Council advisers debate studying more charter leasing of commercial halibut quota

North Pacific Fishery Management Council Advisory Panel member Lauren Howard moved Wednesday to strike a proposed analysis of eliminating or modifying the cap on commercial halibut quota that charter operators lease in Areas 2C and 3A, either permanently or for a set duration. Her amendment would keep only the motion's second part, on raising the cap on how much Area 2C quota share the Recreational Quota Entity can buy each year from 1% to 2%. The panel was still debating the amendment Wednesday afternoon. The council is scheduled to take up the issue Saturday.

Both ideas trace to a unanimous Sept. 30 request from the council's Charter Halibut Management Committee, which asked the council to stay the scheduled phase-out of charter leasing for 10 years, uncoupling it from the Recreational Quota Entity's caps, and to raise the entity's annual Area 2C purchase cap to 2%.

Under 2026 rules, a guided Area 2C angler may keep one halibut a day, 34 inches or smaller or 80 inches and up. Guided angler fish, commercial quota leased to charter permit holders, lets clients keep a fish of any size. Council staff said about 265,000 pounds moved that way in 2C in 2025, roughly 43,000 pounds short of a 10% ceiling shared with the Recreational Quota Entity. The entity received its first 2C quota-share transfer in 2026, about 1,300 pounds.

"We're, as of next year, potentially going to be running into May, June, July when our, our operations that need GAF to keep these people coming no longer have that opportunity," said Kim Landeen, co-director of the Southeast Alaska Guides Organization.

Linda Behnken of the Alaska Longline Fishermen's Association said charter allocations since the 1990s have "always" included "more quota than what the fleet was catching at that time to allow for some continued growth." She said assisted unguided harvest is up "on the order of 40% in the couple years, pushing 60%," driven by bareboat rentals, some offered by charter businesses, and urged no action on leasing.

Howard, a Sitka halibut and sablefish longliner who said her family bought quota in 2017, said the unguided sector exceeded its 2025 allocation by 35%, prompting a 10% cut to 2026 charter and commercial allocations. She backed the 2% change because it stays inside the 10% cap.

Chance Miller of Miller's Landing in Seward, a member of the charter committee who made the original motion, opposed the amendment, arguing that tighter 2C limits would push more anglers into unguided rentals. Panel co-vice chair Heather Mann of the Midwater Trawlers Cooperative also opposed it, saying taking a look at the issue is a good idea.

Landeen called assisted unguided operators valuable. Howard argued that any lease relief should wait until that fleet is defined and monitored.