Listed below are the Council’s recommendations to the International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC) for management measures for the 2019 charter halibut fishery in our area (Area 3A). The IPHC annual meeting will be held the last week of January.
• Two-fish daily bag limit
• One Halibut on any size and a maximum size of one of the two fish is 28″
• 4-fish annual limit
• Prohibition on the retention of halibut on Wednesdays, all year
• Adjust Tuesday retention closures according to ADF&G analysis of proposed harvest regulations for 2019 to bring the projected harvest within the Area 3A allocation
• If the allocation is above 2.023 million pounds, adjust the size of the second fish, up to a maximum of 30 inches, to keep the charter harvest within their allocation
• Continue to include a requirement to record retained halibut on the back of the license or harvest record card