Hard times for halibut: a cherished Alaska fish stock is depressed as competing fleets sail into new era.

• Author: Loy, Wesley
• Position: FISHERIES

Ask Alaskans to name their favorite fish, and most would likely say salmon. But many might go with halibut. The big, meaty flatfish is a culinary and economic treasure. Halibut supports one of the state's most valuable commercial fisheries, and hundreds of charter boats take out tourists and locals alike for the chance to hook a "barn door."

But these are tough and changing times for Alaska halibut.

The stock has been in serious decline for years, cutting deeply into commercial catch limits. Charter boat captains and their angler clients likewise are feeling the pinch, due to new regulations to restrain the charter catch.

This season ushers in a new era for halibut management with the start of a "catch sharing plan" for the commercial and charter fleets. The plan is designed to end more than two decades of bitter conflict between the two sectors, establishing a clear allocation of fish for each.

While the catch sharing plan is controversial, all involved can agree on one thing: It would be a relief to see the halibut stock recover. Whether that will happen anytime soon is something the scientists are trying to figure out.

Deep Cuts

"The days of filling the freezer are pretty much over for everybody," says Donaid Lane, a Homer commercial fisherman and member of the International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC).

The IPHC is the bilateral, scientific organization that manages the halibut stock all along the western US and Canadian coasts. The six-member panel has scaled back the halibut catch limit every year for the past decade. The catch limit for this year is 27.5 million pounds, a 64 percent cut from the peak of 76.5 million pounds in 2004.

Most of the Pacific halibut harvest comes from Alaska waters.

The cuts are painful, but this is a time for conservative management, says Lane, who has fished halibut for more than thirty years.

Scientists recently reviewed halibut data back to the early 1900s. They note that halibut remain abundant, and catch limits have been even lower in the past. But "recruitment" of juvenile fish into the harvestable stock has been weak lately. Further, halibut are running smaller at a given age.

Smaller halibut translates to a smaller biomass and lower catch limits.

An End to Deadly Derbies

Commercial fishermen catch halibut by laying strings of baited hooks, called longlines, on the seafloor.

Not so long ago, the Alaska halibut fishery operated as a frenzied derby. Scores of boats would put to sea in any kind of...