Field reports: Alaska halibut dwindling
Tension between the commercial and sport charter fleets over southeast Alaska halibut limits is growing as commercial fishermen recently learned the number of halibut they are allowed to catch will drop for the second year.
The new limit is 6.21 million pounds, a 28 percent reduction from 2007 and a 40 percent drop from the year before that.
The region has been overfished in the last decade, says the International Pacific Halibut Commission, which sets the limits.
The yearly guideline for charter fishing boats is not a firm limit, and operators have not followed them in recent years.
Charter boat operators, which cater to sport fishermen, could face a cut in bag limits to one fish per person daily, instead of two.
“This will cut the charter take 58 percent,” said Rick Bierman, lodge owner and spokesman for the Juneau Charter Boat Operators’ Association. “It’s a pretty horrid thing from the perspective of a lodge.”
Some sport anglers say commercial boats have purposely fished near-shore waters to make it harder for charterboats to catch fish during day trips.
Bierman said he thought Southeast lodges might close as the Kenai Peninsula and other fishing areas with higher limits would become more attractive to sport fishermen.
Juneau charter boat captain Chris Condor said he would fight the limits.
“It’s not done yet by a long shot,” he said.
Staff and wire reports
PREDATORS
Wolves spreading
Researchers last week found a print large enough to convince them that a wolf or wolf-dog hybrid is roaming Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado.
Although wolves are native to Colorado, the predator was wiped out by the 1930s. Environmentalists have advocated releasing wolves into the park to restore the predator to Colorado to help reduce the elk herd that is overgrazing the park.
However, park officials, are looking into birth-control methods for elk control.
In 2004, a dead wolf was found along Interstate 70 west of Denver. A radio collar showed it was from Yellowstone National Park.
Staff and wire reports
FISHING
Live shrimp nixed
Starting Jan. 1, the use of live shrimp has been banned for fishing in Idaho waters, including the Clearwater River, where some anglers have used the bait for steelhead. Dead shrimp still can be used.
Rich Landers
MARINE MAMMALS
Bill favors Orcas
Boaters approaching within 300 feet any of the Puget Sound’s killer whales may face a fine in the future, if a proposed measure in Olympia passes.
The measure, sponsored by Rep. Dave Quall of Mount Vernon, aims at stopping people from harassing orcas in the sound. The measure was inspired by an ordinance passed by San Juan County in 2007 with similar language.
Associated Press