| ACA Members Greg Sutter, Rex Murphy and Chaco Pearman are members of the Stakeholder's committee |
| Members of ACA have attended ALL North Pacific Management Council meetings where charter issues were part of the agenda since our inception. |
| The IFQ proposal was rescinded in December 2005. Because of this rescission, up to 50% of active charter operators have a chance to remain in business. |
| ACA secured resolutions from over 17 city councils and chambers of Commerce opposing Charter IFQ’s. |
| Our members are involved with North Council Committees (GHL, Stakeholders, etc) |
| Our activities have increased national attention to halibut sport fishing issues and have gained the involvement of several national organizations including RFA, IGFA, and ASA. |
2005 |
| April 2005, ACA Sent Greg Sutter to Washington D.C., where he met with the Director of the Recreational Fishing Alliance, Jim Donofrio, who in turn opened the door to other key meetings. |
| While in Washington D.C., Greg met with Congressional Staff members representing Ted Stevens. These meeting, in turn, led to both senators Stevens and Murkowski sending representatives to Homer to discuss the charter IFQ with members of the business community and the ACA. |
| April 2005: Members Rene’ Cook and Donna Bondioli traveled to Juneau to speak in opposition of the IFQ to the Alaska Travel Industry Association. It resulted in their public opposition to the IFQ proposal. |
| April 2005: ACA members secured and staffed a booth in the Ben Boeke Arena at the Great Alaskan Sportsman Show in Anchorage. Letters opposing the IFQ plan were signed and almost 700 people signed petitions opposing the IFQ. |
| Fall 2005: ACA funded a West Coast “Action Alert” with Recreation Fishing Alliance (RFA), which resulted in awareness of the Alaska Charter IFQ issue. |
| December 9, 2005 IFQ proposal was rescinded. |
2006 |
| February 2006: Rex Murphy and Bryan Bondioli attended NPFMC meeting in Seattle, which brought us new opportunities to network with key people. |
| March 2006: Bill Hogarth invited Bryan Bondioli and Greg Sutter to Washington D.C. This meeting with Washington D.C. policymakers opened avenues of communication regarding specific Alaska issues. |
In June we sent a letter testimony that included the following :
- That the current GHL be updated to reflect 125% of the average harvest of 2000-2004 as an Interim measure until the Long Term Solution becomes effective
- 16.37% for Area 2C and 14.92% for Area 3A (of combined commercial/charter catch limit).
- 1.693 Million lbs for area 2C and 4.011 Million lbs for Area 3A. The GHL should stair-step up and down with abundance. This would allow the Charters to benefit from the rise in abundance that was a benefit to the commercial Fleet.
- The moratorium move forward as an Interim measure until a Long Term Solution is in place.
- That the KACO plan be included for consideration and analysis as a Long Term Solution.
- That a comprehensive Economic Study be completed on Charters and their economic value to the Coastal Communities before action is taken.
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| In December, we testified in favor of a limited moratorium that would sunset in three years, during which time we requested that more accurate data be gathered, and a complete socioeconomic study be completed. We testified that the current GHL was not adequate to meet the recreational charter fishery needs. |
2007 |
| In January, the International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC) in Victoria, BC, Canada, passed the one-fish proposal. ACA actively opposed this proposal. |
| Tina McNamee and Rex Murphy represented the ACA in testimony at the IPHC |
| We mounted a large letter writing campaign aimed at the United States Secretaries of State and Commerce to disapprove the IPHC decision. |
| We sent a delegation of ACA that joined other charter interests in Washington DC to lobby against the one-fish decision. |
| All efforts were worthwhile. The Secretaries of State and Commerce refused to approve the one-fish proposal. |
| In February, we testified in support of the moratorium as approved on December 9, 2005, and requested a full socioeconomic study be completed, and that military boats be either included in the moratorium if their catch is in the GHL, or if excluded from the moratorium that their catch be excluded from the GHL, and that CQE community permits, if issued must furnish trips that either originate or terminate in the community of issuance. |
2008 |
Alaska Recreational Anglers Win Battle for Two-Halibut Daily Limit
Washington, D.C. - June 20, 2008 - Judge Rosemary Collyer granted a preliminary injunction here today on a lawsuit eleven charter halibut fishermen filed June 2 against Secretary of Commerce Carlos M. Gutierrez. The preliminary injunction will remain until Judge Collyer rules on the merits of the case, most 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 32 inches or less per day.
"We are thrilled with the judge's decision," said Scott Van Valin, owner of El Capitan Lodge who is a co-founder of the Charter Halibut Task Force and lead plaintiff in the case. "An independent judge has recognized the considerable harm this one fish rule would have imposed on charter operators and the economy of Southeast Alaska and agrees that the Secretary may not have followed the rules. We look forward to a favorable ruling on the merits of the case as well."
This lawsuit is part of an ongoing allocation battle between the commercial fishing industry and charter operators over how much fish charter anglers will be allowed to catch. If guided recreational anglers are limited to one halibut a day rather than the historical two-halibut limit, the second fish would be allocated to the commercial halibut fishermen to catch. In contrast, a two-fish limit for charter anglers in Southeast Alaska would mean no change in the 6.21 million pound commercial quota for 2008 and would result in a reduction in the commercial quota in Area 2C for 2009 of approximately 250,000 pounds less than what the commercial fleet would be allocated under a one fish for charters scenario.
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).
While 25% of commercial fishermen in Southeast Alaska have quota shares allowing them to fish in other parts of Alaska, the charter industry is tied to fishing along the coast of Southeast and Southcentral Alaska, because those areas have the infrastructure such as hotels, airports, restaurants necessary to support tourism and charter fishing.
"We're not asking for more fish to be harvested beyond what is healthy for the resource. But if Alaska wants to maintain the current tourism dollars that come from charter fishing, it requires allocating enough halibut harvest to allow anglers to try for two fish a day," said Ken Dole, co-founder of the Charter Halibut Task Force and managing partner of Waterfall Resort. "You aren't going to get the same number of anglers coming to Southeast Alaska when they could fish for two fish in Southcentral Alaska or Canada for the same price."
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 http://www.charterhalibut.org/id6.html.
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. |
