Unalaska, AK – Last week, the International Pacific Halibut Commission held its annual meeting in Portland, Oregon, and for the first time Unalaska's local halibut fishermen were represented there.

Pete Hendrickson recently returned from the meeting, which he had attended on behalf of the Unalaska Native Fisherman Association. He said the unexpected decision by the commission last year to reduce Unalaska's region's quota by 13 percent was a wake-up call.

"That led me to the conclusion that we do need to participate more in this particular arena, as we have in the past with the North Pacific Fishery Management Council," Hendrickson said.

This year, the news was better for Unalaska. The quota for Area 4A, which includes waters around Unalaska, was increased by 6 percent, giving local fishermen back half of what they lost in 2007. That's because of a new stock assessment model the commission is using, which takes into account new research findings that give a clearer picture of how halibut migrate around the North Pacific.

That research reverses a lot of what the commission previously believed about Alaska's halibut populations. It suggests that stocks in the Bering Sea may be healthier than previously thought, while stocks in Southeast Alaska are in worse shape. Hendrickson said that's in line with what fishermen in the Aleutians are seeing.

"From my personal experience, plus what I've learned talking to other people, we're actually looking pretty good out here right now, and I think we have a pretty stable population," he said. "I don't expect it to go way up or way down in the future, but then again I'm not a scientist."