ALASKA DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND GAME       NORTH PACIFIC FISHERIES MANAGMENT   COUNCIL!      National Marine Fisheries International Pacific Halibut Commission  National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration  

Federal & State Boards!

Alaska Sportfish Regulations! (ADF&G)

(ADF&G) Emergency Orders!  

 NPFMC HALIBUT CATCH SHARING!

NPFMC SALMON BYCATCH

NMFS Halibut Charter Regulations

NOAA Fisheries Office of Sustainable Fisheries

 

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The NPFMC has struggled for several years with allocation issues between the growing charter boat sector and the existing commercial IFQ sector. An amendment package to incorporate this fishery into the commercial IFQ program was submitted in 2003 and was subsequently withdrawn. Most recently the Council adopted a catch-sharing plan with specific allocation percentages. Further consideration of incorporation into the IFQ program may be taken up by the Council in the next few years, following review of the catch-sharing plan (pending Secretarial approval).

The spring 2009 NPFMC meeting addresses King Salmon bycatch in the the high-seas pollock fishing industry!  

After approving the killing of 68000 kings, North Pacific Fisheries management Council chairman Eric Olson (representing KWIKPAK fisheries corp.) 
"I fully recognize that this reduction is not a silver bullet,"

The peoples take on King Salmon Bycatch!

"I don't understand how you can call this a reduction," Ricci said. She noted that the upper limit of the cap (68000) is higher than the average bycatch over the past decade! The proposed rule deals with a pure allocation issue and does not present any resource conservation solutions.

 

June 9, 2010  Its all happening now!! What bycatch? Bering Sea + Gulf of Alaska = at least 65000 wasted kings!

Fish count!  kenai River count

June 5,2010    Kenai River closed to king salmon fishing for rest of month. Facing a disastrous return, state biologists will close king salmon fishing on the Kenai River, the state's most important sport fishing stream, while imposing restrictions on nearby waterways.   Read More                                 

April, 12 2009          NMFS gave a brief status on the charter halibut permit application process. NMFS reported that they received 794 applications by the deadline this past Monday. Further they had estimated that 527 businesses had qualified and they received applications from 514

March, 23 2010
NOAA Fisheries Service seeks comment on Chinook salmon bycatch management plan           Public Comment until May, 7th    

The number of Chinook salmon accidentally caught in the Bering Sea pollock fishery varies from year to year, from sector to sector, and even from vessel to vessel, but the overall percentage of salmon bycatch in pollock nets is very low. The average bycatch from 1992 through 2001 was 32,482 Chinook salmon and increased to 74,067 Chinook between 2002 and 2007. A historic high of approximately 122,000 Chinook salmon were taken in the pollock fishery in 2007. Bycatch declined to 20,493 Chinook salmon in 2008 and 12,410 in 2009. Even in years of historically high Chinook salmon bycatch, the fleet averaged just 52 Chinook salmon per 1,000 tons of pollock harvested.

February 4, 2010 Upper Cook Inlet Sockeye salmon Forecast! Click here for details. Runs could be 40% less than twenty year average.

January 11, 2010     Click here!  NOAA sets application period for sport charter halibut fishing permits

January 4, 2010 NOAA announces limited access program for sport charter halibut fishing in Alaska ..

NOAA Fisheries has announced a new fishery management program passed by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council that limits the number of charter boats in the guided sport halibut fishery in Southeast Alaska and the central Gulf of Alaska.

Dec.29, 2009  Upper Cook Inlet Sockeye Salmon forecast for 2010. Its not good! Click here!!

 

Dec. 22, 2009 RECREATIONAL FISH STOCKING PLAN.  The Division of Sport Fish is now accepting public comment on its statewide fish stocking plan.
The Division, with assistance from private non-profit hatchery operators, plans to release more than 7 million fish into the waters of Alaska every year for the next five years, to benefit recreational anglers.

Dec. 10, 2009  NOAA Proposes Draft Catch Share Policy  On December 10, 2009, NOAA released a draft policy on the use of catch share programs in fishery management plans.

Dec. 5 2009  Fisheries board: Bay protection warranted    The Alaska Board of Fisheries decided Saturday to send a letter to state legislators asking them to consider more regulatory protection for salmon in the Bristol Bay river drainages downstream of the proposed Pebble mine.

December 3, 2009  The number of halibut reported in Area 3A logbooks for trips made through July 31 2009 was down 21% relative to 2008. The number of halibut reported in Area 2C logbooks for trips made through July 31, 2009 was 52%below the 2008 harvest for the same period.

Dec. 1, 2009   NOAA Proposes Critical Habitat for Cook Inlet Beluga Whales. How will this effect  sportfishing for halibut and salmon? 

 
November 23, 2009       A federal judge today declared the National Marine Fisheries Service the winner in a lawsuit some halibut charter boat operators were pressing to try to invalidate a new rule holding charter anglers in Southeast Alaska (Area 2C) to a bag limit of one fish per day instead of two. CLICK HERE TO READ RULE.


October 21, 2009.  Alaska State Rep. Stolze to ASMI Board: All Commercial Fishing Bills Dead in 2010.. click here.  “I don’t have many tools,” he said. One tool state representative Stoltze chose not to use was the special legislative committee created last year to address the Cook Inlet salmon wars. Stoltze was a member of the Cook Inlet Salmon Task Force.  
 

    October 20, 2009   Outraged fishermen lashed out at state fishery managers Oct. 12, telling them at a House Resources Committee meeting in Bethel that they mismanaged struggling salmon stocks on the Yukon River at the expense of rural Alaskans. Click here!

OCTOBER 17, 2009  GUIDE AND BUSINESS LICENSING declines slowly. CLICK HERE!
In 2006, 1,677 sport fishing businesses and 3,454 guides were licensed with ADF&G. In 2007, 1,695 businesses and 3,531 guides were licensed, and in 2008, 1,659 sport fishing businesses and 3,522 sport fishing guides were licensed with ADF&G to provide sport fishing services in Alaska.The number of vessels registered to provide saltwater sport fishing charter services was 1,671 in 2006, 1,666 in 2007, and 1,604 in 2008.

 October 8th, 2009   Published in the TUNDRA DRUMS.                              Fishery protesters get fined   .On June 26, two men joined more than a dozen others and traveled about 10 miles upriver to fish illegally in the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge. Soon after, several admitted the act to journalists. Through the media, they told the world they did it to send a message to fishery managers and to feed villagers who had no king salmon in their freezers. The protestors lashed out at the high-seas pollock fishing industry. In its quest to catch pollock for use in food such as fish sticks, trawlers snag and toss aside thousands of kings yearly. A record 120,000 were unintentionally caught in 2007.

2009 Yukon salmon fishery: The numbers

King salmon harvested in 2009: 316

Annual average of kings harvested in the 10 years before 2009: 35,027

Summer chum salmon harvested in 2009: 170,272

Annual average of chums harvested in the 10 years before 2009: 63,341

September 29, 2009 05:45 am Catch share strife grows Click HERE Recreational fishing interests have registered their intense opposition to "catch shares"

8/20/2009    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 here!

8/3/2009  Yukon Fish Swimming Up the Mainstream. Click here!     The lack of salmon last season triggered a crisis of huge proportion in rural Western Alaska.

 7/15/2009      Fisheries councils push catch shares only.      The latest version of the 'asset commoditization' of USA fisheries is well underway!   Click here!

Summary of new rules for Area 2C Halibut charter anglers

  • Anglers fishing from a charter vessel are limited to one halibut per calendar day.
  • A charter vessel angler may use only one fishing line. No more than six lines are allowed on a charter vessel fishing for halibut.
  • Charter operators, guides and crew may not catch and retain halibut during a charter fishing trip.
  • Anglers’ names and fishing license numbers are recorded in the trip log book.
  • Anglers retaining halibut must sign the log at the end of the charter vessel fishing trip.
  • A halibut on a charter vessel may be cut into no more than two ventral (bottom side) pieces, two dorsal (top side) pieces and two cheeks, all with the skin on.

There are several programs in place in North Pacific fisheries that fit the description of ‘limited access privilege programs’, or LAPPs,    Halibut Charter Boat – potential inclusion in IFQ program.

 Views and Blogs!

Halibut Issues Blog!

THE DECK BOSS BLOG

United we fish and Vote!

 Commercial Fishermans News!

Halibut Association of North America

Recreational Fishing Alliance   (RFA)

COMMERCIAL FISH SPEAK!

HALIBUT COALITIOIN!

NO TRAWL ZONE!!

The Tundra Drums!

ALASKA OUTDOOR FORUM!

Contact your legislator!

American Sportfishing Association!

Southeast Alaska Guides Organization

Farmed Halibut?

-The North Pacific Fishery Management Council has established a limited entry program for the halibut sport charter industry operating in southeast and southcentral Alaska. This program is anticipated to go into effect in 2010. Qualification for operating licenses under the program is based on participation during the 2004 or 2005 fishing seasons. Businesses not granted licenses will not be eligible to fish for halibut once this program goes into effect. Further information regarding this limited entry program can be obtained by calling the National Marine Fisheries Service at   (907) 586-7228.