Alaska Halibut....!!!!

[tmas]

ANY of you that enjoy fishing in Alaska for Halibut, or ever dream of fishing for these tasty fish in Alaska, READ THIS! The sport fishery in Alaska needs your help if you ever want to fish for halibut up here! Please help out the cause! Even if you don't plan on fishing up here, if you have any friends that enjoy fishing in Alaska, email this to them...we need to stand up to these theives!


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[font "Arial"][size 2]Hello[/size][/font]
[font "Arial"][size 2]This is a brief note to you, as potential halibut fishermen, providing notice that the commercial fishing industry is planning a vicious attack on your right to catch two halibut in Alaska on a charter fishing boat.[/size][/font]
[font "Arial"][size 2]There is a plan proposed by the commercial fishing industry that was recently published in the Federal Registry, called the Catch Sharing Plan (CSP), that will cut your daily bag limit of halibut by ONE HALF to one fish per day. This is not a conservation measure, it is a reallocation to commercial longline fishermen to give them more fish to catch. This basically reassigns YOUR fish to them.[/size][/font]
[font "Arial"][size 2]I have attached a pdf flyer to this message which explains more of the details of the CSP. There is a time period until September 6th when the public can send in comment letters about this plan. It is imperative that the public make it clear that the CSP is unacceptable.[/size][/font]
[font "Arial"][size 2]We are asking you to send letters and or emails as described in the pdf flyer in opposition to the Catch Sharing Plan for halibut in Alaska. Attached is a sample letter which you can use as a basis for your comments or simply state that you are opposed to the proposed federal rule #0648-BA37.[/size][/font]
[font "Arial"][size 2]Will you be willing to pay for only one halibut per day in the future?[/size][/font]
[font "Arial"][size 2]We can make a difference. Please send your comments today.[/size][/font]
[font "Arial"][size 2]thanks for your patronage and thanks for joining the effort to fight this plan.[/size][/font]
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[font "Arial"][size 2]-Afishunt Charters[/size][/font]
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[PBH]

I'd like to bring up an alternative solution:

Stop sending home boxes of halibut!


consider:

Alaska has a daily and a possession limit. Yet, when people go to places like Doc Warner's, they somehow are able to send home boxes of halibut that far exceed the possession limit. How is this possible? Once the fish have been "processed", they are removed from your possession limit. Fish camps (again, Doc Warner's is a good example) understand this, so what do they do as soon as a fishing party returns to camp? They process the catch -- vacuum sealed and professionally packaged for the client. No more possession limit to deal with. Cheating the system, if you ask me. Clients are able to stockpile boxes of frozen, professionally package halibut they caught to ship home -- going around the possession limits.

What has this done to the halibut population? Arguments can be made that populations of Pacific halibut are going down, as are average sizes. Certainly, commercial fisheries have had a large affect on halibut. But sportfishermen need to be aware of their own practices as well.

I'd like to suggest that if you value the Pacific halibut as a sportfish -- remember that thee are daily and possession limits, and by going around those limits by having your catch processed -- and sending home hundreds of pounds of halibut -- you are not helping preserve this sportfishery.

(I'll get off my soapbox now)
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[doggonefishin]

Isn't it already 1 halibut if you are with a guide? When I was there in 2009, you could only harvest one if you were on a guide boat but keep 2 if you went out on your own.

PBH is right though.

It is a complicated issue and IMO the entity with the most $$$ and political pull will win.
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[TubeDude]

Z

[riverdog]

Those rules are for Southeast Alaska.
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[PBH]

[quote TubeDude]
[cool][#0000ff]I question that. On my recent trip to the Queen Charlotte Islands (Canada), the lodge was adamant that no angler could keep more than their possession limits...and they kept daily track.[/#0000ff][#0000ff][/#0000ff][/quote]

So, the question is: how many halibut did you bring home?


It's NOT illegal what these places do. They won't lose their licenses. It is a moral thing, with me. By processing your fish (freezing and vacuum packing), you legally remove those fish from your possession limit, and are then legally able to go out the next day and harvest more fish. Things brings up a very important question: What is the purpose of the possession limit??

Question it all you want, that's what happens. That's why these places advertise "process your fish".

From Doc Warners website: "At the end of the day, you pilot your boat back to camp where our dock crew will meet your boat, tie it up, and begin to process your fish."

Why process your fish? Because once the fish are processed they are off of your possession limit -- thus allowing you to go fishing again the next day. (A 7 day fishing trip would be cut short after the 2nd day for many anglers if they kept their limits on those first two days -- unless they ate their catch)
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[tmas]

What else would you suggest a place like doc's do with the fish when they come in? Of course they are going to package and freeze it, you aren't going to keep fish fresh by placing it in a cooler of ice for days or weeks while you're still exploring alaska or fishing and traveling home.
Something DOES need to be done about our halibut. There is no arguing that they are not what they used to be. But this is not what should be done.

"Cheating the system, if you ask me."

It's not cheating any system at all. The reason for possession limit in Alaska is to prevent wildlife waste by making sure it is consumed or preserved before it spoils. Look at the possession limit on the Kenai for example. This year they had over 1.5 million sockeye return to the kenai. Drift net fleets were emergency opened for fishing almost every day of july in the Cook inlet, and over 2/3 of July was also opened to set netters along the beaches near the rivers. The number of fish that entered the kenai was considered "over escapement" which according to the fish and game is harmful to the other species of salmon that share the system with the Sockeye. In THIS case, the ADFG doubles the sockeye limit from 3 to 6 for sport fishing per day. The possession limit also doubles from 6 to 12. Why would they not just do away with the possession limit? It's not because they want to limit people to 12 sockeye while they are here on vacation for a week, it's to make sure people who retain fish are consuming or preserving them before they spoil!

Here is just one reason why your argument has extremely low value. Sport fishermen take somewhere in the neighborhood of 1-2% of the total halibut harvested in Alaska waters. The restrictions should not end up on sport fishermen. Look at the information about bycatch alone, that 11 MILLION POUNDS of halibut they wasted is only ONE SPECIES of fish they waste! Think about all the Salmon, Steelhead, and other species that are wasted as well.
The other point is that there is a total quota that the feds have set for halibut harvest from both sport and comm fisheries. This bill is re-asigning the halibut from sport fishermen to commercial fishermen.

I'm not even a halibut fisherman. I don't enjoy dragging a 4x8 sheet of plywood up from 300 ft depths. But we need to fight this as SPORT FISHERMEN. Who knows what they will take next if they are successful with this.
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[PACKFAN]

I would think when you return to the dock everyone would want their fish processed, I really can't see heading back to Utah with a 50 lb. unprocessed halibut in my suitcase[crazy]
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[TubeDude]

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[PBH]

Pack / tmas -- there is nothing wrong with processing your fish. My problem is when you process your fish simply to be able to go out the next day and harvest more fish. To answer both of your questions (what should you do?): Your options are simple:
1. Stop fishing once you have a possession \ daily limit
2. Eat your harvest
3. Wait until the end of your trip to harvest -- practice catch and release in early days of your fishing.

You can justify it all you want, but the fact is that many people use "processing" as a means to skirt the possession limit. If this is OK with you, fine. It is not OK with me -- which is why I choose to ONLY keep 1 possession limit, whether my catch is processed or not.
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[PBH]

[quote TubeDude][cool][#0000ff]The fish are NOT removed from your possession list by processing.[/#0000ff][#0000ff].[/#0000ff][/quote][#0000ff]
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Yes, they are:
[quote Alaska Department of Fish and Game Statewide Definitions]
[/#000000][/#0000ff][font "Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"]Possession limit means the maximum number of unpreserved fish a person may have in possession.

[/font][font "Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"]Preserved fish means fish prepared in such a manner, and in an existing state of preservation, as to be fit for human consumption after a 15-day period, and does not include unfrozen fish temporarily stored in coolers that contain ice, dry ice, or fish that are lightly salted. [/font]
[#0000ff][#000000][/quote]
[/#000000][/#0000ff][#0000ff][#000000]This means that when your catch has been frozen and vacuum packaged, it is no longer considered part of your possession limit. Just feezing your fish doesn't remove them -- they must be packaged as well so that they can be fit for consumption longer than 15 days -- this is why fish camps include vacuum packing!
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[/#0000ff][quote TubeDude][#0000ff] ...[/#0000ff][#0000ff] you need to do your homework. [/#0000ff][/quote]

My homework has been done. Has yours? (I fully understand that you were in Canada).


Glad to hear you didn't ship more than a possession home with you. Many anglers do.
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[TubeDude]

Z

[tmas]

Do YOUR homework...
possession limit means the maximum number of unpreserved fish a person may have in possession
preserved fish means fish prepared in such a manner, and in an existing state of preservation, as to be fit for human consumption after a 15-day period, and does not include unfrozen fish temporarily stored in coolers that contain ice, dry ice, or fish that are lightly salted.

Fish subject to possession limits DO NOT need ANY skin, tail, or other parts left on the fish once it is PRESERVED!
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[doggonefishin]

RE" Sport fishermen take somewhere in the neighborhood of 1-2% of the total halibut harvested in Alaska waters."

Do you have documentation of this? If this is true, then that would strongly support your position as lowering the sport limit from 2 to one would be inconsequential to the population as a whole.
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[PBH]

[quote TubeDude][img]../../../images/gforum/cool.gif[/img][#0000ff]Preserved is generally construed as canning or smoking...not just freezing. [/#0000ff][/quote]

ummm....here, let's try this again: (straight from the ADF&G rules book)

[font "Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"]Preserved fish means fish prepared in such a manner, and in an existing state of preservation, as to be fit for human consumption after a 15-day period[/font]

Don't "generally construe" the rules Tubedude...
[quote TubeDude]
[#0000ff] Freezing DOES NOT remove fish from your possession limit. It is merely the best way to insure that you are able to take them with you.[/#0000ff][/quote]

And, once again for those of you that struggle:
[quote PBH][#0000ff][#000000]This means that when your catch has been frozen and vacuum packaged...[/quote][/#000000][/#0000ff]

Freezing doesn't. But when you vacuum pack it and freeze it, then it does meet the definition of "Preserved" and thus DOES remove it from your possession limit. That is EXACTLY why places like Doc Warners does this (vacuum pack and freeze). Otherwise, they wouldn't allow you to keep fish until the last two days of your trip.

This isn't as hard as you're making it Dude.
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[tmas]

Tubedude, go fishing. You and your "guide friends" are both misinformed. If you don't care about re-assigning sport caught fish to commercial fishermen, that's fine. But don't get on a thread and argue about something that you are obviously uneducated about. I just wanted to let any of you guys in Utah that are interested in halibut fishing have a chance to be informed about your right to keep 2 halibut in Southcentral and other parts of alaska....and to let them know about what they can do to have their voice heard.

It's funny. Anytime something is posted on the Utah forum, it's an instant arguement. Post it on another forum, and it's positive feedback.
I'm walking away...that's great if you want to keep arguing about this.
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[riverdog]

Thanks for the info Thom. I think the sport harvest is much more than 1-2%. I just read for SE Alaska in 2007 it was 24.7% of the catch. They do need a rationale approach to this. I'm planning to do some halibut fishing in a couple days out of POW Island. The limit there is one fish already. With 3 of us going frankly 3 fish will be plenty to return home with even if delta airlines lets us fly up to 140 lbs each free in checked luggage.
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Kinda harsh, dude. I'm on your side. Don't get your undies in a bunch.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I was merely passing along info I had been given that anglers were being checked for possession limits and that frozen fish were often considered in that limit. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]However, in following up on the Alaska regulations websites and in talking with the folks at Doc Warners I am surprised to find that they take a very broad approach to the frozen fish issue. Surprisingly, it is possible to just keep adding the daily limit to whatever you have in the freezer until you have all the fish you want. Doesn't matter. That would be a hanging offense in Utah and most other states. It is definitely monitored a lot more closely in Canada and nobody leaves with more than the alloted possession limit...in any form.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Like yourself, I strongly oppose penalizing the relatively few sport anglers for the benefit of the commercial interests. Just ain't fair.[/#0000ff]
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[pookiebar]

I will weigh in on this one. The commercial industry has had their quota cut down by 40% the past two years running. They are asking that the sports fishing side share some of the burden.

The Alaska DNR is very serious about maintaining a balanced approach to protecting a resource. AK Fishing industry, both sport and commercial is VERY important to the state.

UTARDS have no real dog in the fight. I will bet anyone here $20 that next year the halibut limit will be back up to 2 per day, perhaps with a slot, perhaps not. Then that regulation will run for 3-4 years. Once the catch data shows that additional regulation needs to happen again they will put in place the "needed" regulation.

Believe it or not AK has a pretty good system figured out for their fishing industries.
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[tmas]

I did a little more research after I read your reply Riverdog, I was really low, i think remembered a mortality rate % rather than a total harvest percent. According to the IPHA, about 20% of total alaska harvest is sport caught, but when the bycatch is added in after the estimated mortality rate, about 9-12% of the halibut actually estimated to be killed are sport caught. This is statewide info from 2003-2009 according to the adfg. The percent in Southeast probably is higher for sportfish. Good luck halibut fishing down there...doing any salmon fishing?
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