Andrew Jensen in his blog of December 12,2011 for the Alaska Journal of Commerce reported – the North Pacific Fishery Management Council adopted management guidance for the International Pacific Halibut Commission for the charter sector in 2012. In Area 2C, or Southeast Alaska, the council recommended IPHC drop the 37-inch size limit it put in place for 2011. Instead, the council adopted guidance for a reverse slot limit. Charter anglers may retain any fish up to 45 inches and shorter, or those 68 inches or longer. Any fish between 45 inches and 68 inches may not be retained. The measure is designed to give some relief from the 37-inch limit which kept the 2C charter sector some 390,000 pounds under its harvest limit of 788,000 pounds in 2011. Under a one fish of any size bag limit in 2010, 2C charter anglers landed fish averaging 26 pounds and non-charter fish averaged 16.9 pounds. Under the 37-inch size limit enforced for 2011, the average weight for charter caught fish dropped to 9.4 pounds, while non-charter fish averaged 16.4 pounds. Charter operators advocated for the reverse slot limit to allow for marketing a trophy opportunity, which will benefit ports such as Gustavus and Petersburg the most.
The IPHC will meet in Anchorage on January 24-27, 2012. No changes in the regulations for non-charter anglers have been proposed. We will try to monitor and provide more information later.