Charter halibut panel seeks study of 32-inch slot, Thursday closures for 2027

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council's Charter Halibut Management Committee asked the Alaska Department of Fish and Game on Wednesday to analyze 2027 charter halibut rules that could cut the Southeast size limit to 32 inches and add Thursday closures in Southcentral starting July 8. The list is a set of options for study, not a recommendation. The committee will make its 2027 recommendation after it reviews the department's analysis at a Dec. 2 meeting in Anchorage.

In Southeast, Area 2C, charter anglers this year could keep one halibut a day under a U34O80 reverse slot: a fish 34 inches or shorter, or 80 inches or longer. Tuesdays were closed from June 18 to Sept. 10.

For 2027, the committee asked for a one-fish daily bag under slots from U32O50 to U50O80 and the savings from closing single days Friday through Wednesday. A new option would let each angler keep one halibut of any size per year, recorded on the back of the fishing license, with the rest under a slot from U28O80 to U50O80. The motion says the lower limit should go as low as needed "to reach down to an allocation of 651K pounds."

In Southcentral, Area 3A, every option keeps Wednesdays closed all season. The first allows two fish a day, one any size and one under a maximum between 26 and 32 inches. The second allows one fish of any size, with a reverse slot starting at U50 and O60. The third allows one fish of any size, or two within a 26- to 32-inch limit. Each adds Tuesday closures and Thursday closures that begin July 8 and extend into surrounding weeks as needed to stay within the allocation.

Pressure on the Southeast Allocation

The department's preliminary figures put Area 2C charter removals at 672,859 pounds this year against a 650,000-pound allocation, 3.5 percent over. Removals count fish kept plus those estimated to die after release. Charter removals in 2C have topped the allocation every year since 2021.

Release mortality in Southeast ran 48 percent above the department's forecast.

Southcentral finished under its share: about 1.4 million pounds against a 1.47 million-pound allocation, 5.1 percent under. Anglers there could keep two fish a day, one of them 27 inches or less.

Public Comment

Four people sent written comments. Jeff Wedekind, owner of Chinook Shores Lodge, a self-guided lodge in Ketchikan, wrote that his lodge "could survive a one halibut per day of any size regulation but we could not survive 1/day U34 or even U40." He asked why unguided anglers may keep two a day.

Joel Steenstra of Alaska Wide Open Charters wrote that 34 inches is "our rock bottom for the charter fleet" and urged day closures, annual limits and slower growth in the unguided fishery instead.

The department's final estimate put 2025 Southeast unguided removals at about 1.66 million pounds, 21.6 percent above its preliminary estimate. Charter removals that year were 750,000 pounds.

Charter Stamp

In the first year of the charter halibut stamp, NOAA Fisheries counted 185,436 stamps reported used as of Oct. 19, worth about $3.7 million. About 48,000 had not yet been bought, and 250 of 468 permit holders were short. Holders must buy enough stamps by Dec. 31.

Written comments for Dec. 2 are open until 1 pm that day. The full council then recommends charter rules, and the International Pacific Halibut Commission and NOAA adopt them. Allocations depend on catch limits the commission sets at its January annual meeting, and the 2027 limits are not yet known.