In a recent decision, the United States District Court in Alaska ruled against a Seattle-based fishing trade group, Groundfish Forum, which challenged new federal rules affecting new limits on halibut bycatch in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands.
The National Marine Fisheries Service developed the regulations after a 2021 recommendation by the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council to limit bycatch from the groundfish fleet. Proponents say the limits protect halibut populations from the trawl group, which accounts for more than half of the halibut bycatch in the area.
Groundfish Forum, which represents a group of large trawl catcher-processors, filed a suit to stop those limits. They said the rules change the way halibut bycatch is managed, tying the cap to the abundance of halibut in the area: when halibut populations are high, the cap stays steady. But if populations dip, the cap goes down, by as much as 35%.
The fishing group said this puts an unfair burden on their sector, while other fisheries in the region aren’t facing the same constraints. They also said the proposed cap is unrealistic because it’s too strict to implement, which they claim violates conservation laws.
But the United States District Court for the District of Alaska found that the federal agencies acted within their authority. The court said the halibut bycatch regulations, known as Amendment 123, fit with the Magnuson-Stevens Act, a federal law aimed at sustaining fisheries.
Jude Sharon Gleason said the Amendment 80 fleet needed to take on this reduction to help preserve fish stocks.
While the court acknowledged the financial hit to the Amendment 80 sector, it ruled that those costs weren’t enough to make the rule unworkable. Groundfish Forum’s claims were dismissed, meaning the bycatch limits will stay in place.
