Per International Pacific Halibut Commission Fishery Regulations, Section 19. Logs, the following logbooks are authorized for reporting Pacific halibut.
For operators of any U.S. vessels that have an overall length of 26 feet (7.9 meters) or greater fishing for Pacific halibut:
In Alaska:
- IPHC Pacific halibut logbook or IPHC-approved electronic equivalent
- catcher vessel longline and pot gear Daily Fishing Logbook, or catcher/processor longline and pot gear Daily Cumulative Production Logbook, in electronic or paper form, provided or approved by NOAA Fisheries
- hook-and-line logbook provided by Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association
- Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG) longline-pot logbook
Following successful testing in 2024, the IPHC now recognizes Deckhand® as an approved electronic equivalent of the IPHC Pacific halibut logbook for Alaska. This electronic option may be used in place of paper logbooks, and paper backup copies are not required. If you are interested in participating in the no-cost program, contact us at secretariat@iphc.int.
In IPHC Regulatory Area 2A:
- IPHC Pacific halibut logbook or IPHC-approved electronic equivalent
- Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) Fixed Gear Logbook
- Pacific Coast Groundfish non-trawl logbook provided by NOAA Fisheries
All logbooks must be open to inspection by an authorized representative of the Commission upon demand (§19(5)(d)) and submitted to the Commission within 30 days of the season closing date if not previously collected by an authorized representative of the Commission or otherwise made available to the Commission (§19(5)(f)):
- For the Pacific Coast Groundfish non-trawl logbook provided by NOAA Fisheries: data will be transmitted to the Commission according to the Data Sharing Agreement with NOAA West Coast Region
- For approved electronic logbooks, data can be uploaded directly from the device.
For the operator of any Canadian vessel fishing for Pacific halibut:
- British Columbia Integrated Groundfish Fishing Log
All logbooks must be open to inspection by an authorized representative of the Commission upon demand (§19(9)(c)) and submitted to the Commission within seven days of the final offload if not previously collected by an authorized representative of the Commission (§19(9)(f)):
Mailing instructions
If your logbook has not been collected in-season or otherwise made available, please mail the IPHC copy or a photocopy of the original to:
IPHC, 2320 WEST COMMODORE WAY, SUITE 300, SEATTLE, WA 98199, USA
Or send scanned versions by email: SECRETARIAT@IPHC.INT
New in 2026: Help IPHC better understand sand flea damage to Pacific halibut
In 2026, the IPHC is starting a fishermen-initiated data collection trial to better understand how often sand fleas are the cause of damage to Pacific halibut. When you are already reporting damaged Pacific halibut in your log, you can optionally note how many of those fish were damaged specifically by sand fleas. This is not mandatory, but providing this information will help improve our understanding of the issue and guide future research.
- Please see the attached flyer for more details.