Salmon Fishing Opportunities Increase Along the Washington Coast Beginning Aug. 26
August 26, 2008
OLYMPIA – Anglers will be able to fish for salmon seven days a week along most of the Washington coast beginning Tuesday, Aug. 26, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) announced today.
The new rules will increase fishing opportunities at Westport (Marine Area 2), La Push (Marine Area 3) and the portion of Neah Bay (Marine Area 4) that lies east of the Bonilla-Tatoosh line. Ocean waters west of that line in Marine Area 4 will be closed to all salmon fishing beginning Aug. 26, said Doug Milward, WDFW ocean salmon manager.
“Angler participation has been down along the coast likely due to higher gas prices,” Milward said. “For that reason, we can provide anglers who are fishing at these three ports with additional opportunities without exceeding recreational harvest quotas.”
Fishing had been restricted to five days a week since the season opened.
Anglers fishing at Westport and La Push may retain two chinook salmon as part of their daily limit, but those fishing in Neah Bay may retain only hatchery coho salmon, Milward said. All wild coho must be released in all three areas.
Salmon fishing is scheduled to continue through Sept. 13 if sufficient numbers remain in the quota, Milward said.
Although salmon fishing in Ilwaco (Marine Area 1) closed Aug. 17, fishing continues for hatchery coho at Buoy 10 just south of Ilwaco, Milward said.
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Halibut Fishing To Reopen June 28 For One Day Off La Push and Neah Bay
June 26, 2008
OLYMPIA — The recreational halibut fishery off the north coast of Washington will reopen for another offshore day to allow anglers to harvest the June portion of the quota, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) announced today.
The fishery in marine areas 3 and 4 (La Push and Neah Bay) will be open for halibut fishing at all depths from 12:01 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. on Saturday, June 28.
Enough quota remains in the fishery for another offshore day, said Heather Reed, coastal policy coordinator. To date, anglers have caught the May quota of 79,194 pounds and are now fishing on the 30,798 pounds set aside for June.
“With some of the remaining May quota added to the June set-aside, we were able to add two offshore and two nearshore days earlier in June,” Reed said. “There’s still enough quota remaining to offer one more offshore day. If sufficient quota remains after the 28th, the fishery will reopen in the nearshore area.”
All other marine areas are now closed to halibut fishing except the nearshore fishery in Marine Area 2 (Westport), which is open Fridays and Saturdays, and Marine Area 5 (Sekiu), which is open five days a week, Thursdays through Mondays, through July 21.
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Sport Halibut Fishing to Close Off Westport, Nearshore Will Remain Open 2 Days A Week
June 13, 2008
OLYMPIA - Anglers will be able to fish for halibut off Westport for two more days - Sunday (June 15) and Tuesday (June 17) - before the offshore portion of Marine Area 2 closes to halibut fishing for the season.
However, the nearshore waters of that marine area between Grays Harbor and the Queets River will remain open to halibut fishing on Fridays and Saturdays until further notice.
Since the fishery opened May 1, anglers have made steady progress toward harvesting this year’s quota of 40,230 pounds for the offshore area, said Heather Reed, coastal policy coordinator. But enough of the 4,470-pound quota remains in the nearshore area to allow anglers two days of fishing a week until the quota is met, Reed said.
Although fishing was hampered by stormy weather this year, most anglers who were able to get on the water caught their daily limit of one halibut, Reed said.
“This spring’s been rough so far, but hopefully it will take a turn for the better for those fishing the nearshore area,” Reed said. “In the past week or two, we’ve been seeing some bigger fish.”
Halibut caught during the past week weighed about 21 pounds, compared to 18 pounds in May, she said.
Sport halibut fishing will be open June 14 and 21 in marine areas 3 and 4 (La Push and Neah Bay) at all depths. The nearshore fishery in those areas will be open June 17 and 19, but halibut fishing will be restricted to waters no more than 30 fathoms deep. Coordinates and other regulations are included in the 2008-09 Fishing in Washington rules pamphlet.
All other marine areas are now closed to halibut fishing except Marine Area 5 (Sekiu), which is open five days a week (closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays) through July 21.
Although halibut fishing is closed in Marine Area 2, fishing for other bottomfish will remain open. Fishing for, and possession of, rockfish and lingcod is prohibited seaward of 30 fathoms through June 15.
Anglers are advised to check the 2008-09 Fishing in Washington rules pamphlet for regulations specific to each area (http://wdfw.wa.gov/fish/regs/fishregs.htm
). Details on halibut rules are online (halibut/http://wdfw.wa.gov/fish/creel/halibut/).
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Summer Crabbing Season To Open in Puget Sound
June 9, 2008
OLYMPIA – Sport crabbers planning to fish for crab in Puget Sound this summer will find the upcoming season similar to last year’s, including catch-reporting procedures required by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW).
Starting June 18, crab fishing will open seven days a week in the western Strait of Juan de Fuca and southern Puget Sound. Most other marine areas will open July 2 on a Wednesday-through-Saturday schedule, although some waters north of Anacortes will not open until later in summer.
Puget Sound recreational crabbing areas will open at 7 a.m. on the following dates:
June 18: Marine areas 4 (Neah Bay east of the Bonilla-Tatoosh line), 5 (Sekiu) and 13 (south Puget Sound) will open seven days per week through Jan. 2, 2009.
July 2: Marine areas 6 (eastern Strait of Juan de Fuca), 7 South (San Juan Islands), 8-1 (Deception Pass to East Point), 8-2 (East Point to Possession Point), 9 (Admiralty Inlet), 10 (Seattle/Bremerton), 11 (Tacoma/Vashon) and 12 (Hood Canal) will open Wednesdays through Saturdays only, plus the entire Labor Day weekend and will close the evening of Sept. 1 for a catch assessment. These areas will reopen in the fall if recreational harvest quotas have not been met.
July 16: Marine Area 7 East (Bellingham and Samish bays) will open Wednesdays through Saturdays only, plus the entire Labor Day weekend and will close the evening of Sept. 27.
Aug. 13: Marine Area 7 North (Lummi Island/Blaine) will open Wednesdays through Saturdays only, plus the entire Labor Day weekend and will close the evening of Sept. 27.
This is the second year sport crabbers in Puget Sound will be required to record their Dungeness crab catch on two separate catch record cards – one for the summer season and one for the fall/winter season, said Rich Childers, WDFW shellfish policy coordinator.
Sport crabbers will again have the option of reporting their catch on the Internet or by mailing in their catch cards. Either way, it’s important for crabbers to report their crab information, Childers said.
“Catch reports are an important tool in managing the Puget Sound crab fishery,” Childers said. “We need to hear from everyone – including those who didn’t catch any crab – because more data provides greater accuracy in estimating the catch and developing future fishing seasons.”
To submit catch reports, crabbers may either send their catch record card to WDFW by mail, or file their report on a special webpage on the department’s licensing website from Sept. 2-15.
As an incentive, sport crabbers who submit their catch reports by the Sept. 15 deadline will be entered in a raffle to win one of 10 free 2009 combination licenses, which allow the holder to fish for a variety of freshwater and saltwater species.
Childers reminds fishers that crab catch record cards are separate from the multi-species card used for recording catches of salmon, halibut and other fish. Also, catch record cards are not required to fish for Dungeness crab on the Washington coast (marine areas 1-4).
In addition to catch-card requirements, anyone fishing for crab in Puget Sound must purchase a $3 license endorsement, which is free to fishers under age 15, although dealer fees may apply. All fishers age 15 or older must also carry an applicable Washington fishing license in order to fish for crab anywhere in Washington.
The daily catch limit in Puget Sound is five Dungeness crab, males only, in hard-shell condition with a minimum carapace width of 6ÂĽ inches. Fishers may catch six red rock crab of either sex per day, provided those crab measure at least 5 inches across. Additional information is available in WDFW’s Fishing in Washington pamphlet on the website at http://wdfw.wa.gov/fish/regs/fishregs.htm.
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Ocean Salmon Fishery Opens June 1 With a Focus on Chinook, Conservation
May 28, 2008
OLYMPIA – The sport fishery for salmon begins June 1 off the southern coast of Washington, where the first anglers of the season will cast off from Westport and Ilwaco a full month earlier than usual.
On June 3, salmon fishing begins on the north coast out of LaPush and Neah Bay.
This year’s early start will give ocean anglers an opportunity to catch hatchery chinook salmon before the bulk of the coho run arrives off the Washington coast, said Doug Milward, ocean salmon manager for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW).
That is a key conservation strategy in a year when fishery managers are predicting low returns of coho salmon throughout the West Coast, Milward said. In Washington, this year’s catch quota for coho will be the lowest in a decade.
But unlike California, where the collapse of the Sacramento River chinook run prompted a complete closure of that state’s ocean fishery, hatchery chinook are returning to the Columbia River in sufficient numbers to support a fishery off the Washington coast, he said.
In all, up to 20,000 chinook salmon – up from 16,500 last year – will be available for harvest by sportfishers in the state’s coastal waters.
“We could actually have a pretty good chinook fishery in June,” Milward said. “There will also be a season in July, but there’s a good chance we’ll have to close the fishery earlier than in previous years to meet conservation goals for coho salmon.”
Under this year’s rules, anglers are limited to one chinook salmon per day from June 1-28. All other salmon species – including coho – must be released during that period.
Starting June 29, the daily limit will increase to two salmon per day, including one chinook. As in past years, anglers may retain fin-clipped hatchery coho, but must release any unmarked wild coho they intercept.
Salmon fishing in Marine Area 1 (Ilwaco) opens June 1, seven days per week. Marine Area 2 (Westport) also opens June 1, but fishing is restricted to Sundays through Thursdays. On the north coast, fishing opens June 3 in marine areas 3 and 4 (LaPush and Neah Bay) five days per week, Tuesdays through Saturdays.
Additional fishing regulations, including minimum size limits and area catch guidelines are described in WDFW’s Fishing in Washington rules pamphlet, available online at http://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/regs_seasons.html.
This year’s 20,350-fish coho quota – the lowest in a decade – will likely be a significant constraint on the fishery, Milward said. In contrast, last year’s quota was 117,500 fish.
The low coho quota this year reflects a forecast of poor coho returns to the Columbia River, which produces more of those fish than any river in the state, Milward said. According to preseason projections, only about 196,000 coho are predicted to return to the Columbia this year, compared to an actual return of 462,000 in 2007.
Fishery managers have attributed the low coho returns expected to the Columbia and other rivers to poor ocean conditions in 2005 and 2006.
“The limited seasons we have crafted this year are carefully designed to meet or exceed our conservation objectives while providing opportunities to harvest healthy hatchery chinook stocks,” said Phil Anderson, WDFW deputy director. “Anglers who want to participate in this year’s fishery off the Washington coast should plan to go early, because we’re likely to reach the limited catch quotas earlier than usual.”
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Sport Halibut Fishing to Reopen For Two More Days Off La Push and Neah Bay
May 23, 2008
OLYMPIA — The recreational halibut fishery off the north coast of Washington will reopen for two more days in May to allow anglers to harvest the remainder of the May quota for that area, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) announced today.
The fishery in marine areas 3 and 4 (La Push and Neah Bay) will be open for halibut fishing from 12:01 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, May 29 and again on Saturday, May 31.
WDFW had closed the fishery May 20 because it looked like anglers were close to reaching the May quota of 79,194 pounds, said Heather Reed, WDFW fish biologist. Halibut season in marine areas 3 and 4 opened May 13, with fishing limited to Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
“We expected the quota would be reached, but rough weather kept many people off the water,” Reed said.
With the two-day opener, anglers have a chance to catch the remaining 29,430 pounds left in the quota. If there is additional quota remaining, it will be transferred to the fishery scheduled in June, Reed said.
Halibut fishing in marine areas 3 and 4 is scheduled to reopen June 17 and 19 under a separate quota. Anglers fishing those days in those two areas will be restricted to waters no more than 30 fathoms deep, as specified in WDFW’s 2008-09 Fishing in Washington rules pamphlet. If enough quota remains after those two days, halibut fishing will reopen June 21, Reed said.
Meanwhile, halibut fishing remains open seven days a week in Marine Area 1 (Ilwaco), two days a week (Sundays and Tuesdays) in Marine Area 2 and five days a week (Thursday through Monday) in the Strait of Juan de Fuca and all other areas of Puget Sound except Hood Canal.
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