December 12, 2024 — Alackluster Pacific halibut season closes on December 7 in fisheries across Alaska, British Columbia and along the U.S. west coast.
By December 6, just over 74% of the 28.86 million pound coastwide commercial catch limit had crossed the docks since the fishery opened on March 15, with a net weight barely topping 21.43 million pounds. Fishermen for the most part reported sketchy catches and lots of smaller sized halibut.
Alaska always get the lion’s share of the annual commercial halibut catch which this year totaled 18.47 million pounds, a 2.7% decrease from 2023. By the season’s closure, Alaska fishermen had delivered nearly 14 million pounds to fishing communities across the state.
Fishermen at Southeast, Area 2C, caught 87% of their halibut limit, the harvest at the Central Gulf, Area 3A, came in at 91%, 3B, the Western Gulf, at 88%, at 4A, the Aleutians region, 55% of the allowable halibut was taken, and the Bering Sea areas of 4B were at 31% and 43% of the halibut catch limit.