The Battle Over Alaska Halibut, Sport Anglers Asked to Weigh-in

By Ken L Larson, Secretary,
PWSCBA 8 February 2009

When the topic of Sport Fishing in Alaska comes up, it doesn’t take long before stories of “barn door” halibut take center stage and smiles begin to appear on faces as memories of great scenery, hospitality, and camaraderie fill the room. This is what fishing in Alaska is all about. The opportunity to catch a delicacy such as Pacific Halibut, then taking it home to eat and share with friends, seems to come from some primordial craving left deep down inside us from ages past. This all may be coming to a halt, if Commercial Fishermen (COMFish) have their way.

For almost 35 years, the Sport Fishing daily bag limit for halibut in Alaska has been two per day. There is now a concerted effort to reduce this bag limit to one per day and only for anglers who choose to use a charter boat to go fishing. This move has been carefully orchestrated by Alaska’s COMFish fleet. Two years ago, the International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC), changed the way they assessed the stocks of Pacific Halibut. This reassessment did not change the total allowable catch COMFish could harvest, but readjusted the areas from which this harvest could be taken from. For COMFish in Southeast Alaska, this meant a dramatic reduction in their allowable catch, while fishermen out in western regions of the state received a windfall. Today, our halibut stocks are still healthy and the level of harvest, allowed by the IPHC, is still above any level of concern for conservation. This is a different story for Southeast COMFish folks who have seen their quotas cut in half over the past three years. This cut has been caused by both a historical decline in Halibut Biomass availability, as well as by a growth in Sport caught halibut due to the growing Tourism Industry.

COMFish folks in Southeast Alaska have been using the Sportfishing Charter fleet as a choke hold, to reduce or to ultimately stop, recreational anglers from taking “their” fish! COMFish have been hurt by recent allocations and they are now zeroing in on the recreational angler’s historical two fish bag limit. The fact remains; halibut are a public resource and should be allocated fairly and equitably to all user groups as mandated by federal law (Halibut Act of 1982); and most Fisheries in the US provide 50% of the available resource to Sport Fishermen. Back in 1995, the COMFish fleet convinced a COMFish-dominated NPFMC to support privatizing the halibut fishery for the advantages of a longer fresh fish market and safety concerns surrounding perilous 24-hour COMFish derbies. As a result, each COMFish individual was granted revocable shares of halibut (IFQ’s based on their historical average) they could now harvest throughout a lengthy March-November annual fishing season. The Sport Fishing sector was never even considered for an allocation of this halibut resource at that time.

The Charter Fleet had a recommended Guideline Harvest Level (GHL) forced on them by a COMFish-dominated NPFMC process started in 1997, based upon their activity back in the early 90’s. This GHL was so erroneously implemented in 2003, that the growing charter fleet, fed by Sport Fish demands, was unable to keep their catch levels within those restrictive recommendations. While COMFish had limited the number of fishermen who could now fish commercially for halibut, there were no controls to limit the number of recreational anglers in the sport fishery, and there never should be. All recreational anglers have equal rights to this resource. The COMFish folks believe they have found a way around this by targeting the Sportfishing charter fleet, who only provide transport for sport fishermen to catch their Halibut! They continue to dig their claws into the charter fleet by accusing them of overfishing the unfairly set GHL. The data used to set up these guidelines are now over ten years old and did not take into account the growth of angler demand! Remember: charter operators do not own the fish they are accused of taking! Recreational anglers do the fishing and should not be restricted beyond a two halibut per day limit until there is a conservation concern, which there isn’t, per IPHC. Recreational anglers take less than 10-15% of the halibut off the coast of Alaska, while COMFish take close to 85-90%. Is this fair and equitable? Recent NMFS (National Marine Fisheries Service) proposals call for recreational anglers to buy their second halibut from commercial fishermen if they want a second fish. When in the history of sportfishing has the sportfishing industry ever had to BUY fish to catch from commercial fishermen? Why should recreational anglers pay a commercial fisherman for something they are historically entitled to for free?

Why should the recreational angler who decides to fish in Southeast Alaska and uses the services of a charter boat, become a second class citizen? If a proposed regulation by NMFS goes into effect, an angler stepping off the dock into a charter boat, would only be allowed to catch one halibut for the day, but if this same angler stepped into an un-guided boat, he/she would be allowed to catch two halibut for the day. How is this controlling the amount of fish being taken by recreational anglers? You have not decreased the amount of halibut these anglers could take, only decreased their safety as they will seek other means to get to this resource, mainly fishing as an un-guided angler with unfamiliar equipment, in unknown waters. The non-guided angler numbers have been on the increase. This sector has grown over 40% in the past year and now accounts for approx. 37% of all sport caught halibut taken in both Southeast and Southcentral Alaska. Who do you think the COMFish folks will target next?

Alaska’s path to statehood 50 years ago, owes a lot of credit to the COMFish industry, who built a thriving state economy based on commercial fishing. It was only natural that State, Federal, and even international organizations that controlled the future of the COMFish industry were seated by COMFish interests. Today, with an Alaska state economy depending more and more on tourism and less on COMFish, a growing sportfishing (tourist) industry has little chance in a fight for fish in a governmental arena still full of COMFish interests. The fight MUST now be taken to the streets and recreational anglers MUST get involved in the political process to protect their rights to fish. Recreational anglers across the country MUST unite to protect the rights of any angler wanting to fish for halibut in Alaska. Who knows, someday you will be that angler heading up to Alaska on a fishing trip. I’m sure when that day comes, you would want halibut available for you to catch and not reserved for the exclusive use of COMFish.

You can get involved by joining the Charter Halibut Task Force (CHTF) at their website. CHTF is a non-profit organization consisting of Alaska lodge owners and charter operators whose common goals are to protect the rights of the recreational angler and to insure a two halibut bag limit for recreational anglers, with no in-season closures. CHTF was successful in a lawsuit which stopped a “One Halibut Rule” from going into effect in 2008. There is also a NPFMC Proposal being reviewed entitled “Area 2C/3A Catch Sharing Plan” that will result in 1-fish limits. Attorneys have been working diligently on a challenge to 2009’s proposed “One Halibut Rule” in Southeast, and are prepared to file another lawsuit if necessary. These legal challenges cost money. You can help defend your right to fish by donating to CHTF. You can also petition your Congressmen to contact the new Secretary of Commerce and ask him/her to veto any NMFS-proposed “One Fish Rule”, unless it’s based on overall fishery conservation. Step up and be counted. Join us today to preserve your fishery rights. Thank you.

Ken L Larson
Secretary, Prince William Sound CBA
Sanity Charters
(907) 255-2798

Valdez Fishing Charters