Halibut Committee Requests Analysis for Improved 2021 Regs
Next summer’s halibut regulations will be chosen from a pool of harvest measures submitted for analysis this week by the North Pacific Council’s Charter Halibut Management Committee. SEAGO directors fill three of the five Southeast committee seats, and are working collectively toward regulations that meat Southeast charter needs.
Each October the Committee meets to learn harvest summaries of the two most recent charter seasons. Based on those numbers, the Committee compiles a suite of regulations for analysis relative to charter allocations for the coming season. The Committee will select final harvest measures on November 30th (tentative) with the benefit of that analysis and taking public comment.
These harvest measures will be analyzed for the November 30th meeting:
Area 2C
1. Full reverse slot table from U40-U50 on the lower end and U50-O80 on the upper end (standard reverse slot, just stopping at U40 on the lower end)
2. One fish any size through June 15, with a reverse slot for the balance of the season analyzed from U40-U45 on the lower end and using O80 on the upper end. Same analysis for transitions dates of June 30 and July 15.
3. One fish any size annually, and subsequent fish analyzed from U40-U50 on the lower end and using O80 on the upper end. Analyze for a 5, 4, 3, and 2-fish annual limit.
4. Reverse slot limit with a lower limit of U45 and with an upper limit of O80 prior to July 1, combined with a reverse slot with a lower limit of U40 and with an upper limit of O80 for the balance of the season. Same analysis for transition dates of July 7, July 15, July 22, and August 1.
Area 3A
1. Day of the week closures (Tuesdays and Wednesdays)
2. Annual limit
3. Second fish of a certain size from 26" to 32"
4. And the rest of the 2019 Annual Management Measures that include no retention of halibut by captain and crew, one trip per vessel per day per permit, recording the annual limit on the license.
Additional request for both areas:
Analyze the effects on harvest of additional effort reductions at 10% and 40% in 2021 due to COVID or other uncontrollable circumstances.
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