Opinions

Are the feds killing off Alaska's halibut charter industry?

TO: Alaska D. State
CC: The Alaska Legislature; ADF&G Commissioner Cora Campbell
SUBJECT: "Fishing," not "Catching"

Dear Alaska Officials,

We The Concerned know you're fans of going after federal regulators when Alaska's balanced interests are threatened by the decisions of people who don't understand the state (or who understand it all too well), so we're concerned and more than a little confused we haven't heard a peep out of you. The feds are at it again, this time reaching in to control Alaska's charter halibut fishing industry -- even in state waters.

Maybe you're not aware of it, but regulation of the halibut fishery is not a state responsibility. And NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service has instituted a new limited-access program for Alaska's halibut charter boats, based on the recommendation of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council. The new rules essentially mean that if a charter business or lodge doesn't qualify for the new permits, it has to get out of the charter business or buy a permit from a someone who's selling.

According to NOAA Fisheries estimates, this will mean an end for approximately 43 percent of halibut charter boats active in 2008 in Southeast Alaska and for 34 percent in the central Gulf of Alaska. Basically that means that halibut charter businesses lucky enough to qualify are about to have a lot less competition -- and deckhands are about to have a lot more -- but it also means the loss of Alaska jobs (how many exactly, no one's sure).

To offset the expected job loss, NMFS has thoughtfully set aside a number of community permits for some rural Alaska towns, a move which it says will actually increase the number of permits available in the state. It's great that the feds are thinking about small communities, but there's a problem.

Very few potential charter clients, whether they're tourists or Alaskans who don't own a hali-battle cruiser, are going to spend the money to travel to a town on this eligibility list: Angoon, Coffman Cove, Edna Bay, Hollis, Hoonah, Hydaburg, Kake, Kasaan, Klawock, Metlakatla, Meyers Chuck, Pelican, Point Baker, Port Alexander, Port Protection, Tenakee, Thorne Bay, Whale Pass, Akhiok, Chenega Bay, Halibut Cove, Karluk, Larsen Bay, Nanwalek, Old Harbor, Ouzinkie, Port Graham, Port Lyons, Seldovia, Tatitlek, Tyonek, Yakutat.

Basically, the new system transfers permits from small but rather accessible towns that currently have sizeable halibut charter fleets to costly-to-reach towns that have tiny or nonexistent fleets.

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But all of the concerns over the new permit system may be a moot point for some charters.

The International Pacific Halibut Commission issued its total catch limit recommendations for 2011 following its January meeting, and Alaska's share took a serious hit. The Southeast catch was reduced by 47 percent, and the Central Gulf of Alaska's by 28 percent. Those new, lower limits mean serious reductions for catching halibut, no matter if it's from a charter or not, and no matter if the angler is Alaskan or not. In those two regions, which are home to the bulk of the halibut charter fleet, it would mean one fish per angler, per day.

But that's not the part we're most concerned about. In Southeast, the IPHC also recommends a maximum legal size limit of 37 inches for each halibut kept on a charter. Maximum ... 37 inches. So, a person travels all that way and can only keep one roughly 30-pound halibut. (Good luck designing those ad campaigns, permit holders.) Some Oregon halibut charter businesses -- which have no such size restriction -- are already exploiting that proposal.

Basically we're afraid these rules are designed to eliminate the charter halibut industry in Alaska once and for all. We The Concerned have always known arguments over fisheries are contentious, but we never thought we'd see the day that one stakeholder came so close to being completely squeezed out of its comparatively small portion of the total allotment.

We know the charter industry isn't without responsibility here. Heck, most of The Concerned have been on a charter where team fishing was accepted, if not encouraged or taken for granted. But still, these rules aren't just coming out of nowhere. Fisheries biologists have been trying to find ways to reverse an apparent decline in the number of mature halibut and the decreasing speed at which the small ones mature over large areas of water. However furious some of us are at these charter changes, the halibut fishery definitely needs help to avoid becoming a "tragic commons."

The IPHC's total catch recommendations are affecting the commercial fleet, too, but probably won't drive it out of business. In fact, among the IPHC's recent recommendations is one to incrementally reduce or eliminate the minimum size restriction for commercially-caught halibut in Alaska, we suppose to minimize the impact of possible future catch reductions. So maybe the answer is to switch the commercial halibut fleet from longlining to jig fishing, or to restrict the catch of egg-laden females. Or make sure the trawl fleet doesn't kill too many halibut incidentally.

If that doesn't appeal to some of you, and we expect it won't, perhaps it's time to open charter halibut fishing wide as a barn door -- unlimited permits, unlimited daily bags -- with one catch: Barbless artificial flies only. We The Concerned don't know for certain, but catching a halibut on a fly rod has to be the most awesome sport-fishing challenge ever conceived. And those trips would be much easier for charter businesses to sell than what federal regulators are currently considering. Something's clearly wrong if more than a few of us among The Concerned are forced to start claiming boat-wide bragging rights with 50-pounders.

Achieving a balance among these stakeholders hip-deep in a troubled biomass won't be easy, but maybe the state can help -- or at least make a lot more noise. Halibut don't exactly sound as awesome in press releases as do ANWR, health care reform, wolves or offshore oil drilling, but many Alaskans depend on them.

Pull up, reel down,
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