The commission itself will consider the recommendations at its Jan. 24-27 annual meeting in Anchorage.
Here are the numbers, expressed in millions of pounds.
| Regulatory area | 2011 catch limits | 2012 staff advice | % change |
| 2A | 0.91 | 0.99 | +9 |
| 2B | 7.65 | 6.63 | -13 |
| 2C | 2.33 | 2.62 | +12 |
| 3A | 14.36 | 11.92 | -17 |
| 3B | 7.51 | 5.07 | -32 |
| 4A | 2.41 | 1.57 | -35 |
| 4B | 2.18 | 1.87 | -14 |
| 4CDE | 3.72 | 2.47 | -34 |
| TOTAL | 41.07 | 33.14 | -19 |
That's the "optimistic" set of recommendations. Another set of recommendations try to incorporate the past underestimation of harvest rates in the halibut fishery. Basically it cuts the harvest rate in the directed fishery to around 13% to reach a goal of 20% harvest rate overall. If IPHC were to adopt these numbers, cut will be to around 15 million pounds Gulf wide. That would be 60-70% cuts in most areas.
ReplyDeleteIf we can't get on top of unreported mortality (trawl bycatch being the biggest) in the fishery, and constrain it, then IFQ holders are going to pay a even heavier price in the coming few years.
The IPHC meeting in Anchorage is going to be max-stress.
From a statistical perspective, it would seem the largest cuts occurred in the draggers favorite grounds...*odd*
ReplyDeleteYes, hammer the halibut dragging and CPUE in the longline fishery continues to spiral down. Its not the only problem, but its a big one. No surprise 3A/3B harvests continue to decline. Perhaps the draggers need to take a 25% cut in the 4 million lbs they're allow to catch and throw over every year. Of course, many suspect the actual number discarded is far larger than that. The current observer program is a joke, so until that changes we won't know.
ReplyDeleteGood point, 100% observer coverage in all fisheries / all gear.
ReplyDeletePropose that, and listen to the drag hags whine. They're worse than sand fleas!!!!
ReplyDeleteTo Anonymous at 12:08: 100% observer coverage on all AK boats 40+ begins in 2013. Everyone will be whining.
ReplyDeleteI doubt that will be the case given the gov't budget. So given limited funds, should they observe trawlers only?
ReplyDeleteRequire observers on sport boats also.
ReplyDeleteIt is not going to be 100% observer coverage on all boats 40+. Also, there are relatively few trawlers under 60 ft, so this is mostly an expansion into the longline and pot fleet. The observer coverage level has yet to be determined, and will include electronic monitoring instead of people in some cases.
ReplyDeletealthough observers in the sport sector is a great idea its not going to happen for a number of reasons.
ReplyDeleteso heres what i propose for the sport sector at all locations:
when they all come in from fishing have them all checked for compliance at a required check in place funded by a tax on their industry(to be determined how much as required).
each sport fishing community would have 1 or 2 observers to make sure all fisher's are legal and compliant before they get to end their charter.
Its simple and it would work.
after all if you want the commercial guys observed to make sure they are following the rules it only makes sense for everybody to play by the rules. especially on a dwindling stock such as halibut.
When's sablefish get announced?
ReplyDeleteWes - you might want to start a new article thread on today's arrest of Glitner Bank CEO and others. Should Icicle really have a representative on the IPHC at this time? Read Michael Lewis' book BOOMERANG for better understanding of the role of IFQs in Iceland's failure.
ReplyDeleteNews: Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/iceland-glitnir-bank-larus-welding-2011-12#ixzz1fLHPOML9
Read more: http://community.adn.com/adn/node/111138#ixzz1fLHvztUW
Groundswell
How in the hell does 2C get increase when the rest of Alaska take such large cuts...
ReplyDeleteIPHC is a joke and their staff is a joke....a couple years ago their blue bullshit book said we would double overall 3b quota, now we have seen 65% decrease in that time frame. Why 2c up 12%????? makes no sense
ReplyDeleteSeriously? 2C has been cut so much worse than any other area, and you're worried they get a miniscule increase after dealing with such drastic cuts for years?
ReplyDeleteLook at the historical dude, and be thankful you're not in 2C.
I'm a 2c guy. when 2c started with the big cuts necessary with IPHC's new model, a 3A guy told me we were 'just going to have to go with the science." I wonder if he feels the same way today.....
ReplyDeleteCorrect me if I'm wrong, but I
ReplyDeletethink the increase of 12%
for 2C will put them back up
to 36% of their original quota?
2C has done their share in
conserving stocks.
2C Commercial CPUE and the Survey CPUE were both higher in 2011. That seems to be a good rational for a slight increase in 2C.
ReplyDeleteCan we get a BOF, Highwayman's Bof update?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.brainygeography.com/features/AK.locale/dayville.html
It's a treasure chest, that old number 7, you know those highwaymen don't ya db?
Our American Cousin, Fords Theater...
2400 Third Cousins, orders 10 degrees right rudder?
0002 Third Cousins, orders 20 degrees right rudder?
0004 Third Cousins, orders hard right rudder???
0007; initial contact...love those 7's don't we, and the new and inproved Seattle 7?
Who is this nut case?
ReplyDeleteDon't even suggest that the rest of state has not done their part on conservation lest ye be talking about the atrocities perpetuated by the trawl fleet in the GOA. Just saying it is hard to believe that 2C is the only area with higher CPUE. I know my brethren have suffered with huge cuts but as a 3A QS holder I feel Peter is being robbed to pay Paul. Not buying down stream migration, either.
ReplyDeleteconsidering all the by catch of salmon,halibut,crab,and other species of value, what is the true cost of those fish sticks,patties,and mc-fish sandwiches?
ReplyDeleteI've talked to countless trawl crewmen in the GOA. All of them tell me they are throwing more halibut over than they are catching on a tow of their directed fishery most of the year. Many either quit because they couldn't watch all those halibut die anymore. One fellow told me of when they were catching 70-80,000 lbs of cod and dumping it back dead to catch 10,000 lbs of rocksole. Tow after tow until he told the skipper to take him to town.
ReplyDeleteIf the trawl fleet was 100% observed and retained on board they would be just about be out of business. Why the NPFMC doesn't make p.cod a bycatch only and not a directed fishery is crazy. Our halibut all over the state except 2C is being shoveled over the side (fish weighing 1-9 lbs) and sometimes bigger. The draggers are killing our future, as well as the present when it comes to Pacific Halibut.
It's definitely us against them, our $6-7 a lb fish verses their $0.10-0.45 a lbs fish. Hard to figure out what to do isn't it!?
you halibut fishermen have turned into a spoiled greedy bunch of rock stars
ReplyDelete^^^thanks, dude. That's great. Thanks for adding so much to the thread.^^^
ReplyDeleteIFQ's made some fishers multi millionairs and it also provided a few crew members, with shares. No one ever said that Capitalism is just or fair system. There are always winners and losers.
ReplyDeleteDuring the first couple years of IFQ's, anyone, with fishing experience, could have purchased halibut quota shares for less than $5 per lb. So quit your whinning! It is getting very old!
No capitalism isn't always fair,
ReplyDeleteThe NPFMC was suppose to correct
that, both for the fish and the
fisherman.
Yes we could have if we would have been part of the fishery. But alas, some of us are either 1st generation or too young to have gotten in on the original issue shares. Or both. That gripe being said, thanks to all the policymakers and legislators who made the ifq loans possible. Many thanks! One other note: to the toolbag who posted that we quota fishermen are "rockstars": yes, we are! You're just jealous because your more like "winger" as a dragger, and we longliners are more like AC/DC. Enough said!
ReplyDeleteYea! AC/DC, Arnie's going to Rock!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TziyOcb96q0
no jealousy here! Im just saying for how good you guys have been doing you cry like the worlds gonna end ...........ROCK ON !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile on the tholepin blog...
ReplyDeleteIs that why an 11-year-old halibut living in the northern Gulf of Alaska weighed on average nearly 50 pounds in the 1970s; now it weighs about 20 pounds...
ReplyDeleteLooks like over a 50% reduction is way past due, like those Drag Queens out and about, here there and everywhere?
It's already been said that the large cuts are due to "unaccounted mortality" not smaller size at age. The trawl by-catch is horribly under reported. If it were all accounted for they'd get shut down and the fish wouldn't be disappearing. Simple solution.
ReplyDeleteAnd the King of the Drag Queens!
ReplyDeletehttp://juneauempire.com/stories/082304/sta_tillioncareer.shtml
Trust us. We've had it wrong up till now but we have it figured out finally.
ReplyDeleteAnon 7:36
ReplyDeleteThe IPHC has a 100 yr record that's pretty damn good.
You can't blame them for for not being able to factor in unreported trawl bycatch.
Our buddies on the NPFMC have purposely kept trawl bycatch unexamined because they are profiting from it.
The very same people who make the rules profit from this. They were given information on how the Canadiens solved this problem 20 yrs ago but it's more profitable to ignore it.
Anon 736 Makes a good argument.
ReplyDeleteThe longliners make the processors
a lot of money. But the Draggers
are the controlling power in Alaskan
fisheries.The NPFMC needs to be
investigated and conflicts of interest
stopped.
That's funny, Long liners making processors money? Its all about salmon, the processors are just exchanging dollars for dollars when it comes to long liners... jeez.
ReplyDeleteanon 7:58
ReplyDeletebingo! And even more so than salmon, how about arrowtooth, other flats, POP, pollock???
High volume, low quality that they get for pennys a lb.
the IPHC is psudoscience
ReplyDeletePsudoscience?
ReplyDeleteOr Political Science?
Yamamoto had serious reservations. He wrote to an ultranationalist:
I wonder if our politicians (who speak so lightly of a Japanese-American war) have confidence as to the final outcome and are prepared to make the necessary sacrifices...