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"There is no reason not to publish the (proposed) rule," said Linda Behnken, executive director of the Alaska Longline Fishermen's Association. She sent a letter to Fish and Game Commissioner McKie Campbell on Tuesday complaining that his request circumvents the rule's public comment process.

Fish and Game holds that important legal issues with the program still need resolution.

"Shouldn't we know up front rather than proceed with something that people think is legally flawed?" said Sue Aspelund, a special assistant with Fish and Game.

The council-approved halibut charter program would divvy up "shares" in the overall halibut quota program among longtime charter boat operators. Those who entered the charter fleet after 1999 would have to purchase shares. The program has pitted Alaska charter boat operators against each other and federal regulators have never approved it.

Commercial long line fishermen support the quota program, but the Murkowski administration is now coming out strongly against it.

It all makes for a complicated mess. At council member Ed Rasmussen's request, the North Pacific council will reconsider the program it originally approved in 2001 at its December meeting.

The council already has voted in favor of the program three times. Twice before, a reconsideration motion has failed, but the upcoming December vote is expected to be close.

In the midst of its own upheaval, the council has roundly scolded the National Marine Fisheries Service for never acting on the council's 2001 decision with the required rule-making.

One of Fish and Game's primary justifications for coming out against the program now is that about 40 percent of the halibut charter businesses in Alaska will not qualify for "free" quota shares if the program goes into effect.

The businesses did not exist in 1999 when the council approved the quota program, and the long lag time raises questions about the legality of a new rule that cuts out existing charter operators, according to Fish and Game officials.

Both commercial fishermen and longtime charter operators chafe at the new entrants, claiming that the fishery is getting out of control.

"If the sport (fishermen) go unchecked, they'll just keep taking more and more," said Mike Erickson, co-owner of Alaska Glacier Seafood, an Auke Bay processing plant.

This year, the charter fisheries in Southeast and Southcentral Alaska both exceeded their guideline harvest levels for halibut.

The Alaska Charter Association, based in Homer, advocates for abolishing the guideline harvest levels. The group complains that charter operators are not fairly represented on the North Pacific council.

State officials last week developed a set of alternative recommendations to the charter IFQ program.

Their recommendations include freezing the existing allocation between the commercial and charter fleets - roughly an 86-14 percentage split - and considering a moratorium on new entrants to the charter fishery.

• Elizabeth Bluemink can be reached at elizabeth.bluemink@juneauempire.com.