According to NPFMC the decision is expected to take effect in time for the 2011 fishing season if approved by the Secretary of Commerce. The council has allowed southeast Alaska guided anglers to catch one halibut each day, down from the current two, with the opportunity to lease from a commercial fisherman the right to catch a second halibut. Rob Endsley, owner and guide of Prince of Wales Sportfishing in Craig, Alaska, informed that the decision gives the commercial fishermen total control of the halibut market.
Endsley also said that the decision shows no responsibility with the resource, and the halibut biomass is supposed to go up in the next 10 years. So it has nothing to do with conservation. According to the Charter Halibut Task Force, since 1995, commercial fishermen have caught an average of 89 percent of all halibut taken off the coast of Alaska (including bycatch).
Larry McQuarrie, co-founder of the Charter Halibut Task Force, complained of dissatisfaction that state and federal representatives on the council were more interested in protecting the value of commercial IFQs [Individual Fishing Quota] than in protecting the public’s access to the halibut resource.
According to the National Marine Fisheries Service a change to a one-halibut daily limit could result in up to a 30 percent reduction in angler demand, meaning 27,000 fewer people flying into southeast Alaska this year.
