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The idea of limiting the halibut sport catch began in the early 1990s, when commercial fishermen voiced alarm at the rapid growth of charter-boat fishing. The charter industry, divided over how its catch should be limited, floated several ideas. The rrjost popular one was for skippers to be awarded quotas based upon past catches.

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council approved the IFQ plan in 2001. . secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez is expected to make a final decision on it thjs summer. If approved, it will be the first time the nation has privatized a sport fishery.

A Homed organization, the Alaska Charter Association, counts as its members severaljdozen skippers who are making a last-ditch stand to stop implementation of the plan.

Interviewed by the Anchorage Daily News, Homer-based charter operator Greg Sutler said, "A lot of us are grandfathered in, but we're! also opposed to the philosophical concept. In the future, it will turn into a rich man's fishery. We need to leave it open for ajccess to the average Joe."

Halibut charter rates now range from $135 to about $200 per day. If operators who weren't !awarded high enough quotas are forced to buy shares from others to fill their boats, they won't be competitive with operators wrio got their quotas "free" opponents Say.

Proponents, mainly operators who were established by 1998, say the plan will add value and stability to the charter industry. Homer charter-boat operator Gary AuIt sa|d that when the commercial-fishing industry decided to limit the charter catch, the charter operators had no choice. The (FQ plan was the best way to build viable businesses under a catch limit, he said.