British Columbia Cuts Short Sport Fishing Season For Halibut . . .

VANCOUVER — When the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans suddenly announced last week that the sport fishing season for halibut was closing early, it sent a shudder along the West Coast….

Calling for Reform of Commercial Halibut Fishing

“What is the goal of boycotting commercially caught halibut?” The answer is Reform.

The commercial industry has pulled the puppet strings on the halibut management system for too long.  They have dictated the following:

1. Their % of the total allowable catch. The nation wide model for a fair and equitable split between commercial and sport fishermen is 50-50.  Somehow the split in Alaska is an average of 90-10 with the commercials being the benefactors.
2. Their seasons. Originally limited to two 24 hour openers a year they now fish from March till November
3. The rules for sport fishermen. Originally allowed two a day per person of any size the guided sport fisherman has in South East Alaska’s area 2c been limited to two fish of which one must be under 32 inches(approx 14 lbs) The NPFMC passed a one fish limit for them in 2008 which was overturned in court.  Now they have passed a new rule to implement a one fish limit again in 2009.

For people out there who are committing to not buy halibut the goal is reform of commercial halibut regulations and regulations on recreational halibut fishing.  Here are three areas that need a huge turn around.

1. Commercial seasons need to be shortened. This can be done by intermittent seasons.  For example 2 weeks on 3 weeks off.  This will allow fish to migrate unmolested into areas targeted by subsistence and recreational anglers.  If you vary the openers among the different areas it would still meet the goal of having fresh fish for the market throughout the season yet would ease the constant pressure throughout the state.
2. More stringent designations of where commercials can fish. No longer should there be a gauntlet of long lines across the Kennedy Entrance or Icy Straights (for example) preventing fish from travelling into areas where both subsistence and recreational anglers can access them.   Commercial fishermen need to go back to fishing the areas they traditionally fished during the derby years instead of making short runs to near shore areas.
3. Recreational Anglers need to be redefined as just that. No longer should regulations split them into groups.  It doesn’t matter where you are from if you have a sport fishing license you should be treated equal to any other fishing license holder.  It doesn’t matter if you choose to fish from your own boat or fish with a guide.  Your limit should be the same.  It is a tragedy the current system is prejudiced against non residents, people with physical limitations, people inexperienced on the water, one time fishermen, and a host of other groups who for their own reasons choose the option of using a guide.

If you choose to join the thousands of other people committed to Boycotting Commercial Halibut you are joining a strong movement demanding reform.  Here are some key things you can do to help:

1. Tell your local restaurant you will no longer order halibut and explain why. Suggest they join the boycott by no longer serving it until reform takes place.
2. Tell your local grocery store or fish market the same thing.
3. Tell your friends and tell them to tell their friends.
4. Financially help the cause.
5. Check out these websites www.charterhalibut.org www.npfmc.com and www.SaveOurSportfishing.com

Thanks for your support.  This is going to be a long hard fought battle.  Preserving sport fishing opportunities for future generations and defending the rights of Americans is a worthy cause.

Is It a Commercial-Only Resource?

These bumper stickers represent the way commercial fishermen feel about guided recreational anglers. The stickers supposedly originated in Sitka, Alaska and have been seen on vehicles in other parts of the State including the Kenai Peninsula area. Recreational fishermen recognize the importance of commercial fishing to the culture and economy in Alaska. However, this mentality demonstrates total disrespect to the people who spend thousands of dollars to come visit this great State and the Charters who work so hard to provide a safe and professional opportunity for those people to fish.

These bumper stickers highlight why people should boycott commercially-caught halibut.

Why You Shouldn’t Buy Commercial Halibut

This website is dedicated to educating the consumer as to why it is important to not buy commercially caught halibut! People need to stand for what is right by not purchasing halibut at stores, restaurants, the internet, or anywhere else.

By purchasing halibut you are supporting greed, big money politics, the squashing of small business and the theft of individual rights of Americans.

By refusing such purchases you are standing against privatization of natural resources and standing behind sport fishermen dedicated to the conservation of natural resources.

The commercially driven politics of the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council (NPFMC) are working hard to ruin sport fishing opportunities for Halibut in Alaska and Canada. The commercial killing of halibut adds up to 80% of the entire catch. Sport fishing adds up to a meager 8%. Yet the NPFMC has spent the last 16 years trying to divide halibut sport fishermen into small groups and conquer them one by one.

Some of the actions the NPFMC are trying to take against sport fishermen:

• Annual limits of just 6 fish or less per angler
• One fish per day limits
• Requiring a lease from commercial fishermen in order to catch them on a rod and reel
• Slot limits

The NPFMC declares there is no conservation issue and they think it is fair and equitable for sport fishermen to take less than 8% of the overall catch. Meanwhile they have privatized a public resource into individual fishing quotas and raised their quota by up to 80%.

The Council has left sport fishermen and guides with no alternative but to fight back by educating the public.

Please help by refusing to buy commercially caught halibut. Please stop greed and big money political payoffs. Please stand behind small businesses and their important role in the coastal Alaskan and Canadian communities.

DON’T BUY HALIBUT

Did you know?

• 20% of the overall catch of halibut is thrown over the side by draggers targeting Pollock? That is right, over 16 million pounds of quality fish considered collateral damage while targeting another species. This figure is more than twice the amount caught by the sport fishermen the NPFMC is seeking to limit!
• Commercial fishermen were issued quota based on their prior catches. That quota is transferable. It has made many of them millionaires. The price of quota they received for free now sells in excess of $20 a pound. Many of them own tens of thousands if not hundereds of thousands of pounds.
• Commercial fishermen feel they own the fish. They have total disregard for sport fishing
  interests and would like to see sport fishing be shut down completely.
• Most commercial halibut isn’t even processed in the United States. It is trucked over the road into Canada for processing. All those millions of pounds of halibut are providing foreign jobs instead of jobs in the US.
• $22/lb Halibut sold in the market as “Fresh” can be over 20 days old!

Please keep checking back as this website will grow to address the following issues:

• Who are the big money players? We will name the council members and their positions on this issue. We will name people within the State of Alaska who have played a role in taking away sport fishing opportunities. We will name the big companies who have driven these politics.
• What damage is being done to local areas by commercial fishing?
• Why is halibut taken out of the US for processing?
• What does Fair and Equitable mean? Why are most other fisheries in the US broken up 50-50 between commercial and sport? In Alaska commercial interests dominate halibut by 80% to the sport fishermen’s 8%.
• The economic benefit of sport caught halibut vs. commercial or by-catch.
• The damage commercial fishing does to the ocean.

REMEMBER HISTORY:

Commercial Fisheries devastate resources while sport fishermen work hard to restore them and guarantee the future.

Please help guarantee future stocks and sport fishing opportunities by not buying Halibut. You will be helping to right a horrible wrong.

www.DontBuyHalibut.com

T-Shirts will be available by the thousands over the next year. Halibut Charter Skippers have placed large orders of these shirts in order to provide them free to their clients. Please pass the word and proudly wear your shirt.

Please Note: Because this is an issue of allocation it is apparent there are enough fish to go around. The goal of sport fishermen is to receive a fair and equitable portion. This war will be waged until the NPFMC finds that balance.