Years of declining Pacific halibut quotas have not curbed the need for further pull back, and as preliminary recommendations suggest, the Pacific halibut catch limit will decrease by at least 20 percent in 2012.
"That's a pretty big hit," Halibut Coalition Executive Director Tom Gemmell told IntraFish.
The International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC) recommended a catch limitation of 33.1 million pounds for 2012. Last year's catch limitation was 41 million pounds, which was 18 percent down from the previous year's 50.1 million pounds.
If
