Court Grants TRO

Court Grants TRO
At a hearing today June 10th, the Judge granted the Charter fleet a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the one halibut daliy bag limit. This will make the halibut charter daily bag limit back to two halibut a day, one under 32 inches.
The TRO is effective on June 10th will remain in effect until next Friday, June 20, when another hearing is scheduled. At that hearing, and possibly before if the government agrees, the TRO could be converted into a preliminary injunction that would remain in effect until the judge rules on the merits of the case, likely after the end of the summer fishing season

Halibut Coalition, Linda Behnken Response

May 22, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Linda Behnken (907) 747-3400
Halibut Coalition response to the Halibut Charter Task Force Press Release of May 21, 2008
The Halibut Charter Task Force press release of May 21 fails to provide the most critical information relative to the pending reduction in the daily charter halibut bag limit for Southeast Alaska—the reduction is necessitated by reduced abundance of halibut in the Southeast area. The abundance of halibut in the area has dropped, as have catch rates in the stock assessment survey, the longline fishery, the charter fishery, the sport fishery, and the subsistence fishery. Because there is less halibut, all commercial sectors—longline and charter—have taken a quota reduction. In 2007, the Southeast longline quota was reduced by 20%; the charter Guideline Harvest Level (GHL) was not reduced—and the charter sector EXCEEDED its GHL by 36%. In 2008, the longline sector’s quota was cut by an additional 27%; and finally, the charter GHL, which is tied to abundance but in 15% stair steps, was reduced to protect stocks. The reduced bag limit is a management action to hold charter harvest to their GHL during this time of reduced abundance. These actions are necessary to conserve the resource. Yes, tourism is important to Southeast; yes some tourists enjoy catching a halibut as part of their Alaska experience, and under a one fish daily bag limit they still have this opportunity. But if the charter industry does not do its part to conserve the resource, there will be no halibut to catch in the future—and no one to blame but themselves.
The Southeast charter sector has exceeded its GHL every year since 2004. Every year the charter sector has objected to management actions that restrict their harvest. Since charter harvest is concentrated near towns, this over harvest has caused significant localized depletion of halibut and rockfish (taken as bycatch in the charter halibut fishery), making it increasingly difficult for resident subsistence and personal use fishermen to catch a fish to eat. The Southeast charter clientele is 97% non-resident. The Southeast longline fleet is 83% Alaskan. Is providing fish to tourists more important then taking care of the resource and supporting resident fishermen?
The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) has spent 15 years developing a management plan for the charter sector through a very public, carefully analyzed process. Both the charter GHL and the pending management actions to restrict charter harvest to the GHL were developed by the NPFMC. The Council places resource conservation above economic hardship; for that reason Alaska’s marine fisheries are
thriving while stocks crash in other parts of the world. Alaska fishermen are steeped in a culture of conservation; it is time the charter industry joined the ranks.
For more information see NMFS/NPFMC analysis at: http://www.fakr.noaa.gov/analyses/halibut/earirirfa_1107.pdf ).
Charter Halibut Task Force: The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) estimates a 1-fish daily limit could result in up to a 30% reduction in angler demand in Area 2C—that’s 27,000 fewer people flying into Southeast Alaska coastal communities that rely heavily on sport fishing tourism. Even a 10 percent reduction could put a significant number of charter operators out of business.
RESPONSE: This is one possible outcome. However, prior action by the State of Alaska to limit non-resident guided anglers to one Chinook salmon in Southeast did not significantly harm the guided sport industry. In 2008, the overall treaty quota of Chinook salmon is being reduced 40% from 2007. All aspects of the independent tourism industry are expected to experience problems due to high fuel costs and the downturn in the national economy. Anyone who relies on naturally fluctuating resources like halibut and salmon, needs to factor this into their business model since conservation of the resource comes first and all sectors must share the conservation responsibility.
Charter Halibut Task Force: “ If Secretary Gutierrez decides on the 1-halibut limit, he would be reversing a decision he made only a year ago”..
RESPONSE: Last year the charter GHL was 1.42 million pounds, in 2008 the charter GHL is 0.931 million pounds. New management measures are necessary to hold the charter sector to their allocation in a declining stock condition. The one-fish daily bag limit is the only management measure that will hold the charter sector to their 2008 allocation.
Charter Halibut Task Force: Americans who cannot afford their own fishing boat, or do not feel safe fishing in Alaska without a licensed captain, whether due to age, limited experience, disabilities, or any other reason, will be limited to catching 50% less fish.
RESPONSE: Most of the public accesses halibut through the longline industry. The Southeast longline fishery provides an estimated 10 million meals per year, with virtually all those meals being consumed by Americans. Many people do not have the resources or inclination to travel to Alaska to catch halibut. It is important to these people that the longline quota be preserved since this preserves their access to the fish.
Charter Halibut Task Force: Charter fishing accounted for only 6.2 percent of the total halibut caught off the coast of Alaska over the last 10 years. By comparison, that is over 12 times less than the 75.8 percent that the commercial halibut fleet harvests, and less than half the 14.6 percent allocated for bycatch (halibut caught incidentally by commercial fleets while fishing for other fish).

Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association ♦ Cordova District Fishermen ♦ Deep Sea Fishermen’s Union ♦ Fishing Vessel Owners Association ♦ Halibut Association of North America ♦North Pacific Fisheries Association ♦ Petersburg Vessel Owners Association ♦ Sea Food Producers Cooperative ♦ Southeast Alaska Fishermen’s Association ♦United Cook Inlet Driftnetters Association ♦ United Fishermen’s Marketing Association ♦ United Southeast Alaska Gillnetters Association

NOAA Reduces Halibut Catch for Southeast

NOAA Reduces Halibut Catch for Southeast Alaska Charter Anglers to Protect Stock NOAA’s Fisheries Service issued a new rule today that states starting June 1, charter vessel anglers in southeast Alaska will be allowed to keep one instead of two halibut per day. In addition, the number of lines used to fish for halibut must not exceed the number of anglers onboard the charter vessel, to a maximum of six lines. Also, guides and crew are not allowed to catch and retain halibut while clients are onboard.“These new regulations are needed because charter fishing has grown in southeast Alaska while the abundance of halibut has decreased,” said Doug Mecum, NOAA’s Fisheries Service Alaska region acting administrator. The North Pacific Fishery Management Council and NOAA’s Fisheries Service approved the new regulations to reduce the harvest of halibut to the new target level of 931,000 pounds in 2008 in the waters of southeast Alaska, which is International Pacific Halibut Commission Area 2C. The new regulations will remain in effect until further notice.While the target harvest for southeast Alaska in 2007 was 1.4 million pounds, the actual amount of halibut harvested by charter anglers was estimated at more than 1.7 million pounds.Sport anglers who are not aboard guided charter vessels may continue to keep two halibut of any size daily. Guided charter vessel anglers outside of Southeast Alaska may also continue to keep two halibut of any size per day.A regulation implemented earlier this year to assist enforcement officers to count the number of fish each angler possesses, says anglers can cut their halibut on board into not more than two ventral and two dorsal pieces and two cheeks, all with the skin on.NOAA’s Fisheries Service received many comments on the proposed regulations for the charter vessel fishery. A summary of those comments and the agency’s responses will be published with the final regulations, which will be at http://www.alaskafisheries.noaa.gov

Secretary of Commerce to Rule on Charter Halibut Limits

Secretary of Commerce to Rule on Charter Halibut Limits
Washington, D.C. – May 21, 2008 – U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez is expected to decide any day on limits for sport-caught halibut off the coast of Alaska fishermen and the outcome could mean significant economic harm on the economy of Southeast Alaska coastal communities.
The North Pacific Fishery Management Council has asked the Secretary to approve a 1-halibut daily limit for Southeast Alaska only, while other areas of Alaska and Canada still have 2-halibut daily limits. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) estimates a 1-fish daily limit could result in up to a 30% reduction in angler demand in Area 2C—that’s 27,000 fewer people flying into Southeast Alaska coastal communities that rely heavily on sportfishing tourism. Even a 10 percent reduction could put a significant number of charter operators out of business.

Homer Charter Association Meeting 5/14/08

Subject: Questions and suggestions from Homer Charter Assn. meeting last night
Here are some answers to the questions posed at last night's meeting. I hope this helps.

1. Why do we collect information on clients that don't fish? This was a good question; best as anyone could recall, this was due to an interest in capturing economic information about the charter fleet. I'm still looking into this, and will let you know if I come up with a better answer.
2. Can we make the "Angler Name" box bigger next year?
Likely - this suggestion was recorded for future reference when designing next year's logbook. Without an annual limit in Area 2C next year, we can eliminate the "YTD Kept in 2C" column, and maybe condense the trip information on the left side.

3. Why the limits on the leasing provisions in the catch sharing plan?
The NPFMC analysis staff requested an explanation of this at the April meeting. here's an excerpt of the explanation was provided in the version of the state's motion that was distributed at the meeting. I'm guessing these are Jane DiCosimo's notes:
The commercial fleet supports tight leasing constraints in order to minimize disruption to their sector and not open up a leasing loophole. They are concerned about the 1500 pound level allowing for perpetual leasing instead of active participation in the IFQ fishery. The 10% leasing of individual quota holding limitation doesn't make sense from a business perspective. The average quota share holding in 3A is about 8,000 pounds; in SE it's between 3,500-5,000 pounds. the 1500 pounds was an attempt to balance out how many different people a charter operator would have to go to in order to secure a couple thousand pounds to augment their charter harvest. 10% was also used because of the IFQ 10% annual rollover provision.
There are a number of charter operators that also hold IFQ, usually less than 1,500 pounds. This language was crafted in order to attempt to provide equity between charter operators that already hold QS and those that don't. Commercial fishermen believe charter operators holding QS should be allowed to lease/use all their QS as GAF if they choose because they believe this will make approximately 200,000 pounds of IFQ available to convert to GAF. Community interests also got involved in the discussion. In 2C, so much of the QS is in such small blocks that a strict 10% limitation would be extremely cumbersome.
I also have a summary from the "Halibut Negotiating Group," (whatever that was), with "Points of Consensus not Discussed in the AP Motion" from 4/4/08. That summary contains the following bullet with regard to the leasing provision:
The GAF-leasing limits proposed for Area 3A are constraining; the Council may wish to expand the range of options to provide equivalent preservation of historic fishing opportunities as is provided for 2C.

4. Question about GAF fish being issued in pounds versus fish.
See Elements 5C and 5E of the state's motion, as well as discussion on pages 85-86 of the March 14 initial review draft of the catch sharing plan EA/RIR/IRFA. These clearly point out that leased IFQ is converted to numbers of fish for use as GAF, and converted back to pounds when unused GAF are returned to the IFQ holder.
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The state's motion with regard to the catch sharing plan can be downloaded from the NPFMC web site:http://www.fakr.noaa.gov/npfmc/current_issues/halibut_issues/HalibutCharterMotion408.pdf

Official Board of Fish Teleconference Summary.

Official Board of Fish Teleconference Summary
ALASKA BOARD OF FISHERIES
Teleconference
Southeast King Salmon Sport Fishery
April 28, 2008
Summary of Actions
The Alaska Board of Fisheries (board) met by teleconference on April 28, 2008 to consider possible emergency regulations regarding sport fishing for king salmon fishing in Southeast Alaska. Six of seven board members were in attendance (Morris absent). Public listen-only sites were available in Ketchikan, Petersburg, Sitka, and Juneau.
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game recently announced a 48 percent reduction in the Southeast Alaska king salmon harvest quota for the 2008 season. The board considered possible adjustments to the sport fishing regulations beyond those announced by the department in a April 9, 2008 Emergency Order, including modifying the date of a salmon derby, allowing for in-season adjustment to regulations, and modifying the number of allowable lines for charter boats.
The board adopted a finding of emergency based on the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, safety, or general welfare as provided for in Alaska Statute 44.62.250.
The board adopted an emergency regulation to apply to the 2008 season that would 1) allow retention of king salmon 28 inches or greater in length during the period of July 15-Sept. 30 by resident anglers, and 2) allow charter boats to use up to six lines in May and June. In addition from July 15 through September 30 nonresidents may only retain king salmon 48 inches or greater in length.
The board noted that a key consideration from a resident fishing perspective was that prohibiting the retention of king salmon 28-inches or greater after August 1 for residents would essentially close an important fishing opportunity. The action taken was intended by the board to allow for continued sport fishing opportunity for king salmon in marine waters for unguided sport anglers, consistent with board finding #1993-142-FB. It was understood that a week-long reduction in non-resident fishing would make up the difference to allow an additional two months of resident fishing time in terms of conservation savings.
The board also noted that a key consideration from a charter fleet perspective was avoiding a reduction in the number of lines allowed per vessel from six down to four, particularly during the months of May and June. It was understood by the board that an additional week of non-resident fishing restriction in July would make up the difference in conservation savings that could be achieved by a reduction in the number of lines to four.
The board addressed the allocation criteria, the sustainable salmon fisheries policy, and discussed costs to the public. The board clarified its intent to delegate to the Commissioner the authority to adopt the emergency regulation permanently. The emergency regulation will sunset on September 30, 2008.

More Emergency Orders on the guided sportfishermen.

Is this a sign of things to come?

EXPLANATION:
This emergency order modifies lingcod sport fishing seasons, bag and possession limits and, for non-resident and guided anglers only, establishes minimum and maximum size limits and annual limits for lingcod in the marine waters of Southeast Alaska.
JUSTIFICATION:
The Alaska Board of Fisheries modified sport fisheries regulations for lingcod in Southeast Alaska in response to indications in the directed lingcod commercial fishery of a widespread decline in abundance.
To read the whole EO click below.

http://www.sf.adfg.state.ak.us/statewide/eonr/Devpdf/2008/R1/EO-1-LC-R-05-08(F).pdf

It seems the state is ok with a 1 fish limit.

All correspondence with Sarah and her minions about the impending doom associated with a one fish limit is simply ignored. Perhaps its because commissioner Denby S. Lloyd has a long history of working with the commercial fisheries and Deputy Commissioner David Bedford served as Director of The SE AK Seiners Association and the governor is a setnetter,
No wonder the department thinks that the one king salmon limit is adequate for recreational anglers and a 1 halibut limit should be just fine also. They have history to draw on that says 1 fish is a good regulation that is easy to enforce. A 1 fish limit in area 2C is only the beginning. They will not allow a 1 fish limit in 2C and a two fish limit in 3A for very long. It can only be effective if 3A and 2C are both 1 fish areas so one area does not have an advantage over another and shifts angler effort to that area.
All interested parties need to come together and demand a solution to this nonsense before the halibut sportifshing charters are forced out of business by a totally biased process.