Pacific halibut users – commercial, sport, subsistence and personal use – will compete for a total harvest of just 29.33 million pounds this year, the lowest yield determined by the International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC) in its 102-year-old history. 

The new total is 1.3 percent below the 2025 coast-wide quota.  

It breaks out at 24.27 million pounds for the U.S. portion, the same as last year, which includes Alaska, Washington, Oregon and California. A catch total of 5.06 million pounds is allocated for British Columbia.

The 2026 Pacific halibut fishery will close Dec. 7.

2025 Alaska halibut fishery recap

According to a December 2025 report by the IPHC, total halibut takes (called mortalities) from all sectors – commercial, sport, personal use and subsistence – was 28.8 million pounds, down 12 percent from last year, and marking the lowest removals in 100 years. 

Alaska always gets the bulk of the big flatfish and projected 2025 landings at all ports were pegged at 11,715,646 pounds, which is 22 percent below the statewide commercial fishery limit for 2025. 

A  fisheries overview showed that landings were down at all Alaska ports.

Halibut deliveries dropped by 16 percent for Area 2C (Southeast Alaska), by 8 percent for Area 3A (Central Gulf of Alaska), and 12 percent for Area 3B (Western Gulf). The biggest declines came from further west, with catches declining 33 percent for Area 4A (Aleutians region), 78 percent for Area 4B (Bering Sea)  and 57 percent for 4CDE (Bering Sea).

Homer was again the leading port for halibut landings, receiving approximately 24 percent ( 2,765,482 pounds) of the total Alaska commercial catch. Kodiak received the second largest landing volume at 14 percent (1,619,044 pounds), followed by Petersburg and Sitka, with their combined landings representing 15 percent of the catch limit at 1,758,762 pounds.  

Halibut bycatch, called “discard mortality in non-directed fisheries,” was estimated to be 4.6 million pounds in 2025, up 6 percent from 2024 and representing the highest estimate since 2019. 

A total of 2,206 fishermen holding quota shares of halibut participated during the 2025 halibut season that opened on March 20.

Halibut prices in Alaska averaged well over $7 per pound to fishermen during the 10-month fishery, according to the Federal Register.