Summer Sport Halibut Fishing to Open August 4th

There is no minimum length requirement for Pacific halibut, but the quota limits mean only one fish per day.

Photo courtesy: andreakcharters.com

(NEWPORT) - The summer all-depth Pacific halibut sport fishery off the Oregon central coast between Cape Falcon and Humbug Mountain will open Aug. 4th-6th.

The fishery will be open on the following dates, until a quota of 50,074 pounds is reached by recreational anglers: Aug. 4th-6th, 18th-20th; Sept. 1st-3rd, 15th-17th, 29th-30th and Oct. 1st, 13th-15th, 27th-29th. More days may be added if it appears the quota will not be taken by Oct. 31st.

The summer fishery's quota was lowered to 50,074 from an original quota of 58,491 pounds due to overage in the spring fishery, which last closed July 8th. Anglers exceeded the spring quota of 175,474 pounds by 8,417 pounds. Because of this overage, the spring all-depth Pacific halibut fishery will not reopen July 20th-22nd.

Recreational anglers may continue to fish for halibut in nearshore waters (waters less than 40 fathoms). In addition, the sport halibut fishery off the Columbia River subarea ( Leadbetter Point , Wash. to Cape Falcon ) will open Aug. 4th-6th.

The daily bag limit for Pacific halibut is one fish, and the annual limit is six. There is no minimum length requirement. When Pacific halibut are onboard the vessel, retention of groundfish species, except sablefish (black cod), is prohibited on all-depth halibut days between Cape Falcon and Humbug Mountain .

In addition to sablefish, Pacific cod may be retained in the Columbia River subarea. Other non-groundfish species, such as tuna and salmon during authorized seasons, may be possessed with halibut on open all-depth Pacific halibut days.

The high-relief area of Stonewall Bank, located roughly 15 miles west of Newport and defined by waypoints, is closed to Pacific halibut fishing at all times to reduce incidental catch of yelloweye rockfish and canary rockfish. Both species are considered overfished and must be released immediately.

The closed area is defined by latitude and longitude waypoints, which are available on the Marine Resources Program Web site at: www.dfw.state.or.us/MRP/.

Any additional all-depth Pacific halibut sport fishery days off the Oregon coast will be announced on the National Marine Fisheries Service hotline (1-800-662-9825) and posted on the ODFW Marine Resources Program Web site at: www.dfw.state.or.us/MRP/.