The WDFW is going to host a "Halibut Summit" on November 23, 2004 at 9 a.m. at the Olympic Natural Resources Center - Hemlock Forest Conference Room in Forks.

There was a Recreational Halibut Workshop meeting on October 13 in Olympia that discussed proposed changes to the Pacific Fishery Management Council's Halibut Catch Sharing Plan.

Based on that meeting, the WDFW decided not to pursue changes that would have established annual or weekly bag limits for the North Coast (Neah Bay/LaPush) and south coast (Westport) areas.

The November 23 Summit will identify and discuss potential management tools available to WDFW that might lenghten the ocean halibut fishery. If there are tools that might be useful, WDFW could pursue changing the halibut regulations for implementation in 2005 or 2006.

The changes that came out of PFMC in September included:

1. Change the opening date from the first Tuesday between May 9-15 to May 1. If May 1 falls on a Sunday/Monday, then the fishery would open on the first Tuesday after May 1.

2. Close the south coast subarea fishery when 2000 lbs remain in the subarea quota to keep some near-shore fishery available for small boats.

3. Set an annual bag limit of 5 halibut per person per calendar year and use the catch record card currently used in Puget Sound to track catches.

4. In addition to the annual bag of 5 halibut, include a weekly limit of 2 halibut per person.

3 and 4 were intended to provide more opportunity to individuals and to lengthen the season.

WDFW is not pursuing these proposals at this time, but they will be discussion items at the meeting in Forks.

Recreational halibut fishing is going the same direction as recreational crabbing. Lots of participants catching lots of fish = shorter seasons.

If you are interested in the ocean halibut seasons, you should attend the meeting.

For additional details, the contact points for WDFW are Phil Anderson (360)902-2720 or Michele Culver (360_249-1211 or e-mail at : culvemkc@dfw.wa.gov


Another topic that should be discussed at the meeting is making the Recreational Halibut Advisory Group an appointed group under the WDFW Director as is the Steelhead/Cutthroat Policy Advisory Group, the Puget Sound Shrimp Advisory Group, and the Columbia River Recreational Advisory Group. If we don't have formal groups, comprised of members of the recreational community, as a sounding board for WDFW we lose the ability to have direct contact with staff and must depend on "workshops" called on an as needed basis by staff.