Petersburg . . . The Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced today that seasons for the 2015/2016 commercial Tanner and golden king crab fisheries in Southeast Alaska will open by regulation at 12:00 noon on Wednesday, February 17, 2016. The season start date for the Tanner and golden king crab fisheries is based on the date with the smallest Juneau tidal range between February 10 and February 17 [5 AAC 35.110(a) and 5 AAC 34.110(b)]. Fishermen are also reminded that weather delay criteria for the Tanner and king crab fisheries have been adopted into regulation. Any delay to the start of the 2015/2016 Tanner and golden king crab fisheries due to weather will be announced 24 hours before the start of the fisheries [5 AAC 35.110(b) and 34.110(f)]. The registration deadline for Read more…
2016 WINTER DEMERSAL SHELF ROCKFISH FISHERY ANNOUNCEMENT
Sitka. . . The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) announced today the 2016 winter directed commercial fishery for Demersal Shelf Rockfish (DSR) will open in the Northern Southeast Inside (NSEI) Subdistrict and portions of the Southern Southeast Inside (SSEI) Subdistrict on Tuesday, January 5 at 9:00 a.m. These areas will remain open until allocations are taken or until 4:00 p.m. on the day prior to the start of the commercial halibut fishery, whichever occurs first. The seven species of rockfish in the DSR assemblage are yelloweye, quillback, canary, copper, china, tiger, and rosethorn. The 2016 annual directed commercial DSR harvest limit for each area is 55,125 round pounds (25 mt) with 37,485 pounds (17 mt) allocated to the winter fishery. The remainder of the harvest objective Read more…
NP Council C6 Halibut RQE
The Council finished up C6 Charter Halibut RQE. They are recommending this policy return for another Initial Review with a changed Purpose and Needs statement and refined Alternatives. The following is what we will see in the next analyses of the Charter Halibut RQE: New Purpose and Needs: Alaska’s guided halibut anglers have seen recent increases in regulatory restrictions due to declining halibut stocks and guided recreational allocations. A market-based mechanism for the guided halibut recreational sector may be an effective means to supplement their annual allocations. Allowing an RQE (Recreational Quota Entity) to hold a limited amount of commercial halibut QS on behalf of guided recreational halibut anglers under a “willing seller and willing buyer” approach may result in less Read more…
2016 GOA Sablefish Apportionment
Click here to view the 2016 allowable biological catch for the GOA.
Alternate Safety Compliance
Please mark your calendars. Monday, January 11 PVOA is holding an Alternate Safety Compliance meeting. Scott Wilwert will be traveling to Petersburg to help us out. We need all the members we can get with 50’ or larger vessels to attend, this includes full and associate members. From the Fish Site: US – Volunteers are needed to help craft new safety rules that are being written for older boats – which includes the bulk of Alaska’s fishing vessels. Called the Alternate Compliance Safety Program (ACSP), it is part of the 2010 US Coast Guard Authorization Act and is aimed at vessels that will be 25 years old by 2020, are greater than 50 feet in length, and operate beyond three nautical miles. The program will include most of Alaska’s fishing fleet — a 2014 maritime study by Read more…
2016 IPHC Blue Line and Recent Adopted Catch Limits
You can view the 2016 and recent IPHC recommended Blue Line and Adopted Catch Limits by clicking here. Blue Lines and Catch Limits for areas 2C and 3A are commercial and sport combined.
2016 Enhancement Forecasts
Click here to view the Forecasted Enhancement Returns from SSRAA, NSRAA, and DIPAC.