Good afternoon, all

John Beath and I were representing Puget Sound Anglers and the Coastal Conservation Association, respectively, as recreational halibut anglers for Washington State at the IPHC meeting this week in Victoria, BC. California recreational halibut anglers, Tom and Mary Marking, were representing the Humboldt Fishing Club and the Recreational Fishing Alliance - California. Jonathan Sawin was here on behalf of the Westport Charter Association.

As has been the case in previous years, there was lots of discussion about concerns over the Pacific Halibut biomass and how the annual quota should be set to protect the spawning biomass while allowing for reasonable harvest numbers. The Conference Board (CB) on which John and I sit met for about 12 hours to discuss the various harvest proposals submitted for consideration for 2019.

The one proposal that was most critical for the 2A sport fishery was presented by the Makah Tribe and supported by the other 12 halibut fishing tribes. There were a number of support letters from various groups, cities, and anglers that were submitted prior to the January 27 deadline. Unfortunately, neither John nor I had received any information on the proposal prior to the meeting. In short, the Makah proposal was to set a TCEY of 1.65 Mlbs for 2A resulting in a 1.5 Mlb FCEY for 2A. When we arrived in Victoria and learned of the Makah proposal, we submitted our support statement for the Makah proposal (below). We also both testified publicly in favor of the proposal on three different occaisions.

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Our sincere apologies for the late response concerning the Makah proposal to create a baseline halibut quota in 2A. We learned of the proposal upon our arrival yesterday, in Victoria. On behalf of the North Olympic Peninsula Chapter of Puget Sound Anglers, the Coast Conservation Association - WA membership, and communities around the North Olympic Peninsula that we have been working with over the past few years for a more stable halibut fishery, we would like to add our support for the proposal and the establishment of a base FCEY no lower than 1.5 Mlb for the 2A halibut fishery.

The halibut fishery is a critical component of the coastal economies of not only Washington but Oregon and California. Having a base amount to work with and to build upon in future years will be a benefit to all the halibut fishery components.

Looking down the road, with the establishment of a stand-alone halibut catch record card in WA that will give WDFW a better count on the actual number of sport halibut anglers along with the Oregon halibut punch card process, we're hopeful that at some point in the near future the IPHC can consider a different format for the sport fishery in 2A. This would allow the 2A states to have an established recreational season structure coast wide. We would suggest that an annual limit of one fish per day and two in possession in the field with a maximum size of 50 inches would also help the resource by reducing the impact on the larger sized females and spreading out the fishery. Additionally, anglers can pick the days they want to be on the water rather than specified dates that lead to a derby mentality which has resulted in anglers fishing in poor weather/sea conditions that has resulted in loss of life and/or property in recent years.

Sports anglers in Area 2A are dedicated to maintaining the halibut resource and strongly believe this approach will lead to better conservation and sustainable management in Area 2A. We look forward to further conversations with IPHC staff about the recreational halibut fishery.

Thank you.

Dave Croonquist
John Beath
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There was considerable discussion at the CB meeting about the proposal and that it was going to be a potential long-term (actually only up to five years) base. It was eventually voted down by the CB. Tom Marking provided a strong minority report on the CB action to the Commission regarding the voted down Makah proposal. I provided the following oral testimony in support of the proposal Thursday morning.

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RE: IPHC-2019-AM095-Prop C1 Rev_1
Makah 2A Proposal

On behalf of the Coastal Conservation Association, Puget Sound Anglers and affiliated sport fishing groups we would like to extend our continued support of the Makah proposal for halibut management in CSP 2A.

We were disappointed that the proposal was voted down by the Conference Board. From our perspective, the proposal has great potential for the long-term management of halibut in 2A.

The 2A fishery has a level of complexity that creates management issues for the various fishing communities. In Washington State, a Catch Sharing Plan with 13 Treaty Tribes is unique to this area and court-mandated. In Area 2A, fisheries are prosecuted by tribal needs – commercial, subsistence, and ceremonial; non-tribal commercial by both directed take and incidental take by salmon trollers and the sablefish/black cod fishery; and sport fisheries in three states.

The Makah proposal, developed in close cooperation with IPHC staff, would and still could provide an opportunity for a long-term look at halibut management in 2A that can create a safer and more consistent fishery for all parties and in particular the small boat sport fishery. This new approach would strengthen the 2A Catch Share Plan and provide stability throughout Area 2A without affecting the biomass.

We would encourage the IPHC to move forward with the concept proposal and we look forward to being able to work with the MSAB and the IPHC, as appropriate. We believe that the adoption of this proposal would provide stability within area 2A fisheries as well as be beneficial to the current Management Strategy Evaluation and MSAB analysis of multi year catch policies.

John Beath provided the following testimony in support of the Makah proposal:

Puget Sound Anglers supports this motion which is conservative on the stock but allows Area 2A a slight increase to 1.65

This motion will allow Area 2A to have a fair, manageable and equitable approach to halibut management among the share holders in the area.
Thank You
John Beath
Puget Sound Anglers
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The Makah proposal was approved this morning by Commission action and, additionally, the IPHC put the 2A setting in place for the next four years, through 2022. The sport fishery quota for 2A is going to be set (barring a major collapse of the stocks) at approximately 675,675 lbs for the next four years. For the Washington halibut fishery, we'll be looking at approximately 277,100 lbs as our base quota. The shares for the Washington areas are: Puget Sound - 77,549 lbs. North Coast - 128,187 lbs. South Coast - 62,894 lbs. Columbia River - 8,467 lbs. Oregon will fish on 289,575 lbs. California will get 39,000 lbs.

The 2A sport fishing community has worked with the Makah the past couple of years on the halibut fishery. Without their strong leadership and work putting together the scientific data with the IPHC staff that the supported their proposal, we'd still be in a year to year management process. Now, we have a base quota and four years to see what can be worked on towards a better season structure.

John has been posting information as the meeting progressed on his "Halibut Chronicles" website. See his links below for more information. There is more work to be done for an improved sport halibut fishery. Also, as you'll see in John's post on the issue of by-catch, changes need to be made to reduce the by-catch of sub-legal halibut by the trawl fisheries operating in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska. We'll keep everyone advised.

https://halibutchronicles.com/2019/02/01/iphc-commission-sets-4-year-halibut-quota-for-area-2a/

https://halibutchronicles.com/2019/02/01/iphc-announces-pacific-halibut-quota-for-u-s-and-canada/

By catch
https://halibutchronicles.com/2019/01/30...ons-coast-wide/

Dave Croonquist
John Beath