Halibut catch limit goes lower, but only a little

The International Pacific Halibut Commission, meeting this week in Bellevue, Washington, set this year's coastwide catch limit at 29.33 million pounds.

That's a decrease of 1.3 percent from last year, says this IPHC press release.

Notably, the entire cut comes in Canada, Area 2B.

The commission set a commercial fishing season of 6 a.m. local time March 26 to 11:59 p.m. Dec. 7.

Salmon notes

• The Southeast Alaska summer troll fishery will see a third opener beginning just after midnight tonight, with about 6,800 treaty Chinook up for grabs. Each troll permit holder will be allocated 18 Chinook for the 10-day fishery.

• The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the purchase of nearly $877,000 in canned pink salmon from Silver Bay Seafoods for the McGovern-Dole Food for Education Program.

• British Columbia activists behind a campaign known as Alaska's Dirty Secret are again accusing Southeast Alaska fishermen of intercepting, or "stealing," Canadian salmon. They've posted this video.

Canadian competition

The Wheel Watch, a newsletter of the Seattle-based Fishing Vessel Owners' Association, offers this interesting note:

Something of concern for halibut is that the Canadian Maritime communities will produce 12 to 15 million pounds next year. This begins to rival Alaska landings which are now about 17 million lbs. Harvest limits in Alaska will all likely be reduced in 2025.

Southeast salmon crossed off Canada's list

Canada's largest sustainable seafood label has pulled its recommendation for Southeast Alaska salmon fisheries, the Times Colonist newspaper reports.

The international issue of bycatch

Bycatch certainly has been a hot topic of late in Alaska.

Alaska bycatch also is drawing attention from our neighbors in Canada.

In a report submitted ahead of the International Pacific Halibut Commission annual meeting in Anchorage, the province of British Columbia has this to say, in part:

The large trawl fisheries in Alaska experience high volumes of bycatch that impact many species that move between Canadian and U.S. waters. This includes over 157,500 salmon caught as bycatch in Alaskan fleets in 2023, of which over 35,500 were vulnerable Chinook salmon. Incomplete monitoring and Alaskan bycatch of halibut in trawl fisheries impact recruitment of juvenile halibut to the fishery as many halibut caught in industrial trawl nets do not survive release.

USCG cutter aids injured fisherman in B.C. waters

Details in this news release.

Canada's salmon unrest

This parliamentary petition demands a renegotiation of the Pacific Salmon Treaty to address "interceptions" of Canadian salmon in Alaska fisheries.

Canadian conservationists write Gov. Dunleavy

Here's the letter.

Canadians come after Alaska 'interception fisheries'

Here's the press release.

Canada's halibut

The International Pacific Halibut Commission is holding its interim meeting this week in Seattle. As always, the panel is weighing a great deal of information such as the 2017 stock assessment and various regulatory proposals.

Here's a little item, taken from a staff report, that certainly caught our attention:

"The IPHC Secretariat continues to hear concern from Canadian representatives regarding the IPHC's current understanding of Pacific halibut biological distribution. Commentary indicates that the current methodology is underrepresenting the amount of the coastwide Pacific halibut stock that is within Canadian waters. Reports of large Pacific halibut and high catch rates are thought to further support this claim. The IPHC is expanding the fisheries-independent setline survey (FISS) in Canadian waters in the summer of 2018. We are confident that this expansion will increase our collective knowledge of Pacific halibut biological distribution, as it will cover a greater range (deeper and shallower depths) than the current setline survey design."

The interim meeting wraps up today.

The commission won't set 2018 catch limits until its Jan. 22-26 annual meeting in Portland.

What, trust those Canadians?

Sens. Maria Cantwell, Lisa Murkowski and Mark Begich want U.S. testing of British Columbia salmon reportedly infected with the ISA virus. Here's the press release.

Canadian sablefish — it's sustainable!

Deckboss received word today that the Marine Stewardship Council has certified the Canadian sablefish fishery off British Columbia as sustainable and well-managed.

Here's the press release.

Alaska sablefish earned MSC certification in 2006.

Body of Trident processor found in BC waters

Here's breaking news about the discovery of a body believed to be that of a woman crew member who fell overboard in British Columbia waters from the Trident Seafoods processing ship Aleutian Falcon.