Homer Alaska - Seawatch -

"There would be a little bit left on the table," he said, "but if the opportunity presents itself, they may take a little bit more than they planned on."

The 2007 quota was 23,634 tons, of which 16,183 tons were harvested, plus 320 tons of documented deadloss.

A cold spring in the Bristol Bay area resulted in the herring arriving a bit later than usual. Fish and Game did not begin aerial surveys until May 5, compared with the first survey in 2007 on April 19. Fishing in 2007 began May 10.

Fishing cooperatives and coordination with processors have helped eliminate the need for test fishing, which has had few volunteers in the face of record fuel prices. No test fishing was done this year or last, although Fish and Game recommended that fishermen harvest small amounts in the early part of the fishery so that samples could be done to determine roe quality.

The National Marine Fisheries Service has finalized changes to the halibut and sablefish IFQ and CDQ program that will remove a ban on fishing sablefish with pots in the Bering Sea in June and will allow military reservists and National Guardsmen to temporarily transfer their IFQ while on active duty.

When IFQs were implemented in 1995, hook-and-line longliners successfully lobbied to ban longlining with sablefish pots because of gear conflicts. However, heavy predation by Orca and sperm whales on hook-and-line gear quickly showed the folly of that rule, and pot longlines were again allowed in the Bering Sea in 1996, except for the month of June, which was intended to allow small hook-and-line longliners to fish without the gear conflict and with a better chance of fair weather.

However, industry representatives reported that the gear conflicts were overblown, and having to haul in their gear in the middle of the season created expensive inefficiencies and was partly to blame for a substantial part of the quota not being caught. Only an average of 56 percent of the Bering Sea sablefish quota was harvested between 2003 and 2007, compared to 94 to 100 percent in the Gulf of Alaska.

The removal of the ban on Bering Sea pot longline gear in June also means that enforcement personnel will no longer have to monitor whether longline pot vessels are targeting sablefish, and is effective immediately.

The rule covering military reservists and National Guard members is intended to allow them the potential to gain some economic benefit from their quota share should they be unavailable to fish their IFQ during a given year due to active military duty or deployment. It essentially allows for a hired skipper card by a qualified individual.

In comments received in advance of the final rule, it was expressed that "given their service and sacrifice to the nation, it is more than appropriate to allow military reservists and members of the National Guard the flexibility to either use or transfer their IFQ."

Cristy Fry has commercial fished in Homer since 1978. She also designs and builds gear for the industry. She currently longlines for halibut and gillnets salmon in upper Cook Inlet aboard the F/V Realist. She can be reached at cristy-fry@excite.com.