In recent seasons, halibut users across the state have been tightening their belts. The biologists tell us that though the total number of halibut in Alaskan waters is at a very sustainable rate, those halibut are now growing more slowly than usual. Since halibut are regulated based upon the "Total number of pounds in the sea," instead of the "Total number of fish in the sea," the longline and charter fleets are facing allocation cutbacks. We've adjusted our businesses, our personal lives and those of our families to conserve in a time of resource decline.

I was born and raised in Homer, and halibut have always been a part of my life. At age 32, I've logged 16 years in the charter fleet as a deckhand and captain, and have served as President of the Alaska Charter Association, Board Member of the Homer Charter Association, and held a seat on the Southcentral Alaska Fish and Game Advisory Committee. Halibut fishing, which began as weekend nirvana at age 5, has now become a convoluted web of politics, regulation, and money trails. I've watched as longline and charter halibut allocations have declined steadily, and have long awaited the day when regulators would hold trawlers accountable for their waste.

The International Pacific Halibut Commission has proposed a 70 percent reduction in halibut harvest for the central Bering Sea region, the most recent cut in a steady quota decline. In the meantime, halibut bycatch caps in the region's trawl fisheries have remained largely unchanged for decades.

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