A drop in Alaskan halibut stocks will likely result in a tightening of next year’s charter regulations.
According to a survey announced at the International Pacific Halibut Commission earlier this month, Alaskan halibut suffered a 19 percent weight per unit effort drop in Southeast Alaska, a 13 percent drop in the Western Gulf of Alaska, and a 10 percent drop in the Bering Sea.
The drop in the halibut fishery is due to low recruitment, but scientists are unable to explain why the recruitment is so low. A survey released by the International Pacific Halibut Commission last year revealed that halibut stocks have dwindled continuously from the late 1990s. The 2018 season was no exception, with the overall stock decreasing seven percent from 2017.
Last year, the International Pacific Halibut Commission began a five-year research program that industry experts hope will answer some of the questions pertaining to recruitment.
Catches didn’t decline everywhere. In British Columbia, the weight per unit effort increased by six percent, and in the Aleutian Islands, the weight per unit effort increased by 12 percent.
For the 2019 fishing season, the IPHC proposed a two-fish daily limit, with a 28-inch minimum and four-fish annual limit for charters fishing in the Central Gulf of Alaska, as well as a ban on charter fishing on Wednesdays and six Tuesdays from mid-July to mid-August. In Southeast Alaska, the commission proposed a one-fish daily limit with a requirement that all halibut caught be less than or equal to 38 inches or greater than 80 inches.
While the final limits won’t be set until the Pacific Halibut Commission meets in Victoria, British Columbia, next January and February, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council has approved preliminary regulations to reduce next year’s charter halibut catch.
