Council reverses course on halibut charter IFQs

摘要

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council in December backed off a controversial and long-stalled plan to assign individual fishing quotas (IFQs) to established vessels in Alaska's booming halibut charter boat industry. It was a stinging defeat forcommercial fishermen and longtime charter skippers who saw IFQs as a way to control the unchecked growth in the charter fleet. The council in 2001 had approved the plan, but federal regulators never implemented it, allowing opposition to build up to December's 8-3 vote to back off the IFQ idea.