There was a meeting yesterday in Olympia, chaired by Region 6 Director Michele Culver, to discuss ocean groundfish fisheries (in the morning) and the 2016 halibut season structure.

Suffice to say that the sport fleet is getting very good, according to WDFW statistics, at catching halibut and it is reflected in the reduction of days available for fishing.

The ocean dates for the North Coast (MA 3 and 4) are May 7, 12, and 14. If there is anything left, clean-up day(s) could be May 26 and/or May 28.

The Puget Sound dates for MA 5 - 10 are going to be May 7, 12, 13, 14, 26, 27, 28, and 29. A total of 8 days.

Catch calculations (poundage/fish) for Puget Sound for the past 4 years were made available yesterday and show the following:

Year Pounds Fish harvested
2012 85,249 5,420
2013 93,950 6,305
2014 106,552 6,242
2015 95,591 5,291