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Halibut fishery yields little bounty
By Susan Chambers, Staff Writer
Saturday, June 14, 2008 | No comments posted.
CHARLESTON — Big, flat and made of gold. That’s how some fishermen describe halibut, but Wednesday, those big diamond-shaped fish sought by commercial fishermen in a one-day derby were more akin to fantasy fish.
There just weren’t many biting.
Halibut are fun fish for sport fishermen to catch, but many commercial fishermen also seek out the consumer favorite when the International Pacific Halibut Commission opens the season for one day at a time in Area 2A. The area covers the area south of Point Chehalis, Wash., and all of Oregon and California.
The overall quota from Area 2A was 213,674 pounds. If fishermen don’t catch it all the first time, they will have another opportunity in a couple weeks.
Most of the halibut on menus and available at seafood markets are those caught in Alaska, where the fish is much more plentiful. The management system also is such that the season lasts several months.
That didn’t deter local boats from setting out tub after tub of longline gear — a groundline with other lines of baited hooks attached — on the bottom of the ocean in the hopes of finding some piscatorial treasure. After all, one boatload of, say, 1,700 pounds for a 32-foot boat could yield around $6,800 for 10 hours of fishing. That doesn’t count the two or three days beforehand that require the hooks to be baited and getting the boat ready, nor the day or two afterward required for clearing snarls and tangles from the line.
Reports from the docks were not good.
As Hallmark Fisheries workers, in sweatshirts, rain gear and the same brown rubber boots fishermen wear, weighed and moved fish from boat to processing room, rumors were flying Thursday.
“No, he got only eight fish.”
“I heard he got a dozen.”
“Port Orford didn’t do well, either.”
“The Shenanegan was the highliner.”
Highliners are boats that often catch the most fish. During the first halibut opener, few fishermen made profits as the day’s catch barely covered fuel prices to get to the grounds.
On Thursday, Oregon State Police Troopers Isaac Cyr and Richard Lane checked the fish coming off the Shenanegan. Strict adherence to size limits is mandatory, and the troopers were thorough, if not busy.
“We’ve checked two vessels,” Cyr said.
Other troopers were checking boats at the Bandon Pacific plant across town.
Cyr said troopers checked a handful of boats Wednesday night, too.
By Thursday afternoon, they’d given out one citation for a fisherman being in possession of yelloweye rockfish, one warning for an undersized halibut, two citations for not being in possession of an individual commercial fishing license, one citation for having too much sablefish and one warrant service.
As halibut after halibut came off the boat of the Shenanegan, Cyr confirmed what fishermen had only heard on the VHF or passed on during conversations at the dock or the coffee shop.
“It sounds like it was a slow opener,” he said.
There just weren’t many biting.
Halibut are fun fish for sport fishermen to catch, but many commercial fishermen also seek out the consumer favorite when the International Pacific Halibut Commission opens the season for one day at a time in Area 2A. The area covers the area south of Point Chehalis, Wash., and all of Oregon and California.
The overall quota from Area 2A was 213,674 pounds. If fishermen don’t catch it all the first time, they will have another opportunity in a couple weeks.
Most of the halibut on menus and available at seafood markets are those caught in Alaska, where the fish is much more plentiful. The management system also is such that the season lasts several months.
That didn’t deter local boats from setting out tub after tub of longline gear — a groundline with other lines of baited hooks attached — on the bottom of the ocean in the hopes of finding some piscatorial treasure. After all, one boatload of, say, 1,700 pounds for a 32-foot boat could yield around $6,800 for 10 hours of fishing. That doesn’t count the two or three days beforehand that require the hooks to be baited and getting the boat ready, nor the day or two afterward required for clearing snarls and tangles from the line.
Reports from the docks were not good.
As Hallmark Fisheries workers, in sweatshirts, rain gear and the same brown rubber boots fishermen wear, weighed and moved fish from boat to processing room, rumors were flying Thursday.
“No, he got only eight fish.”
“I heard he got a dozen.”
“Port Orford didn’t do well, either.”
“The Shenanegan was the highliner.”
Highliners are boats that often catch the most fish. During the first halibut opener, few fishermen made profits as the day’s catch barely covered fuel prices to get to the grounds.
On Thursday, Oregon State Police Troopers Isaac Cyr and Richard Lane checked the fish coming off the Shenanegan. Strict adherence to size limits is mandatory, and the troopers were thorough, if not busy.
“We’ve checked two vessels,” Cyr said.
Other troopers were checking boats at the Bandon Pacific plant across town.
Cyr said troopers checked a handful of boats Wednesday night, too.
By Thursday afternoon, they’d given out one citation for a fisherman being in possession of yelloweye rockfish, one warning for an undersized halibut, two citations for not being in possession of an individual commercial fishing license, one citation for having too much sablefish and one warrant service.
As halibut after halibut came off the boat of the Shenanegan, Cyr confirmed what fishermen had only heard on the VHF or passed on during conversations at the dock or the coffee shop.
“It sounds like it was a slow opener,” he said.
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