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

That meeting to set the dates resembled a monkey sh** fight at the zoo. I didn't think we were ever going to agree on dates.

So we went over quota last year by 38,198 pounds? I'm not buying it. The total pounds suggests that the mean weight of halibut caught was a hair over 18 lbs. Our boat's mean weight per fish last year was 40.6 pounds with the smallest fish weighing in at 16 pounds.

Accurate or not, it's time to look into imposing size limits on halibut to stretch out the season. There's no point to blow through the quota so a handful of people can give dry, tasteless fish to their friends and neighbors.

If we limit the maximum size of halibut to somewhere in the 36" range, we could put many more days on the schedule. This would have the additional benefit of being able to have open days where the tide isn't ripping all day and you aren't getting chased off the water because of 5' swells.

They are so full of Crap about the amount that the sport guys catch .

They go to the launch on a Saturday when its 70 degrees and glass calm . Check boats till the late afternoon multiply that times however many days we got and say OOOPS your over quota for the year but not to worry we will make it right next season . Never taking in to account the fact that many days you can't even get out to fish or you are very limited in the fishable areas because of wind and or tides. Not to mention the fact that the larger percentage of people can't even fish the week days. Most of those boats that fish a Saturday or two a year get very few fish and spend a ton of money doing it.

We have gone from a month to 15 days then 12 then 11 then 10 and now 8 days. It was the last remaining reason to live in this state . They have pretty much stolen all the other fishing opportunities from us and now they are targeting the last remaining leg of the stool. At some point its time to quit buying a license for opportunities we don't get .

Besides ,God forbid the sport guys cut into the 30 or 40 day ( or how ever long it is) long line season for the tribes that put out thousands of hooks at a time , which conveniently they get before the sport guys ever get on the water . And the state still wonders why the fish are smaller the last couple season and harder to catch?

At some point we might want to think about the people we vote into office most of who are bank rolled by the tribes .. just a thought. That's a pretty tall order though , this is Washington state

+1
BC is way ahead of us on this. We should have a similar slot limit, with a limited punch card system. Our trophy mentality season is outdated.
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Any dates firmed up for Westport? The usual Sun/Tues schedule? Or something else?

The season chart that was handed out shows the South Coast (MA 2) fishing May 1, 3, 8, 10, 22, 24

The Columbia River (MA 1) will fish May 1, 5-7, 8, 12-14, 15, 19-21, 22, 26-28

There is a potential for early closures if the harvest quotas are taken. Check for closure area, near shore fisheries, etc before heading out. Final action on the dates will probably occur at the PFMC meeting in March

Gotcha.... 3 week season sun/tue with a one week break in the 3rd week of May.

The break during the week of May 15 is to allow for the processing of catch data for the North Coast (MA 3 and 4) and South Coast (MA 2) to see if there is enough quota left for openers in the week of May 22. Based on previous years catch rates, I wouldn't expect there to be enough quota left to re-open, but one can always hope......

I fished a total of 6 days last year, Port Townsend and Port Angles. Not once did I see or have a fish checker check our boat.