The commercial halibut fishing industry now takes about 85 percent, and the public is allowed about 15 percent of the total annual halibut harvest. Which should experience the greater reduction of the halibut harvest when conservation measures are needed?

A lawsuit has been filed in federal court by the Southeast Alaska Guides Organization, based in Sitka, to determine whether the halibut resource will be managed in the future by the National Marine Fisheries Service to benefit the commercial halibut fishing industry or the public interest. It will be the first time the federal court has been involved in the ongoing halibut fishery controversy. The court's determination will resolve this issue.

Bruce Warner