Preliminary totals from the 2024 Pacific halibut fishery suggest that this year’s harvest may have been one of the lowest on record. Landings from 2024 represent only about 74% of the year’s catch limit. Typically, this fishery achieves about 90% of its limit. The spawning biomass of Pacific halibut is also said to be at its lowest levels since the 1970s.
Combined US and Canada net weight landings for the 2024 season came to about just short of a thousand tonnes, which is almost 2,000-tonnes less than the net weight landing for 2023. This also marks a 2.7-tonne decrease from the previous five-year average.
“Consumer demand for this premium product in the fresh market was exceptionally strong this year, and there’s no indication that demand will wane if product remains available to purchase,” said Tradex in a news release, adding that prices for Pacific halibut will almost certainly go up between now and the 2025 season, which opens in March.
The company recommends that people stock up on Pacific halibut now and ensure that those stocks last until next season.
Pacific halibut take a long time to mature and reproduce as they are a slow-growing, long-lived species. Female Pacific halibut typically reach sexual maturity between 12 to 14 years of age, while males mature slightly earlier, around 7 to 8 years. This delayed maturity allows them to grow large and accumulate the energy reserves needed for spawning, as they produce thousands to millions of eggs annually. The lengthy maturation period, however, makes them more vulnerable to overfishing and other pressures, as they must survive for many years before contributing to the population.
A 2016 study found that the average weight of a 20-year-old female Pacific halibut decreased from approximately 55 kg in 1988 to about 20 kg in 2014. The same study also examined research which suggested that size-selective fishing (the targeting of larger fish) in Southeast Alaska and British Columbia accounted for up to 100% of the observed declines in size-at-age since the 1980s. According to Tradex, in recent years, there were positive signs that the size-at-age of Pacific halibut was improving for fish under 14 years old. However, there were no positive changes in the size-at-age of older fish.
In British Columbia, Pacific halibut face several threats that impact their survival and reproductive success. Overfishing is a primary concern, as heavy fishing pressure can disproportionately remove larger, mature females that produce the most eggs, thereby reducing the population’s ability to replenish itself. Bycatch in other fisheries, such as trawl fisheries targeting groundfish, also poses a risk, as non-targeted halibut are discarded, with very low survival rates. Global warming further complicates the outlook of this species by decreasing prey availability and altering spawning habitats.
Habitat degradation is another significant issue, as activities such as coastal development, pollution, and bottom trawling can disrupt essential habitats used by juvenile halibut for feeding and shelter, especially considering that halibut are bottom dwellers.
Learn more about this issue by reading this article.
