A commission has cut most allowable halibut catches substantially in parts of Alaska.
KMXT reports the International Pacific Halibut Commission released its catch limits Friday. Overall, it's down 18 percent from last year, or about 7.5 million pounds.
The catch limit for the Gulf of Alaska is reduced by 2.4 million pounds, or 17 percent from 2011.
The pound limit reduction is the same for the Alaska Peninsula southwest of Kodiak Island, but that equates to a 32 percent drop, to a little above 5 million pounds.
The eastern Aleutian Islands' limit has been reduced 35 percent.
Two areas got increases from the commission. Southeast Alaska had its catch limit increased by 300,000 pounds, or 13 percent. Areas off the Washington coast will get a 9 percent increase.
The SouthEast Alaska Guides Organization, or SEAGO, praised the commission's adoption without comment of a recommendation from the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council of a reverse slot limit for Southeast Alaska halibut of under 45 inches or over 68 inches. In a statement Friday, SEAGO called a one-fish-per-day and under-37-inches limit imposed on Southeast charter operators last year "disastrous," saying the fleet ended up catching less than half of its catch limit.
