Halibut bycatch: Wasting the sportsman's share.

[flatfish]

Hey here's one for you. I am a halibut charter guy from Homer, Ak. and was told to get ready for the one fish limit next year. Seems the guided sportfish catch of halibut in 2009 was 2.7 mil. lbs. and the bycatch in our area was 4.2 mil. lbs. therfore we need to be put at a one fish limit to protect the future stocks of flatfish. We have been below our Guideline Harvst level since 2007 but that does not matter. The bycatch harvest limit has been the same since 1986 but it is the charters fault for the downturn in fish stocks. .The North pacific Fisheries management Council has proposed the one fish limit as a "Catch sharing Plan" with the ultimate goal of ending guided sport fishing as we know it. The management council is manned by commercial interests and thereby should be deemed irrelevant. Anyway!! Staty tuned. We will keep in touch.

[Nelly]

Thanks for the info Flat!
The Canadian charter industry is up in arms right now over much the same scenario.
The common thread in this halibut rip off is the commercially dominated IPHC or International Pacific Halibut Commission.
We are going to have a long term fight on our hands over this issue.

[Salmonhawk]

This halibut thing is a mess, what's the plan for fighting this thing flatfish?

[WaveDancer]

Hey guys, who appoints these people on these panels and how do we get them replaced?

The big $$ that is thrown around still can't outvote us if we get organized and unified when voting.

This kind of thing drives me nuts as it should not be allowed to happen but does.

WD.

[Glacierbay21]

We definitely need to push this topic more and more. We all know the real problem is the Commercial Bycatch. The IPHC and Commercial fisherman are crying "conservation, conservation" then wasting year after year millions of pounds of halibut. The charter industry is a very very small piece of the pie....especially when compared to the wasted halibut of the commercial fleets. Check out and share this graphic that displays the Bycatch and wastage of the commercial fleets over the past 6 years. http://www.glacierbayalaska.com/whos-wasting-alaska-halibut/ This graphic should be shared as much as we can so that more and more people become educated on the real problems of the hailbut fisheries and quit being blinded by the commercial fleets garbage.

[Salmonhawk]

That is a staggering graphic, how can the IPHC look at these stats and not make major changes?

Oh wait, maybe I can answer my own question....because they are bought and paid for perhaps?

[Smalma]

Suspect that the catch information would have even a larger impact on folks if the commercial landings were included in the pie chart - Commercial landings, wasted commercial by catch, recreational catcn, personal use.

Then a second chart/graph showing the average value of a commercial catch halibut versus a sprot catch halibut to the various local ecomonies would complete story of the commrecial bias in halibut managment.

Tight lines
curt

[Salmonhawk]

Good suggestions there Curt. Even though I try, I can't express with words how frustrated I get by this wrong and it is happening all over. My brother has been frustrated all year by the gag grouper closure in the gulf even though the commercials were allowed to retain them as bycatch. Do you think they met their bycatch quota?

[Todd Busby Cut Plug]

This really pisses me off. This resource is not replaceable!