Fish Factor

Halibut catches could be cut by 33 percent next year if proposed numbers get the nod by the International Pacific Halibut Commission next month. That would mean a coast wide harvest of just 22.7 million pounds for fisheries in California, Washington, Oregon, British Columbia and Alaska. Alaska’s share of the halibut catch would be 17.4 million pounds, down from about 25 million this year.

Unlike past years, staff scientists are not making catch limit recommendations by separate areas. Instead, they are providing “assessment and advice frameworks” to the commission that embodies the risks and b...