NOAA Fisheries is providing notice of the immediate effect of regulations of the International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC). The commercial IFQ halibut season opens Saturday, March 19, 2016.
At its annual meeting in January, the IPHC recommended to the governments of Canada and the United States catch limits for 2016 totaling 29.89 million pounds, a 2.3 percent increase from last year. Alaska’s total halibut catch was set at 21.45 million pounds, up 235,000 pounds from 2015.
This season, NOAA Fisheries’ electronic Groundfish/Individual Fishing Quota Daily Fishing Longline and Pot Gear logbook has been added to the list of acceptable logbooks for use in the Alaska commercial halibut fishery.
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