Officers from NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement will hold public outreach meetings in several Southeast Alaska communities next month to discuss 2011 charter halibut fishing regulations and answer questions. The meeting in Juneau will be from 2-4 p.m. May 19 at the Mendenhall Valley Library inside Mendenhall Mall, 9105 Mendenhall Mall Road. NOAA Fisheries Enforcement will respond to questions from the public regarding charter, commercial, subsistence and recreational halibut fishing regulations, collection of marine mammal hard parts and marine mammal viewing regulations. Copies of the 2011 International Pacific Halibut Commission regulations will be available at the meetings.
Other meetings in Southeast will be as follows:
• Yakutat, 5-7 p.m. May 3, Yakutat High School Auditorium.
• Hoonah, 12:30-2:30 p.m. May 12, Hoonah City Hall.
• Elfin Cove, 12:30-2:30 p.m. May 16, community meeting room above the post office.
• Pelican, 4:30-6:30 p.m. May 16, City Hall meeting room.
• Gustavus, 4:30-6:30 p.m. May 17, Gustavus Library.
• Haines, 5:30-7:30 p.m., May 23, 5:30-7:30 p.m. Haines Municipal Chambers.
• Skagway, 5:30-7:30 p.m. May 25, Skagway Municipal Chambers
Comments (6)
Add commentWhy are the Feds in charge of
Why are the Feds in charge of an Alaskan state resource? " Is it time to tell them to take a hike"? These fish are in state waters. They reside in the state, they are not migratory, it's a local resource.
Bob, halibut are migratory.
Bob, halibut are migratory. They migrate between state and federal waters regularly, and are managed by the International Pacific Halibut Commision and the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council. They make the rules and NOAA implements them. This is nothing new. The state just manages the sport halibut under the direction of the above listed entities. That is part of twhy the commercial quotas have been getting chopped is that they are finding these things dont really notice when they have crossed the management area boundaries and go back and forth up the coast willy nilly following the food. It used to be thought that they were pretty site specific but it now appears that they go all over the place. At least thats my understanding of it.
Charter Halibut Regs
Unfortunately alaskabobc, you are not totally correct in stating these are state fish in state waters and do not migrate, they most certainly do migrate. As to the current regs, limiting guided sport fisher's to one halibut under 37 inches, I think they should level the playing field, and make those regs across the board for all users. Do away with the subsistence long line's, and make the bag limit for every one, one fish over 32 inches, and the first fish you bring to the boat over 32 inches is your fish for the day. They have a very limited sport fishery for halibut off the Oregon coast, only a few days a year, and those are the regs down there. They never exceed the the GHL there. I think it would work here also.
All the meetings are
All the meetings are scheduled during a time when few people can actually get off work to attend. While the location is convenient for me, I see a problem that few state or CBJ employees can participate. I would suggest those of you who cannot attend write letters. The feds need to get out of our business (not a new problem) but in the meantime, they need to look at their own science and see that the real problem does not lie with the user groups they are targeting.
Dan, I would like to see just
Dan, I would like to see just the opposite. Everyone have a limit of under 37" or maybe a bit bigger. Everyone wants a "Barn Door" but anything over 100lbs is most likely a breeding female. They are the future of the stock. besides, as they get bigger they get tougher and stringier and just arent as good of eating. Leave the Big Mammas alone and just play with the kids.
Correction to Dan
Hey, Dan - I thought I'd told you. They revised the guided fishery so that they can fish with friends and family under sport rules. Lisa and Don got them to fix it.