The 88th Annual Meeting of the International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC) is currently being held in Anchorage, Alaska. From January 24^th to the 27^th, the six members of the IPHC and 250 delegates will meet to discuss the status of Pacific Halibut. Having already met at the interim meeting on December 2nd, the Commission has distributed a brief summary of stock assessment information and staff recommendations that the public has been invited to review. Proposals for 2012 catch limit changes and requests for regulatory changes (season length, clearance in Area 4, logbook reporting measures, etc.) or management actions had to be submitted prior to the Annual Meeting and will be discussed during various sessions this week.

Changes to catch limit and regulatory or management actions will be especially important this year as concern about the decreased average size of the Pacific Halibut grows. Though the fishery, which is jointly managed by the U.S. and Canada, is doing well in terms of abundance, Pacific Halibut seem to be growing more slowly than in the past. Most fish are now less than 32 inches in length, too small for the commercial fishery and even too small for most anglers. Fishermen are required to discard any halibut that is less than 32 inches because this is the minimum length at which Halibut are considered to be sexually mature. Keeping fish under this size will prevent further generations from being produced. This amplifies the importance of regulating the number of adult fish caught. There has been talk of drastic harvest cuts.

With the slow growth rate of these fish causing a rise in discard amounts, there is an increased number of small Halibut in the Eastern Pacific. Though an abundance of fish is usually considered a good thing, these fish are having an influence on non-directed fisheries, like the Gulf of Alaska (GOA) trawl and groundfish hook and line fleet. Fishermen within these fisheries are typically targeting Pacific Cod, but are given a Halibut bycatch quota to account for the inevitable incidental catch. Once this Halibut bycatch limit has been met, the whole fishery is closed. Halibut bycatch has closed the GOA trawl fisheries every year from 2000 to 2011. Finding a respectable equilibrium between user groups in times of abundance and in times of downturn will be a challenge that the Commission is faced with this year at the Annual Meeting.

With so many stakeholders involved and jobs at stake, it will be interesting to see how catch limits and regulatory actions are adjusted this week in Anchorage. 

General State of Seafood