Alaska halibut & sablefish are managed under an Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) system.
There are two very different things changing hands, and they're priced completely differently:
Quota share (QS) — a permanent percentage of the annual catch limit. Buy it
once and it produces poundage for you every year. It sells for a multiple of what a pound of
fish lands for (typically several years' worth).
Annual IFQ pounds (an “annual lease”) — this season's
poundage only, transferred for one year. It costs a fraction of what the fish lands for —
you keep the difference after harvest costs.
That's why the same area shows two very different $/lb numbers on the index: a
high one (buy a share) and a low one (lease a year). See how they compare to what the fish itself
lands for in the ex-vessel benchmark.
What moves the price
Regulatory area: the single biggest factor. Southeast/Gulf halibut (2C, 3A) trades far
higher than the western areas (4A–4D). Browse prices by area ›
Species & grade: halibut and sablefish move on different markets; sablefish in
particular swings with large-fish demand.
QS class & blocks: the vessel category (A/B/C/D) and whether a share is
blocked or unblocked change who can fish it and what it's worth.
This year's pounds: whether a listing's current-season poundage is still
unfished affects what a buyer is really getting.
Lease or buy?
A quick gut-check: divide the purchase price by the annual lease rate to get a
rough payback in years — how long leasing would take to equal buying. The index
shows this per area, and the value calculator estimates what a given
number of pounds is worth at the current median.
Glossary
Quota Share (QS): the permanent right to a percentage of the annual catch limit (TAC).
IFQ / quota pounds (QP): the harvestable pounds a QS yields in a given year — what gets “leased.”
Annual lease: a one-season transfer of IFQ pounds (the QS itself doesn't change hands).