Scientists’ 2C halibut catch limit recommendation: 47 percent reduction

Keith Chaplin

December 2, 2010.

Scientists with the International Pacific Halibut Commission released recommendations for the 2011 season on Tuesday, Nov. 30 that some Petersburg fisherman say could devastate the local fleet.

The recommendations for a 19 percent decrease in total pounds from 50.67 million to 41.3 million pounds taken along the coastline of Alaska, British Columbia, Washington and Oregon were made by IPHC scientists using survey data and commercial data collected in 2010.

Locally, that news was dwarfed by a more serious recommendation — for a 47 percent proposed cut down to 2.33 million pounds in area 2C, which spans the coast of Southeast Alaska from the Dixon Entrance to Glacier Bay.

Area 2C is a popular spot for Petersburg halibut fishermen, because of its proximity to home, ease of travel and protected waters, but the area has had a recent downward trend in regards to IPHC catch limits.

In the past decade, the catch limit peaked in 2005 with a catch limit of 10.93 million pounds. That limit dropped by more than half to 4.4 million pounds in 2010.

Before the peak in 2005, the catch limit in 2002 and 2003 was 8.5 million, before peaking in the mid to high 10 million pound range from 2004 to 2006 before dropping down to 8.51 million pounds in 2007, 2008 dropped to 6.21 million and 2009 dropped to 5.02.

This year’s scientific catch limit recommendation is not final; it first must go through the Processor Advisory Group (made up of seafood processors), and Research Advisory Board within IPHC before being instituted by the IPHC commission. The IPHC commission — made up of three Canadians and three Americans makes the final decision after taking each groups’ recommendations into consideration.

In 2006, when catch limits began to drop, Petersburg fisherman Ryan Littleton said he saw first hand that there was a reason to cut the catch limit. Littleton runs the F/V Angjel for part of the fishing season.

He said he trusted the numbers that scientists were putting forward, and braced for a reduction in limits for a few years that would mean increases in the future as halibut stocks strengthened.

As catch limits decreased, Littleton bought more quota after seeing the quality of the fish coming off the grounds. This past season, he saw bigger fish, and heard from other fishermen they were seeing the same thing. He also didn’t have to travel far to fill his quota, filling it in Frederick Sound.

Littleton said he had heard from IPHC scientists that things were getting better, but when he heard about the 47 percent decrease in catch limit on Tuesday, he knows they were not giving accurate information.

“I’m in shock,” Littleton said. “I was anticipating a little bit of a drop, but nothing like this.”

Littleton said he expected the results to be status quo or maybe a 5 percent decrease.

In preparation for the scientific catch limit recommendation, Petersburg’s 2C halibut quota holders held a meeting in the Petersburg City Council Chambers in October to speak with IPHC Executive Director Bruce Leaman.

At that meeting, Littleton said Leaman did not give the group any indication that the drop would be this drastic.

“This is catastrophic. This is what people don’t just bounce back from,” Littleton said.

Littleton estimates that the drop means $8-10 million less coming back to Petersburg.

Mark Roberts, a Petersburg fisherman for 30 years and owner of the F/V Cape Cross said the recommendation would cut his ability to make money halibut fishing in half.

“This is not hurting us, this is destroying us,” Roberts said.

Levy Boiter, Petersburg’s IPHC port sampler, watched the recommendation presentation via the internet on Tuesday, and said one reason for the significant drop is a change in the method of making suggestions to the IPHC commission.

In years past, IPHC used a method called “slow up fast down,” which would take the original stock assessment number and cushion the suggested catch limit by taking half of the difference between the previous year’s catch limit.

This year, the commission used a method called “slow up full down,” which in turn just takes the stock assessment and makes it the recommendation.

Since 2007, the staff recommendation has been mulled over by the IPHC commission before being increased by a certain amount. This meant that original scientific stock assessments were being altered twice before catch limits were set.

In 2004, 2005 and 2006, the staff recommendation was accepted by the commission and a catch limit was set by that recommendation. Since those numbers have gone down in 2007, 2008, 2009, and again in 2010, scientific recommendations have been released, but after discussions with the Processor Advisory Group, the limits have been increased.

Gregg Williams, the research program manager with the IPHC said the recommendations given on Tuesday are a starting point for discussion.

Williams said the IPHC has seen a decline in halibut growth rates and a decline in recruitment.

He said surveys show that there are some younger halibut populations that will soon reach commercial size in the next few years that could change the catch limits.

He said 2C has an absence of fish over 15-20 years of age compared to other survey areas.

“We’re not seeing the older fish out there, and that’s troubling,” Williams said.

“The stock in 2C is not looking very healthy to us,” Williams said.

Williams admitted that the cuts seen in area 2C were more severe than what he expected to see.

“Our hearts bleed for the fishermen of Southeast,” Williams said.