27 January 2017
The International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC) completed its Ninety-third Annual Meeting in Victoria, BC, Canada on 27 January, 2017. More than 200 halibut industry stakeholders attended the meeting, with approximately 80 more participating in web broadcasts of the public sessions.
The Commission is recommending to the governments of Canada and the United States catch limits for 2017 totaling 31.40 million pounds, displayed in the following table by regulatory area.
| 2017 Catch Limits | |
| Regulatory Area | Catch Limit(pounds) |
| Area 2A (California, Oregon, and Washington) Non-treaty directed commercial (south of Pt. Chehalis) Non-treaty incidental catch in salmon troll fishery Non-treaty incidental catch in sablefish fishery (north of Pt. Chehalis) Treaty Indian commercial Treaty Indian ceremonial and subsistence (year-round) Sport – Washington Sport – Oregon Sport – CaliforniaArea 2B (British Columbia) (includes sport catch allocation)Area 2C (southeastern Alaska) (combined commercial/guided sport)1 Commercial fishery (4,212,000 catch and 123,000 incidental mortality) Guided sport fisheryArea 3A (central Gulf of Alaska) (combined commercial/guided sport)1 Commercial fishery (7,739,000 catch and 371,000 incidental mortality) Guided sport fisheryArea 3B (western Gulf of Alaska)Area 4A (eastern Aleutians)Area 4B (central/western Aleutians)Areas 4CDE Area 4C (Pribilof Islands) Area 4D (northwestern Bering Sea) Area 4E (Bering Sea flats) | 1,330,000225,59139,81070,000435,90029,600237,762256,75734,5807,450,0005,250,0004,335,000915,00010,000,0008,110,0001,890,0003,140,0001,390,0001,140,0001,700,000752,000752,000196,000 |
| Total | 31,400,000 |
1The combined total includes estimated mortality from regulatory discards of sublegal halibut and lost gear in the commercial fishery, plus discard mortality in the guided sport fishery, as mandated in the U.S. Catch Sharing Plans.
The Commission approved a season of 11 March – 7 November, 2017 for the U.S. and Canadian Individual Quota fisheries. The Treaty tribal commercial fisheries and the incidental halibut fisheries in Area 2A will occur within these dates. In Area 2A, seven 10-hour fishing periods for the non-treaty directed commercial fishery are recommended: 28 June, 12 July, 26 July, 9 August, 23 August, 6 September, and 20 September, 2017.
A subsequent IPHC News Release will provide more details of the Annual Meeting, including the regulatory and other issues decided by the Commission.
Document
Title
Report #
Year
Date Published
IPHC-2017-NR001.pdf
Halibut Commission announces 2017 catch limits and seasons
01
2017
27 January 2017
