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South coast gets Halibut quota By MARK FREEMAN BROOKINGS -- Jim Welter counts himself among the few who have asked the government for something reasonable and have gotten something even better. Welter, a 70-year-old sport-fishing advocate in Brookings, wanted Southern Oregon to have its own summer-long halibut sport-fishing season with a tiny quota. Halibut Seasons Here is a rundown of Oregon halibut seasons as set by federal fish managers: CAPE FALCON TO FLORENCE Inside the 30-fathom line -- Open May 1 through Sept. 30, with a quota of 9,650 pounds. May all-depth fishery -- Open May 13-15 and 20-22, with a quota of 93,740 pounds. If any poundage remains, the season would be expanded to include one or more days in June. Those days, in order, would be June 10, 11 and 12. August all-depth fishery -- Open Aug. 6 and/or 7, unless previous catches for Oregon and California reach a 136,935-pound quota. Additional days would be Aug. 20 and/or Aug. 21. An announcement will be made July 12. FLORENCE TO HUMBUG MOUNTAIN Inside 30-fathom line -- Open May 1 through Sept. 30, with a 2,183-pound quota. Angling every day. May all-depth fishery -- Same as May fishery north of Florence. August all-depth fishery -- Same as August fishery north of Florence. HUMBUG MOUNTAIN TO MEXICO Open May 1 through Sept. 30, all depths, no mid-season quota closures. State and federal fish managers instead gave Welter and other off-shore anglers a new five-month halibut season with no worry of a mid-season quota and no special depth regulations for fishing. "I said, `that's fine,"' Welter says. "We didn't ask for all that, but we got it." The new season will run May 1 through Sept. 30. That compares to irregular fishing days in May, June and August, as well as the threat of immediate closure if the annual halibut quota was reached by anglers to the north. In a world where annual cutbacks in angling have taken on the sure-bet feel of death and taxes, a chance to fish for halibut more often is seen as chalking one up for sportsmen. It doesn't matter if Brookings never becomes known as a halibut hot spot, Welter says. In fact, the catch is expected to be light and the anglers few. But just having the chance to fish more often is worth the effort. "What we're working on here," Welter says, "is opportunity more than numbers." The Southern Oregon season expansion is one of a few changes awaiting halibut anglers in 1999. One main change is that sport-fishermen with halibut tags must now keep the first fish 32 inches or longer when fishing off Oregon. That will eliminate the practice of keeping one fish in the 32- to 50-inch slot range, then returning it to the sea -- dead or alive -- if they catch a bigger halibut within the limit. But locally, the change to Southern Oregon's season and quota limits is the big change. Waters south of Humbug Mountain previously were clumped with ports farther north, where halibut populations and catches are stronger for the cold-water fish. But Welter argued that Southern Oregon was different enough from Oregon's Central Coast in both populations and fishing opportunities that the region deserved its own sub-zone. Welter argued that Southern Oregon waters were more like the waters of Northern California -- not many fish because this is the southern end of the halibut range. Welter also asked the Pacific Fishery Management Council for a quota of 1,000 pounds for the new zone. "We kind of agreed that Southern Oregon is similar to Northern California," says Don Bodenmiller, of the marine fisheries program for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, which has a vote on the fishery management council. "So we're going to try a new approach." But instead of Welter's small zone and tiny quota, Southern Oregon is clumped with California for a five-month fishery. Even though the new zone has an allocation of about 4,700 pounds of halibut -- or 3 percent of this year's halibut sport catch -- there is no real "quota" for the region. California does not check for halibut at the docks, so there is no mid-season poundage estimate, Bodenmiller says. However, the ODFW will check halibut fishermen at Brookings and other ports, he says. Most halibut caught off Brookings are hooked by salmon fishermen or those jigging for rockfish. Most end up turned loose because fishermen usually do not know if or when halibut harvest is legal, and many do not carry the $6 halibut tag. But the new season should get more people interested in buying halibut tags and even targeting these fish, Welter says. The new season will remain in effect this year. But it could turn into too much of a good thing. If catch estimates eclipse the 4,700-pound allocation, Southern Oregonians could find themselves in the same halibut boat as last year. "If they catch a lot of fish," Bodenmiller says, "next year will be different." Outdoor Journal main page Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA