"It's the charter guys suing the federal government for imposing management restrictions, for imposing conservation management restrictions," said Behnken. "Our position is that all sides have to share in the conservation of the resource."

The charter boat halibut harvest has increased 107 percent over the past decade, while the abundance of halibut has dropped by 58 percent at the same time," she said.

Meanwhile the long-line fleet has taken a cut of 54 percent in its halibut quota, so there are some obvious inconsistencies and inequities, Behnken said.

"When abundance goes down, you have to catch less or there will be less fish in the future," she said.

The Halibut Coalition, representing a group of subsistence, recreational and commercial harvesters and processors, applauded the preliminary injunction issued this year. The ruling protects halibut resource and all harvesters, as well as domestic consumers by protecting the resource from overfishing by the charter fleet, they said.

The Halibut Coalition said in a written statement that it is vital for all harvesting sectors to stay within the conservation limits set by the International Pacific Halibut Commission and the National Marine Fisheries Service to ensure a healthy halibut resource.

The Charter Halibut Task Force hopes the judge will put the daily halibut limit for charter boat clients back up to two fish.

Rex Murphy, a Homer resident and charter boat operator who serves on the advisory panel of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, said that last year the unguided anglers increased their harvest in pounds by 56 percent in Southeast Alaska, and in Southcentral Alaska by 35 percent.

In Southcentral Alaska, with a two-halibut a day limit for charter clients, the charter fleet has not exceeded the guideline harvest level.

The commercial halibut fishery in Alaska is more than 100 years old. Virtually all the commercial halibut fishermen in the Southeast Alaska area known as Area 2C operate as small boat family businesses.

Under the IFQ program in 2009, some 54 percent of commercial fishermen were limited to harvesting less than 3,000 pounds of halibut and 90 percent to less than 10,000 pounds.

No person may fish commercially for halibut in any International Pacific Halibut Commission management area unless that person holds IFQ program quota shares. Still, 93 percent of the Area 2C commercial quota shares are reserved for vessels of less than 60 feet. Consistent with this small-boat, family-operated fishery, 90 percent of the harvest is delivered to community-based processors.

The average Area 2C commercial fisherman will likely gross $9,000 from halibut fishing in 2009, according to the Halibut Coalition. While most commercial halibut fishermen in that area also harvest salmon or sablefish, family budgets cannot be met without halibut fishing income, they said.

Margaret Bauman can be reached at

margie.bauman@alaskajournal.com.