The Puget Sound and Strait of Juan de Fuca sport halibut fishery east of Low Point opened on May 9. Sport halibut fishing west of Low Point to the Sekiu River opened May 23. Each area is currently 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 combined projected harvest for the season is 57,393 pounds. The eastern portion will close on July 12 and the western portion will close on July 26, as scheduled.

Preliminary estimates through May 28 for the north Washington coast sport halibut fishery (Sekiu River to the Queets River) indicate that the harvest is 80,094 pounds, or 27,936 pounds short of the 108,030 pound catch limit. A closure on May 28 was necessary to preserve fishing during the early July fishery. Two days were eliminated from the early July fishery due to a greater than expected catch during the May fishery period. Therefore, the north Washington coast sport halibut sport fishery will re-open for two days on Wednesday and Thursday, July 3 and 4, 2002.

Preliminary estimates through June 2 for the south Washington coast sport halibut fishery (Queets River to Leadbetter Point) indicate that 11,350 pounds remain to be harvested from the quota of 42,739 pounds. No halibut were harvested during the week of May 27 through June 2, as anglers shifted their effort toward salmon fishing.

The preliminary catch estimate for the Columbia River sport halibut fishery (Leadbetter Point to Cape Falcon) through May 25 is 9,764 pounds and 1,424 pounds short of the quota. The remaining poundage is insufficient to re-open this area without risking going over the quota of 11,188 pounds. Therefore, the Columbia River sport halibut fishery will remain closed for the remainder of 2002.

The May north central Oregon all-depth fishery (Cape Falcon to Florence north jetty) catch of 75,390 pounds was well under the 156,835 pound catch limit. The fishery occurred on May 10, 11, 17, and 18. This fishery re-opened on June 7 and 8 with 81,445 pounds remaining. The south central Oregon (Florence north jetty to Humbug Mountain) anglers also were well under their 14,609 pound quota and this area too will re-open on June 7 and June 8. Weather was a factor in both areas as small boat anglers found difficult bar conditions and were unable to reach their normal fishing grounds. Catch per unit of effort also was reported to be lower than previous years. 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.

The sport halibut fishery south of Humbug Mountain opened on May 1 and will remain open through September 30, 2002. 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 at season’s end is 7,860 pounds.