NEWPORT, Ore. – The General Marine Species daily bag limit is reduced to three fish beginning Sept. 18 to lower the risk of an early season closure. The one-fish sub-bag limit for cabezon and the one-fish sub-bag limit for canary rockfish remain in place, and retention of quillback and yelloweye rockfishes remains prohibited.
Great weather and ocean conditions since mid-July led to high fishing effort and success. In August, an estimated 53 metric tons (mt) of black rockfish and 8.5 mt of blue and deacon rockfish were caught, exceeding projections for the month despite the bag limit returning to a four-fish bag on Aug. 18. A bag limit reduction from four to three fish on Sept. 18 will reduce the risk of an early season closure.
More information on the recreational bottomfish fishery can be found on the ODFW sport bottomfish webpage. The sport groundfish harvest estimates are available online.
As a reminder, other bag limits remain the same, which include:
• Lingcod daily bag limit: 2
• Sablefish daily bag limit: 10
• Flatfish daily bag limit: 25
• Long-leader daily bag limit: 10, with a sub-bag limit of 1 canary rockfish.
Additionally, Pacific halibut fishing remains open. Visit the ODFW sport Pacific halibut webpage for more information on seasons and subareas.