Commercial halibut fishing in Alaska closes November 7th, and with one week left just four percent of this year’s allowable catch remains for the longline fleet.

A little over a month from now, the International Pacific Halibut Commission will meet to start considering catch limits for next season. IPHC executive director Bruce Leaman and scientist Ian Stewart visited Petersburg this week and met with commercial fishermen.

Photo courtesy of the International Pacific Halibut Commission

Photo courtesy of the International Pacific Halibut Commission


Joe Viechnicki sat down with the two and asked Stewart about what he’s heard about this past season.

That’s Ian Stewart and Bruce Leaman with the International Pacific Halibut Commission. IPHC staff will be presenting preliminary numbers for next year’s catch to the commission at an interim meeting in Seattle December 1st and 2nd. The annual meeting with the decisions on final catch limits is in late January in Juneau.