Following the International Pacific Halibut Commission’s (IPHC) interim meeting in Seattle late last week, it’s evident that the Pacific halibut quota is in line for a significant cut next year.
The IPHC on Friday recommended a 2012 quota of 33.135 million pounds, which would be down 7.935 million pounds from the 2011 quota.
The 2012 quota will be finalized during the IPHC’s annual meeting in Anchorage, Alaska, from 24 to 27 January.
“The stock exploitable biomass continues to decline, reflecting lower recruitment from the 1989 to 1997 year classes and smaller size at age,” said the IPHC. “Recruitment from more recent year classes is stronger but halibut size at age continues to be much lower than that seen in the recent period (1997-1998) of historic high biomass, so these year classes are recruiting to the exploitable biomass more slowly than past year classes.”
The Pacific halibut fishery stretches from California to the Bering Sea.
