The Puget Sound and Strait of Juan de Fuca (east of the Sekiu River) opened May 17 and will close July 22 as scheduled. Sport halibut fishing is open five days a week from Thursday through Monday. The daily bag limit and possession limit is one halibut with no minimum size limit. The projected harvest for the season is 57,393 pounds.

Through May 27, the harvest for the north Washington coast (Sekiu River to Queets River) is 64,313 pounds. The Catch Sharing Plan gives preference to a July sport halibut fishery, therefore, this area will close at 11:59PM on Friday, June 1. Halibut fishing will re-open on July 1 and close on July 4, with a one halibut daily bag and possession limit and no minimum size limit.

Sport halibut fishing will re-open on the south Washington coast (Queets River to Leadbetter Point), in all-depths, on Wednesday, June 6, for one day only. Harvest estimates indicate 38,855 pounds have been caught, about 4,000 pounds shy of the 42,739 pound catch limit.

About 60 percent of the Columbia River (Leadbetter Point to Cape Falcon) sport halibut quota has been taken through May 27. This fishery is open seven days a week with a one halibut daily bag and possession limit. The first halibut taken with a length of 32 inches or greater must be kept. A total of 4,283 pounds remain in the season quota.

The May north central Oregon all-depth fishery catch of 120,000 pounds was slightly under the 135,866 pound catch limit. The fishery occurred on May 11, 12, 18, and 19. This underage is insufficient to allow another day of fishing so sport halibut fishing is now closed between Cape Falcon and the north Florence jetty. The remaining catch limit of 16,000 pounds will be rolled into the August all-depth fishery. The south central anglers harvested approximately 9,000 pounds during May 11, 12, 18, 19 compared to the 12,656 pound quota. The amount remaining is enough to allow a single additional day of fishing on Friday, June 8 in the area from the north Florence jetty to Humbug Mountain. A further announcement will be made prior to July 20 on the number of days available for the August 3 all-depth sport halibut fishery. Weather was a factor in both areas during the May 19 fishery with the south coast being affected the greatest.

Halibut sport fishing continues to be open inside the 30-fathom curve from Cape Falcon to Humbug Mountain. This fishery is open seven days a week with a one halibut daily bag and possession limit and an area catch limit of 17,150 pounds. The harvest through May 20 is 330 pounds. The first halibut taken with a length of 32 inches or greater must be kept. For regulations in the area north of Cape Falcon, see the Columbia River area under the Washington heading.

The sport halibut fishery south of Humbug Mountain opened on May 1 and will remain open through September 30, 2001. This fishery is open seven days a week with a one halibut bag and possession limit. The first halibut taken with a length of 32 inches or greater must be kept. The projected catch is 6,809 pounds.