U.S. and Canada at Odds in Setting Halibut Catch Limits for 2017
SEAFOODNEWS.COM [SeafoodNews] by Peggy Parker - January 31, 2017
The longstanding tension between Canada and the U.S. regarding best ways to manage a shared resource was brought into sharper relief this year at the annual meeting of the International Pacific Halibut Commission in Victoria, B.C.
In the end, catch limits were agreed to, Canada again received 58 percent more than the Blueline, which reflects the current harvest policy, and 41 percent higher than the SPR (Spawning Potential Ratio), a level that reflects real removals: based in part on an average of what was caught over the last three years.
The stock assessment numbers are good in Canada. The population appears not to be responding to what is now nearly a decade of taking more than the current harvest policy dictates.
But it’s not 2B’s stock assessment that the IPHC’s science team and the U.S. Commissioners worry about...
To Read Full Story Login Below.