This week IPHC also met for their Interim Meeting in Seattle. The recommended catch limits and a comparison of last years catch limits are here. The Commission has moved from the ‘Blue Line’ to a Spawning Potential Ratio (SPR) this a reference of fishing intensity and ratio of spawning biomass compared to fishing levels. The 2017 catch limits equaled an SPR of 40% and the recommended 2018 catch limits would be an SPR of 46%. TCEY is Total Constant Exploitable Yield or total amount of halibut removals over 26” in length and FCEY is Fishery Constant Exploitable Yield or the amount of directed fisheries halibut. The 2018 TCEY is a reduction of 24% from the catch limits adopted in 2017 and projections indicate that the target fishing intensity of SPR46 is likely to result in similar but Read more…