The Alaska Department of Fish and Game decided this week to reinstate halibut to charter vessel logbooks.

ADF&G dropped the species from the books in 2001 following the North Pacific Fishery Management Council’s decision to develop an individual fishing quota (IFQ) program for charter-caught halibut.

Just after the council voted down the IFQ measure during its recent meeting in Anchorage, ADF&G officials, about to publish their charter vessel logbooks for the upcoming season, halted their presses to accommodate the change.

Rob Bentz, deputy director of ADF&G Sportfish Division, said, “We saw (in 2001) an increasing discrepancy between halibut logbooks and our annual halibut harvest survey,” which they deem more accurate than the logbooks.

The council, however, determined in 2001 that it would use the logbook data anyway, to make quota allocations for charter fishermen.

The issue came to a head last week when the council voted on an quota program based on catch data from 1998-1999, potentially eliminating 40 percent of the present charter fleet and allocating one-third of the charter harvest to vessels who have since left the business.

Though the IFQ program was shot down 8-3, the state will propose two alternative management plans for the charter halibut fishery this April.

One alternative would subdivide the large Kodiak to Homer (3A) area into smaller districts, with annual allocations made to each. Allocations would rise and fall with stock abundance and be managed with localized plans, vessel caps and bag limits.

Since 2000, the 3A charter fleet has fished under a fixed guideline harvest level of 3.65 million pounds, though the stock abundance has grown by more than 6 million pounds.

A second, IFQ-based solution allocates quotas to participants in much the same way as the commercial halibut fleet. The allocation, however, would be preceded by a detailed study of the economic impact on the fleet, facilitate easier purchase, lease and transfer of shares, and require detailed and current catch statistics.

Bentz said the Murkowski administration opposes the IFQ-based plan, as did the Knowles administration in 2001. The decision ultimately rests with the secretary of Commerce acting on the council’s recommendation.

In response to a need for accurate data on the charter halibut fishery, the state is re-vamping their logbooks, adding detailed reporting requirements that trace each halibut caught to an individual angler. Critics claim that this creates a motive for skippers to artificially inflate their catch to increase any future quota allocation. Proponents counter that data can be verified through follow-up surveys to charter vessel passengers.

Though the charter fleet remains divided on how their fishery should be managed, the quota-based plan has support from commercial halibut fishers, who fear unchecked growth of the charter fleet and localized depletion.

An ADF&G Sportfish Advisory Committee meeting is slated for Kodiak on Jan. 3. The public is encouraged to comment on the alternatives for management of the charter halibut fishery.

Freelance reporter Andy Schroeder can be reached via e-mail at aschroeder@gci.net.