Fishery council votes 9-2 to study letting Southeast charters keep leasing halibut quota

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council voted 9-2 on Oct. 10 to analyze changes that could let Southeast Alaska charter operators keep leasing commercial halibut quota beyond what current rules allow. John Moller and Anne Vanderhoeven voted no.

In Area 2C, the Southeast halibut area, two things count against one limit of 10% of the commercial quota share pool. One is guided angler fish, or GAF: commercial pounds that charter permit holders lease so a client can keep a fish of any size or fish on a day otherwise closed to charter fishing. The other is quota bought by the Recreational Quota Entity, a group whose quota is used to loosen catch limits for charter anglers. Alaska News reported in June that charter anglers pay a $20 daily federal fee that funds those quota purchases.

The council motion says GAF transfers are approaching that limit and current rules will phase out GAF leasing as the entity buys quota. The entity received its first Area 2C quota in 2026: 25,974 units, about 1,300 pounds.

In 2025, Area 2C's unguided recreational sector, anglers fishing without a licensed guide, exceeded its allocation by 35%. Because of that increased harvest, 2026 charter and commercial allocations were cut 10%.

The council's Charter Halibut Management Committee voted unanimously Sept. 30 to ask the council to stay the GAF phase-out with a 10-year sunset and raise the entity's yearly purchase cap. The council's Advisory Panel backed a similar study 14-4.

The analysis will weigh separating the GAF limit from the entity's purchases, with an annual GAF cap of 5% or 10% of the Area 2C pool and a return to the combined 10% limit after five or 10 years. A third alternative would let the entity buy up to 2% of quota a year in Area 2C and 2.4% in Area 3A, up from 1% and 1.2% now.

Brian Ritchie's draft motion read, "The council is concerned that these limits may constrain the guided recreational fleet in Area 2C and limit the use of GAF, a regulatory tool that has high historic utilization."

The council voted 10-1, with Ritchie opposed, to strike that sentence and add language saying there "may be a need to maintain GAF access for a limited period of time."

Eleven people testified on the item. Linda Behnken, executive director of the Alaska Longline Fishermen's Association, said, "Leasing is not allowed except for leasing to the charter sector. GAF feeds that."

The 10% cap stays in place while staff prepare the analysis for the council's initial review.

Separately, the council will identify 2027 charter halibut measures to recommend to the International Pacific Halibut Commission at its Dec. 4-9 meeting in Anchorage. Its Charter Halibut Management Committee will meet Dec. 2 from 2 pm to 6 pm to hear the Alaska Department of Fish and Game's analysis of those measures and make recommendations. Written comment is open until 1 pm that day.