February 1, 1999

The International Pacific Halibut Commission completed its 75th Annual Meeting in Prince Rupert, British Columbia, with Richard Beamish of Nanaimo, British Columbia presiding as Chairman. The Commission is recommending to the governments of Canada and the United States catch limits for 1999 totaling 74,060,000 pounds, compared to 71,820,000 pounds in 1998. The increased catch limits resulted from the staff’s assessment of the halibut resource and reflect healthy stock conditions. These increases also reflect advice on IPHC staff recommendations and comments received from the industry.

The Honourable David Anderson, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Canada addressed the Commission via video, and commended the Commission and the halibut industry for its use of the precautionary approach to fisheries management, as well as its history of cooperation and success. The Commission reviewed concerns about the impacts of bycatch and agreed to convey these concerns to other management agencies and to meet with other scientists to evaluate the impacts of bycatch on the halibut resource. The staff and industry representatives also expressed concern about the lack of reliable estimates of sport fish removals in Canada (Area 2B) and bycatch removals in Washington and Oregon (Area 2A). Government representatives have agreed to provide Canadian sport catch estimates during 1999.

The Commission received proposals from the halibut industry to shorten or eliminate the winter closure. The IPHC staff agreed to meet with industry representatives as well as other fisheries scientists and managers to discuss the need for the winter closure and logistical problems associated with a longer halibut season. The Commission also considered ways to ensure that research and management programs would be funded.

Seasons and Catch Limits

The Commission received regulatory proposals for 1999 from the scientific staff, Canadian and United States fishermen and processors, and other fishery agencies. The Commission will recommend to the governments the following catch limits for 1999 in Area 2A (California, Oregon, and Washington), Area 2B (British Columbia), Area 2C (southeastern Alaska), Area 3A (central Gulf), Area 3B (western Gulf), Area 4A (eastern Aleutians), Area 4B (western Aleutians), Area 4C (Pribilof Islands), Area 4D (northwestern Bering Sea), and Area 4E (Bering Sea flats):

1999 Catch Limits

The catch limits for Regulatory Areas 4C, 4D, and 4E reflect the catch-sharing plan implemented by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC). The NPFMC modified its catch sharing plan in Area 4 to allow the Commission to set biologically-based catch limits for Areas 4A, 4B, and a combined Area 4C-D-E.

In Area 2A, six 10-hour fishing periods for the non-treaty directed commercial fishery are recommended for July 7, July 21, August 18, September 1, September 15, and September 29. All fishing periods will begin at 8:00 a.m. and end at 6:00 p.m. local time, and will be further restricted by fishing period limits. Fishing dates for an incidental commercial catch halibut fishery will be established under United States domestic regulations established by National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), and will be concurrent with salmon troll fishing seasons in Area 2A. The remainder of the Area 2A catch-sharing plan, including sport-fishing seasons, will be determined under regulations promulgated by NMFS.

Regulatory Changes

The Area 2A licensing regulations remained the same as in 1998. The Commission will issue vessel licenses for the sport charter halibut fishery, the directed commercial halibut fishery, and the incidental commercial halibut fishery. The deadline dates for receiving license applications remain the same: April 30 for the directed commercial fishery and March 31 for the incidental commercial fishery. However, the PFMC did review the catch-sharing plan intent and stated that a vessel that has a commercial halibut license cannot be used for sport fishing for halibut.

The treaty Indian commercial fishery in Area 2A, the Canadian IVQ fishery in Area 2B, and the United States IFQ fisheries in Areas 2C, 3A, 3B, 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, and 4E will all commence at 12 noon local time on March 15 and terminate at 12 noon local time on November 15.

Modifications were made to the vessel clearances for Area 4B. Non-local vessels fishing in Area 4B will continue to be required to obtain a clearance in person prior to fishing. Adak was added as a location to obtain clearances for Area 4B, therefore the clearance prior to fishing for Area 4B can be obtained at either Nazan Bay on Atka Island or Adak. The clearance required at the completion of fishing in Area 4B must be obtained either in person or by VHF radio (no visual identification of the vessel is necessary). All other Area 4 clearance requirements are unchanged from 1998. During 1999, the Commission and NMFS will be reviewing IPHC clearance procedures and technologies (satellite transponders, etc.) and will release a report prior to the 2000 Annual Meeting.

The careful release regulation was modified to mirror NMFS regulations. All halibut caught and not retained must now be released outboard of the roller by one of the careful release methods. Halibut close to the legal size can be brought on board to be measured but must be returned to the sea in a timely manner.

Clarification by NMFS was made regarding observation of offloads and the scale weight at the time of offloading. A policy directive will be sent to the Commission and NMFS field enforcement officers in the ports. The policy will also be made available to the public and industry.

In 1998, the Commission modified the existing regulations on the minimum size limit to allow the Community Development Quota (CDQ) fishers in Area 4E to land undersized halibut caught with commercial gear for subsistence use. For 1999 the regulation was changed to require the manager of an authorized CDQ organization that allows persons to harvest halibut in Area 4E CDQ fishery to report the total number and weight of undersized halibut to the Commission. The report must include the methodology on how the data was collected and be received by IPHC prior to December 1, 1999.

Other Actions

The Commission also discussed the issue of live fish landings. Present regulations require that all halibut must be eviscerated at the time of unloading. The Commission agreed to review this issue during the coming year.

The IPHC staff agreed to conduct experiments to determine if the occurrence of chalky halibut, a rare condition that affects the color and texture of halibut flesh, is related to handling methods such as stunning or bleeding. A research cruise is planned during the summer and a report will be available at next years meeting.

The recommended regulations for the 1999 halibut fishery will become official as soon as they are approved by the Canadian and United States Governments. The Commission will publish and distribute regulation pamphlets.

For the 2000 Annual Meeting, the Commission will be developing a format for industry and agency proposals for consideration at the Annual Meeting. It is expected that the proposal deadline for regulation changes or fishery issues will be set for the Fall of 1999. A later deadline will be set for comments and proposals associated with the IPHC staff recommendations for catch limits. These deadlines were set to allow dissemination of the proposals and allow industry and agency discussion of proposals prior to the Annual Meeting.

The next Annual Meeting of the Commission will be held in the Seattle area, from January 10 to 13, 2000. The United States Government commissioner Steven Pennoyer was elected Chairman for the coming year. Other United States commissioners are Andrew Scalzi, and Ralph Hoard. Canadian commissioners are Richard Beamish, Gregg Best and Rodney Pierce. Drew Scalzi was unable to attend and Kris Norosz was appointed as alternate commissioner for Andrew Scalzi and attended the 1999 Annual Meeting. Bruce Leaman is Director of the Commission and Stephen Hoag is Assistant Director.

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