Already facing low catches due to the same issues affecting Pacific cod, Alaska's commercial halibut fishing sector faces new competition for quota from recreational users, Alaska Dispatch News reported

At the recent meeting of the International Pacific Halibut Commission, which sets catch limits for the species in the US and Canada, scientists said that total allowable catches will likely decline by 20% this year a stay low for the foreseeable future. They attributed that to "the blob", a mass of warm temperatures that affected several year-classes of halibut and Pacific cod, among other stocks [...]