The Daily Alaska empire., 1948-03-18
t9AS REGULATIONS OF HAL!BUT FISHING ANNOUNCED BY COM.

The International Fisheries Com mission has announced that the re- gulations for the Pacific halibut fisheries in 1948 have been approved by the Governor General of Canada and the President of the United States and are now effective. These regulations apply to the catching and landing of halibut in and from the waters off the coasts of the United States, Canada and Alaska.
 Toe Commission was established by treaty between the United States and Canada to rebuild the stocks of halibut on the banks of the North Pacific. These stocks had been so SCI iously depleted by unrestricted fishing that fishinng had become unprctitable. Under regulation by the Commission, the stocks on these nclthwest banks have been improved until they now afford the finest hali- Eut fishing in the world and provide greatly increased annual catches. The Work of the Commission is an outstanding demonstration of what can be accomplished by practical interna tional cooperation and sound fisheries management.
 Commission Members
 The Commission consists of four members, two from each country. Present members are: A. J. Whit more, of the Canadian Department of Fisheries, Vancouver, B. C.; Ed ward w. Allen, of Seattle, Wash; iG. w. Nickerson, of Prince Rupert, B C.. and Milton c. James, of the United States Fish and Wildlife i Service, Washington, D. c. Whit more and James are Chairman and Secretary, respectively. during the current year.
 Regulations
 1 The halitut regulations are based upon the results of biological and Statistical investigation carried out by the Commissions staff of fishery biologists. The regulations are guided from year to year by investigations of the effect of past regulations up on the stocks of halibut and an- nual conferences with representa- tives of the halibut fishermen and vessel owners in the major halibut ports.
 The 1948 regulations are similar in most respects to those of last year As indicated below, only two significant changes have been made, namely an increase in the catch limit for Area and a redefinition of Masset Nursery area which is closed to halibut fishing.
 Five Areas
 The coast is divided into five areas for regulatory purposes. Area IA includes waters south of Cape Plancc, Oregon. Area 1B lies be- tween Cape Blanco and Willipa Har- tor, Washington. Prior to l946 these two areas together formed single area, Area l. Area includes the waters between Willipa Harbor and Cape Spencer, Alaska. Area 3 covers the waters from Cape Spencer to a line running true west from Cape Sarichef on Unimak Island Area includes those waters of the Bering Sea lying north of the line running from Cape Sarichef.
 The Area limit of 28,000,000 pounds and the Area limit of 500,- O0O pounds remain the same as in l947. The Area catch limit is 25,- sec 900 pounds, an increase of 1,000,- 900 rounds over 1947. There are no catch limits for Areas IA and lB.
 Season Opens May 1
 Tie fishing seasoni is again op- ened in all areas on May 1. It ends in Areas 1B and 2 when the Area 2 catch limit is taken, and Areas IA and Area when the Area 3 catch limit is reached. Area 4 closes