OLYMPIA — Spot shrimp season will open in parts of the Olympic Peninsula later this week.
Marine Area 5 (western Strait of Juan de Fuca) will open to spot shrimp Thursday. Marine Area 6 (eastern Strait of Juan de Fuca — Port Angeles Harbor, excluding the Discovery Bay Shrimp District) will open Thursday for one day, then June 1-13 daily and then Thursdays through Sundays each week beginning June 18 until the quota is met.
The Discovery Bay Shrimp District will be open from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. on June 11, 15 and 28.
Marine Area 9 (Edmonds, Port Townsend Bay, Admiralty Inlet) is open from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. on June 11.
Marine Area 12 (the Hood Canal Shrimping District) will be open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on June 11, 15, 26 and 28, and July 15 and 28.
Marine Area 4 (Neah Bay and Olympic Pacific Ocean Coast) will remain closed to shrimp.
All shrimp — including spot, dock, coonstripe and pink shrimp — can be kept as part of the daily limit. However, because only larger mesh (1 inch) traps are allowed during these seasons, most harvest will be spot shrimp. Also known as prawns, spot shrimp are the largest shrimp in Puget Sound and may grow up to nine inches in length.
Additional dates and times may be announced if enough quota remains after the initial opening. In all areas, shrimpers are limited to 80 shrimp a day during May. Beginning June 1, the daily limit is 10 pounds of shrimp with a maximum of 80 spot shrimp.
Traps can be set one hour before official sunrise during open periods. The pots must be removed from the water by one hour after sunset. Seasons for dock, coonstripe and pink shrimp will begin later this year and will be announced separately by the WDFW.
