than one permit in Area 2C or Area 3A.

The effect of the action is to more closely align angler endorsements

with the distribution of highest client loads for vessels used by

qualifying applicants. The Council selected Alternative 2, Option 3 for

businesses that would be issued multiple permits. One permit would

be issued to a business with an endorsement equal to the greatest

number of charter vessel anglers onboard any vessel used by the

business to generate a permit as reported to ADF&G on any bottom

fish logbook trip in 2004 or 2005, but not less than 4. Each

subsequent permit issued to the same business would be issued with

an endorsement equal to the next greatest number of charter vessel

anglers onboard any other vessel used by the business to generate a

permit, whose catch history has not already been used by the

business to determine an angler endorsement, as reported to ADF&G

on any trip in 2004 or 2005, until all permits are issued. The Council

deleted the following language from its original motion for analysis,

“The year selected for determining angler endorsements must be the

year selected by the applicant for permit qualification.” The effect of

the action is to reduce the number of permit endorsements by

approximately 400 in both areas. The Council intended that this

amendment be implemented in regulation prior to issuance of charter

halibut permits to businesses that would be issued multiple permits.

The Council also initiated a discussion paper to amend the charter

halibut permit program to promulgate regulations to prohibit leasing of

charter halibut permits. The Council noted that its highest priority for

staff tasking remains implementation of the halibut catch share plan

that was adopted by the Council in October 2008. The Council’s next

priorities would be two commercial IFQ analyses initiated in February

2010. Four commercial IFQ discussion papers were also initiated in

February. The priority of the discussion papers will be identified in the

future by the Council. Contact Jane DiCosimo for more information

Charter Halibut Moratorium Leasing Limitations Provisions

Motion: Initiate discussion paper of the following elements and options regarding leasing of
Halibut Charter Permits.
Problem Statement: Leasing of Halibut Charter Permits could substantially change the character and
current primary business practice of the halibut charter fleet and could enable increased acquisition of
halibut charter permits by individuals that do not have an investment in the fishery. In addition, leasing
provisions are likely to decrease the sale and transfer of permits from existing permit holders and may
inhibit entry level opportunities for new halibut charter operators as well as increase the price of entry.
Alternative 1: Status Quo
Alternative 2: Limit Leasing of Halibut Charter Permits
Option 1: Halibut charter permit holders that use their permit onboard a vessel that is identified
on an ADF&G saltwater logbook must own at least 20 – 51% interest in the vessel.
Sub option: 12 month rule applies
Option 2: Halibut charter permit holders that use their permit onboard a vessel that is identified
on an ADF&G saltwater logbook must log at least 1‐5 halibut charter trips in the
logbook. For businesses owning halibut charter permits, an individual with a minimum
ownership interest of 10‐33% must log the minimum number of trips.
Sub option: Log at least 3‐10% of the trips in the logbook
Sub option: Apply only to logbooks that have at least 10‐20 trips recorded.
Option 3: Halibut charter permit holders that use their permit onboard a vessel that is identified
on an ADF&G saltwater logbook are limited to requesting 2‐3 saltwater logbooks for
unique vessels in a 12 month period and no more than 2‐3 unique vessels in a 60
month period.
Option 4: Halibut charter permit holders that use their permit onboard a vessel that is identified
on an ADF&G saltwater logbook are required to be present either at the point of
departure or at the point of return for the charter trip. For businesses owning halibut
charter permits, an individual with a minimum ownership interest of 10%‐33% must be
present at either the point of departure or at the point of return for the charter trip.
Alternative 3: Halibut charter permit holders or an employee of a halibut charter permit holder that
uses their permit onboard a vessel that is identified on an ADF&G saltwater logbook
must be aboard the vessel when their permit is being used. For businesses owning
halibut charter permits, an individual with a minimum ownership interest of 10‐33%
must be aboard the vessel.
Upon the halibut charter permit holder’s request for the issuance of or transfer of a halibut charter
permit, or the charter permit holder's request for change of use of the permit to a unique vessel when
requesting an ADF&G saltwater logbook, the permit owner is required to sign a sworn affidavit that the
permit will not be leased and that the individual or entity does not expect to receive economic
compensation from “leased” use of the permit.

The International Pacific Halibut Commission, set the following catch limits for the 2010 season.

Area 2A — 810,000 pounds (760,000 pounds)

Area 2B — 7.5 million pounds (6.59 million pounds)

Area 2C — 4.4 million pounds (3.71 million pounds)

Area 3A — 19.99 million pounds (19.99 million pounds)

Area 3B — 9.9 million pounds (9.9 million pounds)

Area 4A — 2.33 million pounds (2.33 million pounds)

Area 4B — 2.16 million pounds (2.16 million pounds)

Area 4CDE — 3.58 million pounds (3.58 million pounds)

TOTAL — 50.67 million pounds (49.02 million pounds)

Put up or shut up

Along the Alaska coast, the federal government is preparing to put hundreds of mom-and-pop fishing companies out of business. Click on the title for more.

NOAA sets application period for sport charter halibut fishing permits

Sport charter halibut fishing operators in Southeast Alaska and the central Gulf of Alaska must apply for a permit to operate in the new limited license program between February 4 and April 5, 2010.

NMFS issues regulations creating a limited access system for charter vessels

Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Final rule.
SUMMARY: NMFS issues regulations creating a limited access system for charter vessels in the guided sport fishery for Pacific halibut in waters of International Pacific Halibut Commission Regulatory Areas 2C (Southeast Alaska) and 3A (Central Gulf of Alaska).

Tholepin: The Death Rate for Halibut is Federally Guaranteed

Tholepin: The Death Rate for Halibut is Federally Guaranteed

RUMOR HAS IT, Halibut charter limited entry is dead.

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council proposed a limited entry program for the halibut sport charter industry operating in southeast and southcentral Alaska to be implemented in 2010. The rumor is that the IPHC has recommended a delay until 2011. It looks like bag limit reduction is the only option for regulating the charter catch.
We will work on getting the whole scoop ASAP.

The scientific staff of the International Pacific Halibut Commission has released its recommended catch limits.

Here's a full rundown of recommended limits in all regulatory areas, including those off the West Coast, British Columbia and Alaska:

Area 2A — 760,000 pounds, down 20 percent

Area 2B — 6.6 million pounds, down 13.6 percent

Area 2C — 3.7 million pounds, down 26 percent

Area 3A — 20 million pounds, down 7.9 percent

Denying petition to overturn the 1 fish rule in Area 2C.

Judge Collyer with the DC District Court issued an opinion today denying our petition to overturn the 1 fish rule in Area 2C.

Enviro group steps up 'catch share' push.

Source: Gloucester (Mass.) Daily Times, Thursday, Aug. 20, 2009

The Environmental Defense Fund and a California congressman have undertaken a lobbying campaign on behalf of "catch shares," the policy advanced by national oceans administrator Jane Lubchenco that would privatize the fisheries, converting a commonly held resource into a commodity. Click the headline for the rest of the story!