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ALASKA CHARTER ASSOCIATION
"To preserve and protect the rights and resources of Alaska's recreational angler."
Update
Halibut Commission Finalizes Alaska Charter Angler Regs for 2021
Final Management Measures for Charter Halibut in Alaskafor Area 2C:One-fish bag limit with size limit of less than or equal to 50 inches or greater than or equal to 72 inches.
For Area 3A:Two-fish bag limit with one fish of any size and a second fish less than or equal to 32 inches, Wednesdays closed to retention of halibut, one trip per vessel and one trip per CHP per day (no annual limit).
After a long week, the IPHC and our representatives on its advisory Conference Board worked hard to develop regulations for the 2021 halibut season and produced results for guided recreational anglers in Alaska.Our thanks go out to ACA President Garrett Lambert, Homer Charter Association President Ben Martin, and Brian Ritchie representing the CATCH Committee for their participation on the Conference Board, and Forrest Braden, Executive Director of SEAGO. They stayed fully engaged with the Conference Board throughout the week, providing input and recommendations on the decisions.We also want to thank past ACA President Richard Yamada, whose appointment to the Halibut Commission marked the first time in its history that a recreational fisherman represented the U.S. side in the international negotiations.
New Round of PPP relief funds available
The federal Small Business Administration is rolling out new PPP funds for small businesses. The application period opened Monday January 11. You apply for these loans through your local banks and lending institutions. The loans are forgiven in most circumstances. Visit the SBA website for more information and loan application forms.
The Alaska Daily News overview of the program.
Post-Season Covid-19 Survey in the Charter Industry
Alaska Charter Association conducted a survey to find out how the pandemic affected charter fishing businesses in Alaska.
We received more than 120 responses and the results are eye-opening. We are grateful to everyone who filled out the questionnaire because we use this data to inform the state when they make decisions about disaster relief, the future of recreational fishing in Alaska, and how to estimate fishing effort next year.
ALLOCATION: NEW STUDY ON ECONOMIC VALUE OF CHARTER SPORTFISH
Decisions about how to share the catch between recreational anglers and commercial fishermen are always a food fight. Federal law gives the vague guidance that decisions be "fair and equitable" and are based on assigning fish to each sector according to the economic benefit to the nation. Many studies have shown that more $ are generated per # of fish caught in the sportfishery.Yet specific studies of the economic value of each state and each species are hard to come by and allocation decisions often don't look very hard for the data. NMFS has finally completed a comprehensive report on the money generated by the recreational charter fishing sector in Alaska, and it could not be more timely. Looking ahead the North Council will be starting a federally-required review of allocation of halibut between recreational and commercial sectors. The data is clear in this fishery and the ACA will be highlighting some of the key findings in this new study, which should inform fishery managers on how to slice the halibut pie. We are posting a link at the bottom of this blog post to the complete document and we encourage everyone to review these findings. It is eye-opening. from: NOAA Fisheries:"Costs, Earnings, and Employment in the Alaska Saltwater Sport Fishing Charter Sector, 2017"by D. K. Lew, and J. Lee INTRODUCTION In recent years Alaska’s sport fisheries have undergone substantial changes, particularly in the management of the Pacific halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepis) charter fishery. As a result of these regulatory changes, participation in the charter sector Pacific halibut fishery has been capped with a limited entry program, and charter vessel operators in some areas have been subject to size restrictions and bag limits on the catch of Pacific halibut during guided trips, as well as restrictions in recent years on which days of the week guided halibut fishing trips can occur. Additionally, a halibut catch sharing plan (CSP) formalizing the process of allocating catch between the commercial and charter sectors was implemented in 2014 (78 FR 39121). Most recently, a recreational quota entity that would be allowed to buy (and sell) commercial fishing quota shares as an additional means for cross-sectoral allocation is being implemented (83 FR 47819). In spite of regulatory changes in Alaska’s sport fisheries over the last decade, information about how changes in fisheries management tools affect sport fishery anglers and charter businesses has generally been somewhat limited to date (Lew and Larson 2012, 2015, 2017; Lew et al. 2016). While some information on the Alaska charter boat sector has been collected through the Statewide Harvest Survey and Saltwater Charter Logbook program , data collection has generally been limited to information about angler participation and harvest. Information on vessel and crew characteristics, services offered to clients, and information detailing cost and earnings have generally not been available for study or use in policy analyses. To address this gap in information, the Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC) of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) developed and implemented the Alaska Saltwater Sport Fishing Charter Business Survey to collect baseline economic information about the charter fisheries sector for use in understanding the economics of the charter sector and evaluating the effects of regulatory changes on the sector.
Download the full report here: Costs, Earnings, and Employment in the Alaska Saltwater Sport Fishing Charter Sector, 2017, by D. K. Lew, and J. Lee
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ACA Charter Angler Guests: Membership
It's time for our sportfishing clients to be counted!
With the formation of a Recreational Quota Entity just around the corner, we will need a means for guided anglers to get engaged in the regulatory process.
Encourage your clients to sign up now and support our efforts to improve recreational fishing in Alaska.
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