Origins of the Charter Halibut Task Force

Three concerned lodge operators, Scott Van Valin of El Capitan, Ken Dole of Waterfall, and Larry McQuarrie of Sportsmans Cove, started the Task Force last fall.

They hired Earl Comstock, an experienced fishery consultant, to represent charter interests before the Council, Federal agencies, and in Washington, D.C. Earl spent five years as Chief Council and legislative troubleshooter for Senator Ted Stevens. He knows how to work the processes and politics concerning fish issues. He's been instrumental in keeping us focused on the right issues at the right time, to target our efforts strategically for change.   

They also hired communication consultant  Kimberly Tebrugge on an as-needed basis to work with Earl on getting the key messages to the right influencers. Kimberly's background is in media relations and forwarding nonprofit issues. When she's not with us, she's part of the Secretary of the Air Force's communication team. She grew up in Westport, WA and watched the economic decline when similar allocation issues reduced the charter fleet from over 300 vessels down to 35.

In just a few months, the Task Force has been successful in helping the charter industry to organize their efforts, coordinate positions working with all interested charter fishing organizations, and file unified comments before the Council and the International Pacific Halibut Commission. At this critical crunch time, when there is no time to waste, we feel success will come in part from having the right people in funded positions.

The Task Force also hired a law firm to work with the consultant on preparing comments in the pending rulemaking on charter fishing regulations for Area 2C to ensure that the charter industry was in the best possible legal position to challenge the Area 2C rules if necessary. When the Secretary of Commerce signed the one-fish daily limit into affect, CHTF was prepared to file the lawsuit on a procedural basis. 

Charter operators from all over Alaska came together to support and fund the lawsuit. The judge found the ruling to be unlawful and charter anglers were able to go back to fishing for two-fish per day.