7 February 2020
ANCHORAGE – The International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC) completed its 96th Annual Meeting (AM096) in Anchorage, Alaska, USA on 7 February 2020 with decisions on fishery limits, fishing period dates, and regulatory changes. A total of 216 Pacific halibut stakeholders attended the meeting in person, with another 128 participating via the web broadcasts of the meeting.
The Commission adopted the TCEY limits for each IPHC Regulatory Area as shown in Table 1.
Table 1. TCEY limits by IPHC Regulatory Area
| IPHC Regulatory Area | TCEY limits (net weight[1]) | |
| Metric tons (t) | Pounds (Mlb) | |
| Area 2A (California, Oregon, and Washington) | 748.43 | 1.65 |
| Area 2B (British Columbia) | 3,098.04 | 6.83 |
| Area 2C (southeastern Alaska) | 2,653.51 | 5.85 |
| Area 3A (central Gulf of Alaska) | 5,533.83 | 12.20 |
| Area 3B (western Gulf of Alaska) | 1,415.21 | 3.12 |
| Area 4A (eastern Aleutians) | 793.79 | 1.75 |
| Area 4B (central/western Aleutians) | 594.21 | 1.31 |
| Areas 4CDE (Bering Sea) | 1,769.01 | 3.90 |
| Total | 16,601.48 | 36.60 |
[1] net weight” of a Pacific halibut means the weight of Pacific halibut that is without gills and entrails, head-off, washed (without ice and slime). If a Pacific halibut is weighed with the head on or with ice and slime, the required conversion factors for calculating net weight are a 2 percent deduction for ice and slime and a 10 percent deduction for the head.
The IPHC recommended an overall fishing period (season) of 14 March – 15 November 2020 for all commercial Pacific fisheries in Canada and the USA. In IPHC Regulatory Area 2A, the tribal commercial fisheries and the incidental Pacific halibut fisheries will occur within these dates, and the non-tribal directed commercial fishery will consist of 3-day fishing periods, the first of which will begin on 22 June 2020.
In accordance with the IPHC Convention[2], the fishery regulations approved by the IPHC, including fishery limits and fishing periods, will be recommended to the Contracting Parties for implementation according to their domestic law and regulation.
Meeting information, documents, presentations, recordings of the sessions, and the report of the meeting are available on the meeting page at the IPHC website: https://www.iphc.int/venues/details/96th-session-of-the-iphc-annual-meeting-am096.
A subsequent IPHC Media Release will provide more details of the 96th Annual Meeting, including the meeting report, regulatory changes, and other actions taken by the IPHC.
For further information please contact the IPHC Secretariat at secretariat@iphc.int or 206.634.1838.
[2] The Convention between Canada and the United States of America for the Preservation of the [Pacific] Halibut Fishery of the Northern Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea.
IPHC Secretariat
International Pacific Halibut Commission
2320 W. Commodore Way, Suite 300
Seattle, WA 98199-1287
206-634-1838 | www.iphc.int
