Lots of talking going on. There is interest in getting away from the derby mentality that WDFW has pushed the sport fleet to. 10 years ago, we had 80 day seasons in Puget Sound. Now, we are fishing 11 days and according to WDFW are catching as many pounds of fish in 11 days as we were catching in 80 days. The are real issues with crowding at the ramps and safety issues when we are forced to fish specific days without regard to sea and weather conditions. Two fishers were lost last year off Whidbey Island. The ocean fishery has similar issues with safety and crowding and their fish are being caught in 4 days.

There was a meeting in Port Townsend a couple of weeks ago. Initial proposal was for a 6 fish annual limit and a season running from whenever IPHC opens the season (usually in March) to June 30. There will be more meetings with the state to explore options for 2016 or 2017. In addition to the halibut issues, there are some concerns over the impact of the rec halibut fleet on listed rockfish both in the ocean and in Puget Sound. Any change to the season structure is going to be a long process.

The challenge for all of us is staying within the IPHC quotas that are assigned the area 2A (N. California, OR, and WA). In round numbers, there is about 990,000 lbs for 2A. California gets the smallest share, OR gets a larger amount, and WA gets the lions share. WA share is divided between non-tribal commercial, tribal, and recreational. The recreational quota is divided between the ocean shares and Puget Sound.

The 2A states have a catch share plan. The state(s) have a lot of latitude in what is recommended for passage of the federal regulations by the PFMC as long as the states stay within the IPHC quotas. PFMC makes the final rules.