Preserving Public Access to
Alaska's Halibut Fishery
The Recreational Quota Entity (RQE) acquires and holds commercial halibut quota to help preserve recreational fishing opportunities for Alaska’s guided anglers.
Mission: To develop and manage regulatory solutions toward better angler opportunity for Pacific halibut in Alaska.
RQE Alaska is a non-profit organization principally created to manage the North Pacific Fishery Management Council’s recreational quota entity (RQE) purchase and hold commercial halibut pounds just like a commercial fisherman but subject to different caps. Pounds held by the RQE are added to annual guided sport allocations with the intent to soften regulatory restrictions and provide better harvest opportunity for guided halibut anglers in Alaska. The entity is also authorized to purchase and hold Charter Halibut Permits, though currently only up to area caps comparable to individual businesses.
Funds for commercial halibut purchases are generated by the current required angler halibut stamp.
Who We Are
RQE Alaska is guided by a nine-member board of directors with experience in the guided halibut recreational industry in both areas 2C and 3A. The organization currently has two administrative staff members who oversee internal policy development, halibut purchase, provide advocacy for the recreational charter sector, and help meet federal reporting requirements.
Common Questions and Answers
Who is required to have a charter halibut stamp and how much do they cost?
Charter halibut stamps are required for charter vessel anglers, 18 years of age or older, for each charter vessel fishing trip in a given calendar day, or each calendar day during a charter vessel fishing trip that spans multiple days, that the charter vessel angler intends to catch and retain halibut on a charter vessel in IPHC Regulatory Areas 2C (Southeast Alaska) and 3A (Southcentral Alaska), unless that charter vessel angler retains halibut as GAF on days that are otherwise closed to halibut retention by the annual management measures published pursuant to 50 CFR 300.62. A charter halibut stamp is valid for one day. The cost of the daily stamp is $20.
Who buys the charter halibut stamps?
CHP holders are responsible for purchasing halibut stamps from NMFS. The stamps are electronic and will be held in eFISH accounts created by CHP holders and maintained by NMFS.
I own a CHP. How do I create an account so I can purchase charter halibut stamps?
You will create your account on a NMFS online platform called eFISH. Instructions for setting up and activating a NMFS online eFISH account are found at this link:
https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/alaska/resources-fishing/alaska-online-services
Many CHP holders already have an eFISH account, and they use eFISH to register their CHP(s) each year or to manage their GAF. If you already have an online eFISH account, you do not need to create a new one; the features that let you buy halibut stamps will be added to your account.
If I own more than one CHP, do I create an account for each CHP?
No. All your CHPs and all the charter halibut stamps you purchase will be under one eFISH account. Similarly, all the stamps that are validated for use on charter vessels that use your CHPs will be drawn from that account.
How do I pay for charter halibut stamps?
To purchase charter halibut stamps, you will sign into your eFISH account. Navigate to the “CHP” tab. Under “Recreational Quota Entity (RQE) Resources,” you will see a “Stamp Purchase” link. Follow that, and enter the quantity of stamps you wish to purchase. When prompted for payment, you must use a credit or debit card to buy charter halibut stamps. Cards that are accepted are Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express. Checks, bank transfers, or other forms of payment are not accepted. After you submit payment, a receipt will be provided. 6 | Page After you make your purchase of charter halibut stamps, the stamps will be immediately deposited in your eFISH account.
How many charter halibut stamps do I have to buy?
You may purchase as many charter halibut stamps as you like, and you may purchase them at any time.
As an owner of a CHP, you have a responsibility to maintain an account that contains enough charter halibut stamps to cover all the anglers who intend to catch and retain halibut on charter vessels that use your CHP(s). Some CHP holders might decide to purchase a larger number of stamps based on the number of anglers they expect to serve in the future. Other CHP holders might decide to purchase stamps more frequently, and in smaller batches. Either way, the stamps will be held in the CHP holder’s account until they are used.
After I buy charter halibut stamps, how do I use them?
Charter halibut stamps will be validated using ADF&G logbooks.
ADF&G and Federal regulations require charter vessel guides (i.e., the person on the charter vessel who provides sport fishing guide services) to enter the names and sport fishing license numbers of charter vessel anglers on the ADF&G logbook before a charter trip begins. The charter guide will validate on the ADF&G logbook a charter halibut stamp for each angler who intends to catch and retain a halibut on that charter vessel trip.
To perform the validation, the charter vessel guide will answer two questions on the ADF&G logbook: “Do you intend to keep halibut Yes/No?” and “If Yes, how many RQE stamps are being used?”
The charter vessel guide must validate halibut stamps before the first deployment of fishing gear into the water from the charter vessel.
How do I keep track of the number of charter halibut stamps that I purchase, along with the number of stamps that are validated for use on vessels with my CHPs?
Your eFISH charter halibut stamp account will indicate the number of stamps you purchased and the dates of the purchases. Similarly, your eFISH account will show the specific dates and the number of stamps that were validated on ADF&G logbooks for charter fishing trips where your CHP(s) was being used. This will be updated at periodic intervals.
There may be a gap between the time when charter halibut stamps are validated on a charter vessel and when that same information will appear in a CHP holder’s account. For a more precise indication of charter halibut stamp validations, the charter operator can review the entries in their logbook. It is expected that a charter operator will be able to use the logbook query function to download the number and dates of charter halibut stamp validations that came from the ADF&G logbook at any time.
What happens if I have stamps remaining in my account at the end of the year?
Charter halibut stamps are not tied to a particular year. If stamps are purchased but not used, they will carry over and may be used in the next fishing year. Stamps never expire until validated.
If I have used more stamps than I have purchased, when is deadline to purchase them?
December 31 of the year the stamps were used
What happens if I validate stamps on my boat, but I don’t have enough stamps in my account to cover those validations? For example, I only have 5 stamps in my account but I validate 6 stamps for anglers on my boat?
As noted above, as a CHP holder, it is your responsibility to maintain an account that contains enough charter halibut stamps to cover all the anglers who intend to catch and retain halibut on charter vessels that use your CHP(s). If you validate more stamps than you have purchased, you must purchase enough stamps to make up the difference before the end of the year (December 31).
If I transfer my CHP to someone else and I have stamps remaining in my account, can I be reimbursed for the remaining stamps?
No. NMFS does not issue reimbursements for charter halibut stamps that have been purchased. You will be responsible for all the validations of charter halibut stamps that are associated with your CHP during the period when you own the CHP. After the CHP is transferred, the new owner will be responsible for maintaining an account for that CHP, and under that account, the new owner must maintain enough stamps in the account to cover all the stamp validations that occur each fishing year.
I own and sometimes lease my CHP to another business. Who is responsible for buying the stamps for charter halibut trips that use my CHP?
NMFS does not have regulations that govern the leases of CHPs. As the owner of the CHP, you are responsible for ensuring that charter halibut stamps are purchased for anglers who intend to catch and retain halibut on charter vessel(s) that use your CHP. The charter vessel guide on those vessels is responsible for validating the stamps on an ADF&G logbook.
If you own a CHP and you lease or lend your CHP to another person, it will be important to have a clear understanding of the financial responsibilities between you and the person who leases or borrows your CHP.
Can I transfer some or all of my charter halibut stamps to another person’s account?
No, charter halibut stamps are not transferable. The stamps are not intended to be traded, bartered, sold, or otherwise transferred to someone else. Charter halibut stamps will be permanently assigned to the CHP holder’s eFISH account under which they were purchased.
How do I manage charter halibut stamp validations if our charter fishing trip lasts more than one day?
By regulation, charter halibut stamps must be validated for each day, prior to the first deployment of gear, for each adult angler who intends to catch and retain halibut. This holds true for single-day charters as well as charter trips that span more than one day.
The stamp validation works together with the ADF&G logbook. On a multi-day charter trip, charter guides must complete a separate logbook page for each day of the trip. Among other things, the logbook page for that day should be used to validate charter halibut stamps for that day prior to the first deployment of fishing gear.
Do I need to validate charter halibut stamps for catch and release fishing of halibut?
No. The regulations specify that charter halibut stamps apply to anglers who intend to catch and retain halibut. If all halibut are carefully released and are not retained, then a charter halibut stamp is not required.
What happens if we are fishing for some other fish species besides halibut, but we catch a halibut?
As noted above, charter vessel guides must validate charter halibut stamps before the first deployment of fishing gear from a charter vessel. Therefore, if a halibut stamp was validated for an angler before the deployment of fishing gear on that trip, and the angler incidentally catches a halibut (for example, while fishing for salmon), then the angler may keep the halibut. If a charter halibut stamp was not validated before deploying fishing gear on that trip, then the angler must carefully release the halibut.
Do I need to validate a charter halibut stamp if a charter vessel angler on my boat uses GAF to keep a halibut?
It depends. If a CHP holder holds a GAF permit, then charter vessel anglers may retain halibut up to the limit allowed for unguided anglers. This means that in some years when charter regulations normally prevent the retention of halibut on certain days of the week, a charter angler may use GAF to keep a halibut. Under these circumstances, a charter halibut stamp does not have to be validated; that is, a charter halibut stamp does not have to be validated for a charter vessel angler who uses GAF to retain halibut on a day of the week that would otherwise be closed to halibut retention.
However, if a charter vessel angler uses GAF to retain halibut on a day of the week when halibut retention is allowed for charter vessel anglers (for example, halibut retention is allowed on that day, and a charter vessel angler uses GAF to retain a halibut that would otherwise be outside of the charter size limit), then a charter halibut stamp is required for that angler
I am selling my CHP. How do I close out my RQE halibut stamp account?
No action is needed. Unused stamps can either be depleted prior to transferring the permit (a lease of the permit prior to transfer may be one approach if you are unable to use them yourself) 9 | Page or unused stamps can remain in the account indefinitely. If another CHP is later transferred to the existing account, any remaining stamps could be used with the new CHP.
I have a vessel breakdown or otherwise need to transfer my clients to a different vessel to complete their trip, how do I deal with stamps?
If a vessel breakdown occurs and forces a charter vessel to return to port before fishing gear is deployed into the water, and no stamps have already been validated, then no stamps need to be validated. Stamps do not need to be validated until immediately before the first deployment of fishing gear into the water.
If a charter vessel fishing trip has begun (i.e., the first deployment of fishing gear into the water has occurred) and then the vessel breaks down, no additional stamps need to be validated, so long as the vessel is repaired and the charter vessel fishing trip resumes on the same vessel on the same calendar day. However, charter halibut stamps are limited to a single charter vessel fishing trip and are not transferable to other charter vessel fishing trips. A new charter halibut stamp would therefore be required if the vessel breakdown occurs after fishing gear is deployed into the water, anglers or halibut are transferred to a second vessel, and an angler deploys fishing gear into the water from the second vessel (i.e., a stamp is required to be validated for that angler for each charter vessel fishing trip they take).
I start my charter vessel fishing trip in one regulatory area (2C or 3A) and validate my stamps before any fishing begins, but then unexpectedly have to catch my halibut in the other area. Do I need to validate new stamps, and how do I complete my logbook?
Charter halibut stamps are not specific to regulatory area 2C or 3A. As a result, under this scenario, you do not need to validate additional charter halibut stamps, provided that only one charter vessel fishing trip occurred. See 50 C.F.R. § 300.61, "Charter vessel fishing trip." To comply with 50 C.F.R. § 300.65(d)(4), which requires the charter halibut permit (CHP) number authorizing the catching and retaining halibut and the statistical area code in which halibut were caught and retained be recorded in the logbook, call ADF&G as soon as possible to ensure this information is recorded accurately.
Charter operators are reminded that they must still have a valid CHP onboard for the area they ultimately retain halibut from.
More Information
If you are required to comply with charter halibut fishery regulations in Alaska, you should consult and rely on the actual regulatory text. Please refer to the IPHC annual management measures and regulations in the eCFR at 50 CFR 300.61, 300.65, 300.66, 300.67, 679.2, 679.4, 679.7, and 679.46, or contact RQE staff by filling out the form below.
To purchase charter halibut stamps or view your stamp account balances, login to eFISH. Your eFISH account will also allow you to register your CHP(s) or submit an electronic GAF report.