The International Pacific Halibut Commission recommends Pacific halibut harvest quotas for 10 management areas from the Bering Sea to California.
Their recommendations must then be approved by the National Marine Fisheries Service.
Once quotas levels are approved, the various state wildlife agencies establish harvest guidelines for the multiple user groups.
Primary nursery grounds for halibut are the Bering Sea, with a population center in Alaska.
As populations radiate out, the density diminishes.
Washington, Oregon and California (Area 2a) are the farthest from the epicenter of halibut populations.
The 2015 harvest quota was nearly 1 million pounds for our area.
Of this quota, state sport anglers are allocated approximately 223,000 pounds (23 percent), Oregon anglers 20 percent, California anglers 2 percent.
There is also a tribal and commercial component to make up the 100 percent.
The average size for the Washington state fish harvest in 2015 was 17.9 pounds, or potentially about 12,000 fish.
The photo of the 177-pound fish that was in the March 9 Jefferson County edition of the Peninsula Daily News [“Port of PT OKs Halibut Resolution; Agency Joins Others In Seeking Longer Season”] then represents a potential 10 fish to meet the quota.
If harvest guidelines recommended six fish per angler, as suggested by the Port of Port Townsend, then only 2,094 of the tens of thousands of Washington anglers will be allowed to fish for halibut.
How is that going to help anybody?
Thank you, Port of Port Townsend, for recommending decreased opportunity.
Hopefully the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Commission displays greater insight than local political groups.
Roger Sorensen,
Quilcene