Alaska Charter Association

To Protect the Rights and Conserve the Resources of Alaska's Sport Fishery
Alaska Charter News: 
December 2017
 

North Council Approves Range of Halibut Regs for 2018 Season

The charter industry had some difficult choices to make as they selected options for halibut management in 2018 to meet the conservation goals set out by the International Pacific Halibut Commission. The North Council approves and forwards these options to the IPHC where the final decision will be made in Portland, Oregon in January. 

C-1 Charter Halibut Management Measures 
Council Motion
December 6, 2017

The Council recommends the following charter halibut management measures for implementation in 2018 in Areas 2C and 3A:

Area 2C
The Council recommends the following management measures be implemented with a one-fish bag limit.
If the allocation is 0.69 million pounds: - U35:O80 no annual limit.
If the allocation is below 0.69 million pounds:
- 4 fish annual limit, 
U35:O80, and if necessary 3 fish annual limit, U35:O80
If the allocation is above 0.69 million pounds:
- No annual limit, and increase lower slot limit as allowed to stay within allocation.

Area 3A
Status quo measures include two fish bag limit, including one fish any size and 28" maximum size limit on one fish, 4 fish annual limit, one trip per CHP per day, one trip per vessel per day, Wednesdays closed all year, 3 Tuesdays closed between July 24 and August 7.
If the allocation is 1.70 million pounds:
- Status quo measures plus close 7 additional Tuesdays as outlined in the attached Table 11
(June 19-Aug 21).
If the allocation is higher or lower than 1.70 million pounds:
- Increase or decrease Tuesday closures to remain within the allocation . 


North Council Takes No Action on Latency in the Charter Fleet; Moves to Further Review of Registration of Rental Boats for Self-Guided Halibut Anglers
"Latency"

Responding to concerns from many charter operators, the Council considered a wide range of options to address the potential for unused permits re-entering the halibut fishery and causing even more difficulty in managing to ever-tightening catch limits. While the concerns are valid, the Charter Management committee had good public input and after the discussion it was decided that the problem had not surfaced, and it might be worth waiting until the registration of CHP permits revealed how many non-transferable permits have expired already. The Council decided to take no action on this item.

"RQE Ownership Caps"

The Council explored the potential for using the funds from the Recreational Quota Entity to purchase latent or under-used charter halibut permits in an effort to prevent an increase in fishing effort in the future. Current regulations limit the ownership of CHPs to five permits per owner. The idea is to allow the RQE to buy up to 30% of the permits to control effort. The Council postponed action on this item.

"Self-Guided Rental Boats"

The issue of unguided, or "self-guided" anglers using rental boats and fishing under the bag limits on non-guided private halibut anglers was studied by the Council. They felt more information was needed about the extent of the use of rental boats. Currently, unguided angler effort is stable and not increasing. 

To address this concern, the Council intends to implement a registration system for rental power boats that may be used in the halibut fishery.




Call For Proposals for the 2018/2019 Cycle

The Board of Fish is accepting proposed changes to the subsistence, personal use, sport, guided sport, and commercial fishing regulations for the Bristol Bay, Arctic-Yukon-Kuskokwim; Alaska Peninsula-Aleutian Islands-Chignik, and Statewide finfish management areas. The board may also consider subsistence proposals for other topics (including other areas) under the subsistence proposal policy, 5 AAC 96.615, if proposals are submitted within this deadline and the board determines they meet the criteria in either 5 AAC 96.615(a)(1) or (2). To submit a proposal visit: http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=fisheriesboard.forms

Proposal Deadline: Tuesday, April 10, 2018
  • Because you find most of your time is being spent in damage control brought on by regulations that continue to decrease fishing opportunity for your clients.
  • Because you have no time to attend important meetings that may further impact your future. 
  • You belong to the Alaska Charter Association.
If your dreams include flying scales and full fish totes, you 
need the Alaska Charter Association to inform, educate, and fight for you 
at these important fisheries meetings. 

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