NOAA Reduces Halibut Catch for Southeast Alaska Charter Angl: Steelheader.net- Steelhead, Salmon and trout fishing

Alaska Recreational Anglers Win Reprieve from One-Halibut Daily Limit

Washington, D.C. - June 10, 2008 - In an effort led by the Charter Halibut Task Force, guided recreational anglers in Southeast Alaska won a reprieve here today from the one halibut daily bag limit imposed June 1 by the National Marine Fisheries Service. Judge Rosemary Collyer granted a temporary restraining order, or TRO, against the rule at the request of eleven Southeast charter operators who filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

The TRO will remain in effect until next Friday, June 20, when another hearing is scheduled. At that hearing, and possibly before if the government agrees, the TRO could be converted into a preliminary injunction that would remain in effect until the judge rules on the merits of the case, likely after the end of the summer fishing season.

The judge's ruling means that recreational anglers fishing from charter boats in Southeast Alaska will now be able to fish under last year's bag limits, which permitted one halibut of any size and one halibut less than 32 inches per day.

"This is an important victory for both recreational anglers and business owners in Southeast Alaska," said Scott Van Valin, a lodge operator on Prince of Wales Island, co-founder of the Charter Halibut Task Force and the lead plaintiff in the case. "This rule was already threatening to put people out of business, and we are thrilled that the judge agreed with our arguments and put a hold on the rule."

Charter fishermen along the coast of Southeast Alaska filed a lawsuit June 2 against Secretary of Commerce Carlos M. Gutierrez over a rule that changed the daily bag limit for anglers fishing from charter boats in Southeast Alaska from two halibut per day to one halibut per day. The suit alleges that the Secretary failed to comply with the fair and equitable allocation requirements of the Northern Pacific Halibut Act and also violated the Administrative Procedures Act. Court documents can be reviewed at www.charterhalibut.org <http://www.charterhalibut.org> .

Charter fishermen claim the one halibut daily limit will bring economic harm on the economy of Southeast Alaska coastal communities. Affidavits attached to the motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction that was filed along with the complaint already show losses to the 11 plaintiffs of approximately half a million dollars. In addition, two charter operators from Southcentral Alaska filed affidavits in support of the lawsuit showing that anglers are already shifting from Southeast Alaska to Southcentral Alaska, where anglers can still catch two fish a day, in response to the one halibut a day rule. Canada also maintains the traditional two halibut daily limit.

Secretary Gutierrez's support for the one halibut daily limit in Southeast Alaska goes against his ruling only a year ago. In June 2007, the Secretary vetoed a proposed one fish rule for Southeast Alaska because "a reduced bag limit would impose a considerable economic burden on the charter sector that could be mitigated by maintaining the traditional two-fish bag limit," according to 72 Fed. Reg. 30721 (2007), and that was only for six weeks of the season.

Charter fishing accounted for only 6.2 percent of the total halibut caught off the coast of Alaska over the last 10 years. By comparison, that is over 12 times less than the 75.8 percent that the commercial halibut fleet harvests, and less than half the 14.6 percent allocated for bycatch (halibut caught incidentally by commercial fisheries targeting other species of fish).

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