It’s been two weeks since a proposal to curb halibut bycatch in the Bering Sea trawl fleet went down to defeat. The measure failed by a tie vote before the North Pacific Fishery Management Council.

But now, several council members are taking steps to pursue a new bycatch limit outside the meeting process.

Acting Alaska Fish and Game Commissioner Sam Cotten was among the members who signed a letter to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. They requested an emergency bycatch reduction next month, when the new halibut quota comes out from the International Pacific Halibut Commission.

The commission’s scientists are recommending a 42 percent cut to halibut fishing near the Pribilof Islands. That region is big for trawl fishing, and more than half of the halibut taken there last year was incidental -- or bycatch. Halibut fishermen have expressed concerns that a low catch limit wouldn't leave room for directed fishing.

The halibut commission will set the final limit in Vancouver, B.C. at the end of January.