The U.S. Department of State last week tossed back proposed catch limits for the Southeast and Southcentral halibut charter fleet.

In a letter sent March 1 to the International Pacific Halibut Commission, Reno Harnish, acting Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, told IPHC Chairman James Balsiger that the United States did not accept its plan to limit charter-caught halibut.

“There’s a major bit of disappointment about what was done,” said Jev Shelton, a Juneau commercial fishermen who wrote a charter-catch limit proposal for the Halibut Coalition it sent to the IPHC.

Southcentral halibut charter fishermen won’t face any more regulation this year from the federal government, said Doug Mecum, acting Alaska regional administrator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Service.

The reprieve for the Southcentral charter fleet doesn’t solve an issue the IPHC and others have been grappling with for more than 10 years.

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council has been developing numerous ideas for controlling the charter fleet, but told the IPHC it couldn’t come up with a plan until 2008 — the reason why the IPHC put forth its catch limits in January.

Last week, the NPFMC’s Charter Halibut Stakeholder Committee met in Anchorage to work on proposals for controlling the charter fleet, including a moratorium on new businesses.

“Personally, I’m delighted that this process is back in the hands of the North Council and the National Marine Fisheries Service where it belongs,” said Rex Murphy, a Homer charter fisherman who owns Winter King Charters and a member of the stakeholder committee.

For Area 2C, NOAA Fisheries is working with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to develop 2007 regulations to limit the halibut catch for the Southeast charters.

At its January meeting, the IPHC proposed restricting charter fishermen this summer to one halibut a day from June 15-30 for Area 3A in Southcentral Alaska and from June 15-July 31 for Area 2C in Southeast Alaska. Because the IPHC acts under international agreements between the U.S. and Canada, the Department of State and the Department of Commerce had to sign off on the IPHC proposals.

The IPHC determined a guideline harvest level allocated to the charter fleet by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council had been exceeded by 9 percent in Area 3A and 48 percent in Area 2C. In late January, ADF&G issued an emergency order prohibiting charter captains and crew from retaining halibut — and any other sport-caught fish — while paying clients are on board. A similar regulation was already in effect for Area 2C.

“We expect about a 10 percent harvest reduction,” Scott Meyer, an ADF&G fishery biologist in Homer, said of the prohibition on Area 3A captains and crews.

IPHC had considered prohibiting captains and crew from keeping fish, but rejected that option. Bruce Leaman, IPHC executive director, said he thought that approach might work this year for Area 3A.

“My sense is if there’s no growth in the charter fishery, it’s going to come close,” he said.

For Area 2C, NOAA Fisheries is looking at new regulations to restrict the charter-caught halibut catch, with those rules taking effect by June 1. The public will have a chance to comment on those proposed regulations.

“We believe it is appropriate to focus our efforts on analysis of alternatives for Area 2C that include a two-halibut bag limit, with one of those required to be of a certain size, for example, a 32-inch minimum size, a trophy minimum size or a slot limit,” Mecum said.

In his letter, Harnish admonished the NPFMC and others for not acting sooner.

“Domestic management agencies have not yet implemented regulations designed to effectively bring the harvest within the GHLs,” he wrote.

“The Department notes with disappointment that the IPHC recommendation in question arose in part due to the inability of domestic processes in the United States to resolve this matter previously,” Harnish added. “We therefore strongly encourage the North Pacific Council, the state of Alaska and all affected agencies and stakeholders to develop comprehensive measures to resolve this issue for 2008 and beyond.”

The NPFMC Charter Halibut Stakeholder Committee will take final action on a moratorium analysis at its March 28 meeting in Anchorage. For information on that meeting and how to comment, visit www.fakr.noaa.gov.

“We’re more committed than ever to getting a solution developed,” Murphy said.

Even though the IPHC recommendations were rejected, Leaman said at least it has got people thinking about the how halibut should be allocated to the charter fleet.

“If anything comes out of this issue this year, I hope it’s impelled the process a bit more,” he said.

Shelton said the IPHC should be applauded for making its charter-catch limit proposal.

“It did force the issue to be a bit more front and center,” he said.

Michael Armstrong can be reached at michael.armstrong@homernews.com.