The International Pacific Halibut Commission wrapped up its annual meeting last week by sticking very close to the staff recommendations for 2010 catch limits, although it did vary in a couple of areas, most noticeably area 2C, in Southeast Alaska.
The staff recommendation for 2C was for a 26 percent cut from the 2009 Total Allowable Catch of 5 million pounds, which would have meant a TAC of 3.71 million pounds. However, the IPHC set the 2010 TAC for 2C at 4.4 million pounds, making it only a 12 percent cut.
Other areas came in at the staff recommendations except for a slight increase for area 4CDE, the Bering Sea and Pribilof Islands.
The 2010 TACs are as follows: 2C (Southeast), 4.4 million pounds; 3A (central Gulf of Alaska), 20 million pounds; 3B (south end of Kodiak to Unimak Pass), 9.9 million pounds; 4A (eastern Aleutians), 2.33 million pounds; 4B (western Aleutians), 2.16 million pounds; and 4CDE (the Bering Sea and Pribilof Islands), 3.58 million pounds, up from the staff recommendation of 3.25 million pounds. The combined quota for Alaska waters is 42.36 million pounds, down from 45.5 million pounds in 2009.
There has been talk in the industry and proposals to the IPHC to reduce the size limit from 32 inches to 30 inches, as surveys have shown that halibut are not growing as fast as they once did, and in fact some males never reach the 32-inch mark, keeping them out of the commercial harvest regardless of maturity. However, IPHC Executive Director Bruce Leaman said that while discussion is ongoing, nothing concrete is on the horizon.
"The issue is that there are a lot of small fish out there," Leaman said. "But we kind of have it on hold right now, because it's a two-edged sword."
Leaman said the problem is harvesting smaller males means also harvesting immature females.
"You might be able to get some more yield out of the stock if we lowered or eliminated the size limit," he said, "but then you're also going to increase the impact on immature females as well.
"It's still a topic that's hotly debated, even within the commission staff right now."
Leaman said it is still an area of active research, however.
"It has some potential, but it also has some peril," he said.
One reason for the slow growth rate is competition for food, according to Leaman.
"It appears that a lot of the growth rate change is certainly strongly correlated with the increasing abundance of arrowtooth flounder in the Gulf of Alaska, and that's not going to go away any time soon," he said.
He added that there is not much of a commercial fishery for arrowtooth, partly as a result of the low-quality flesh due to a protease enzyme that turns it to mush when cooked, and partly because of bycatch issues. "If you fish arrowtooth, you're going to catch halibut," Leaman said.
National Marine Fisheries Service estimates that arrowtooth flounder by far comprise the largest biomass by weight in the Gulf of Alaska. While they are not worth much as a table food, the University of Alaska's Fishery Industrial Technology Center in Kodiak has done some experimentation with turning the flounder into a high-quality protein powder that can be mixed with livestock feed.
Leaman said that even though the halibut quota has been dropping for several straight years as an exceptionally strong year-class from 1987 and 1988 passes out of the fishery, there are other strong year-classes on the horizon, and things are expected to turn around.
"What we saw this year also was some independent confirmation from the NMFS trawl surveys that 'yeah, there's a lot of small fish out there' from that 1999-2000 year class." Those fish will be growing into the commercial fishery in a few years, Leaman said.
The fishery is set to open March 6, picked because a Saturday opening can help with marketing, getting fish to the dock ready for sale on a Monday.
The 2009 season opening was delayed until March 21 to allow marketers to try to clear a glut of fish out of the freezers, a situation that, combined with the global recession, conspired to drive dock prices down over $1 per pound on average. That is not the case this year, as freezers are reported to be clearing out. Opening dock prices are expected to be well over the 2009 opening.
Commercial fishermen and other residents who want to weigh in on the proposed critical habitat areas in Cook Inlet and Kachemak Bay for endangered beluga whales will have the opportunity to do so from 6-9 p.m. this evening at the Alaska Islands and Ocean Visitor Center.
The proposed critical habitat area includes upper Cook Inlet from the Kalgin Island bar north, as well as a 3-mile strip along the shore of the west side of the Inlet from the south side of Kamishak Bay northward, and all of Kachemak Bay inside of a line from Bluff Point to Barabara Point.
Although the federal management plan for beluga whales does not call for any reductions to commercial fisheries, there is some concern that environmental groups could sue to curtail salmon fisheries in the critical habitat areas. Salmon are a key food source for belugas.
NOAA has extended the public comment period until March 3.
Cristy Fry has commercial fished in Homer since 1978.
She also designs and builds gear for the industry. She currently longlines for halibut and gillnets salmon in upper Cook Inlet aboard the F/V Realist. She can be reached at realist468@gmail.com.
Instructions for e-mailing, mailing, faxing and hand-delivering comments, as well as more information about the proposed critical habitat areas and federal recovery plan for belugas can be found at www.alaskafisheries.noaa.gov/.
