HALIBUT SEASON MANAGEMENT is the topic of an important meeting from 9 a.m. to noon Thursday at Montesano City Hall, 112 N. Main St.
State halibut managers will provide an overview of options under consideration by the Pacific Fisheries Management Council (PFMC) for recreational and commercial fisheries during next year’s fishing 2018 season.
Fish and Wildlife staffers will then invite public comments on those options and consider that input in developing recommendations to the PFMC before the federally established council meets in November.
“All of these options are based on suggestions made by anglers to improve the state’s halibut fishery,” said Heather Reed, coastal policy coordinator for Fish and Wildlife. “We know there is a lot of interest in upcoming halibut seasons, and we encourage the public to participate in this meeting.”
Reed said one key option under consideration is to structure the state’s recreational halibut fisheries on the north coast, south coast and Puget Sound marine areas around common dates, as was done this year.
Pool quota together?
Within that structure, the PFMC has proposed two new options:
• Maintain area-specific quotas where those waters would remain open to halibut fishing until their quotas are reached.
• Manage the first four days of the season under a shared quota, then distribute any remaining quota to each area according to its established allocation. Additional fisheries for each area would then depend on whether there is sufficient quota to support them.
Sequim angler Dave Croonquist had a number of questions in advance of the meeting and received some responses from Michele Culver,
He asked about how days of the week are selected, if dates with favorable tides can be chosen and recommended not pooling the halibut quota amongst the south coast, north coast and Puget Sound.
“On the number of days in between the weekday and weekend day, we are open, but have received feedback that anglers prefer having only one day in between, if possible,” Culver said. “Discussions among the anglers have typically focused on a Thursday/Saturday or Friday/Sunday season, although we have had Thursday/Sunday seasons as well. We do our best to take a number of factors into consideration, including the tide schedule, accommodating fishing derby events, and other overlapping fisheries (e.g., shrimp, salmon).
Culver also said the state could structure the season for only one day of fishing per week, such as a Saturday, to spread the season out over a longer period.
The state seems open to a season that reflects tidal charts and provides better, and hopefully safer, fishing opportunities.
“Yes, we will distribute copies of the tide schedule at the meeting and are open to selecting the days that folks want to fish, even if that means skipping a week before the next opener,” Culver said.
She thanked Croonquist for his comments on maintaining the status quo allocation formula as opposed to sharing quota amongst the subareas.
“That is one of the alternatives under consideration and we plan to have an analysis that shows how the status quo allocations for each subarea would compare to the alternative that would pool the quota to provide an initial four-day season before allocating the quota,” Culver said.
Other options under consideration include:
Establishing an annual catch limit of two to six fish for individual anglers.
Change the days of the week the Columbia River all-depth fishery is open to allow anglers to fish Thursday, Friday and Sunday.
Lower the cap on the amount of halibut allocated to the commercial sablefish fishery, which incidentally harvests halibut while targeting sablefish (black cod). This option would be in effect when the overall quota for Washington, Oregon and California is less than 1.5 million pounds.
More information about these options can be found online at tinyurl.com/PDN-HalibutOptions.
Leland colors
Some pretty fish and foliage await anglers heading to Lake Leland.
Fish and Wildlife planted 2,056 rainbow trout into Lake Leland on Monday.
That makes the lake a great option for anglers looking for some freshwater fall fishing.
Quilcene’s Ward Norden, a former fisheries biologist and owner of Snapper Tackle Company, checked in with an update on a rapidly-changing lake.
“The trees around the lake are changing color,” he said. “Fog rolls off the lake in the early morning. The temperature of the water in the lake is now 60 degrees and falling, so the trout are starting to bite. [Wednesday] when I stopped by the pier, the lone angler had two nice trout in the bucket and I watched him land another well-fed rainbow about 14-inches long using Power Bait.
“If you aren’t a hunter or have the time to get after the trout, do so soon. Once the lake water drops below 45 degrees, fishing will get very slow until next March.”
Deer hunting difficult
Modern firearm deer season begins Oct. 14, but those who enjoy muzzleloader hunts have been at it since last Saturday in an eight-day quest.
Norden said he’s had trouble finding traces during the bright Harvest Moon.
“Hunting has been tough for the early muzzleloader hunt around here,” he said. “The dry branches and the full moon all night long this week have made the deer really scarce. I will have to find some four-leaf clovers soon to fill the freezer by Sunday.”
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Sports reporter/columnist Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-417-3525 or mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.
