Halibut fishery opens on time but with lower catch limit

Alaska’s commercial halibut fishery opened as scheduled March 20 with a reduced catch limit because of a decline in stock status.

Southeast Alaska’s commercial halibut fishery has a catch limit of just over 3 million pounds this year, down from 3.5 million pounds in 2024.

Statewide, the commercial catch limit is nearly 15 million pounds, down from 18.41 million last year. For the entire Pacific Coast, the total halibut mortality limit is down about 15 percent.

Those limits were recommended by the International Pacific Halibut Commission in Januaryand American authorities accepted them earlier this month. The international commission sets the limits for the entire Pacific Coast, and apportions them to various regulatory areas including Southeast, the Gulf of Alaska and the Bering Sea. The allocation between commercial and guided sport fishermen is split by a catch-sharing plan implemented by the National Marine Fisheries Service a decade ago.

The lower catch limits are based on several factors, including data that shows a decrease in spawning halibut since 2016, which the commission said is near the lowest level observed since the 1970s. The commission’s decision also said commercial catch rates are the lowest they’ve been since the 1970s.

Haines fisherman Stuart DeWitt said March 25 that he had made one trip since the fishery opened. Increased prices are, so far, making up for the decreased catch limit.

“We already went on a trip and sold (the halibut) and the price was way up,” he said.

The halibut were on the small side, but it was a decent first trip of the season, DeWitt said. The consensus among halibut fishermen DeWitt talked to was that it was better than openers in the last couple of years.

So far this season, 26 vessels have delivered halibut in Southeast, with a catch of 138,486 pounds through March 25.

The season is slightly shorter this year, opening about a week later than it did in 2024. The halibut season will run through Dec. 7 for much of the Pacific Coast under the regulations set this month. Historically the season has ended in mid-November, but the commission has set a December closure since 2021 to give fishermen more time to finish catching their quota. Dewitt hopes to finish up before the deadline.

“I‘ll fish on and off from now until probably early June,” DeWitt said. Then he’ll switch to salmon, and likely finish catching his halibut quota in August and September.

DeWitt said he sold his first haul to Alaska Glacier Seafood in Juneau, but will bring some back to sell off the dock and to Haines Packing Company later in the season. The on-time opening occurred after pre-season concerns that the new presidential administration’s policies could delay the opening.

Pacific halibut management is a joint effort between the U.S. and Canada. The 2025 limits and season dates were set in January by the International Pacific Halibut Commission, a body that includes both American and Canadian representation. Typically, the secretaries of commerce and state accept those regulations and then the National Marine Fisheries Service, a part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, manages the Alaska fishery.

This year, the secretaries formally accepted the 2025 quotas and season dates on March 14, a week before the fishery was due to start. That acceptance is required before the National Marine Fisheries Service can issue Alaska fishermen their permits. The halibut fishery is managed with individual fishing quotas, and each permit-holder has a specific allocation from the region-wide catch limit.

The March acceptance of regulations set by the halibut commission in January came after the new presidential administration put a 60-day freeze on new federal regulations across multiple agencies in late January, including fishery regulations.

In response to concerns that the freeze would delay the halibut fishery, Alaska U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski posted on social media including Facebook on March 12 that she had worked with Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick to advocate for the fishery to open on-time – and ultimately it did.

Regulations for other 2025 fisheries were also formalized in mid-March, including sablefish, which is managed in conjunction with halibut in Alaska.

DeWitt said he hadn’t been too worried that the federal agency would manage to issue the permits, because every year it seems to come together in time for the opening date.

In 2024, the secretary of commerce accepted the halibut commission regulations March 9 and the fishery opened March 14.