Pacific Northwest Saltwater Fishing

Saltwater fishing is a popular form of recreation and for some a career in the USA Pacific Northwestern states and parts of Canada. These include Washington, Oregon, British Columbia, Alaska and California.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council recommends management measures for fisheries off the coasts of California, Oregon, and Washington.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council is one of eight regional fishery management councils established by the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976 for the purpose of managing fisheries 3-200 miles offshore of the United States of America coastline.

Pacific salmon are anadromous; they hatch in rivers, creeks, and hatcheries; migrate to the ocean for several years; and then return to the rivers of their birth to spawn.

Chinook or King salmon is Alaska's state fish and is one of the most important sport and commercial fish of the Pacific Coast. Chinook are the largest of the Pacific salmon, often weighing 30 pounds or more.

Coho are among the most popular Pacific salmon. Adult coho average around 8 pounds although trophy fish may measure more than 2 feet in length and weigh up to 36 pounds. Coho salmon are abundant in much of Alaska but are listed as either endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act in the Central/Northern California and Southern Oregon watersheds.

Pink salmon are the smallest of the Pacific salmon found in North America with an average weight of about 3 1/2 to 4 pounds and average lengths around 20-25 inches.

Sockeye salmon support one of the most important commercial fisheries on the Pacific coast. Sockeyes are also sought after by recreational anglers.

Chum salmon weigh 8 to 12 pounds and are typically 24 to 30 inches in length. They are the most abundant commercially harvested salmon species in arctic, northwestern, and Interior Alaska.

Salmonid species on the west coast of the United States have experienced dramatic declines in abundance during the past several decades as a result of human-induced and natural factors.

The National Marine Fisheries Service sets Pacific salmon seasons beyond the three-mile limit out to 200 miles. Members of the Pacific Fisheries Management Council (PFMC) present data and information for review during its season setting process. The PFMC makes recommendations to the National Marine Fishery Service for ocean salmon seasons. Once the federal season setting process is completed the states normally adopts a similar set of regulations for their waters.

The Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund (PCSRF) was established by Congress in FY 2000 to protect, restore, and conserve Pacific salmon and steelhead populations and their habitats. Salmon recovery funds support tribal and state projects in Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Idaho, and Alaska.

For more information about the The Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund, see: http://www.nwr.noaa.gov/Salmon-Recovery-Planning/PCSRF/Index.cfm

In an economic study of commercial and recreational fisheries released on 6 January 2009, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) found that commercial and recreational fisheries combined generated 2 million jobs in the United States and $185 billion in sales.

The report, "Fisheries Economics in the United States," found that in 2006 US commercial fishing operations accounted for 111,000 jobs and generated $9.1 billion in sales.

The highest amount of sales generated by the commercial fishing industry were in California ($9.8 billion), Florida ($5.2 billion), Massachusetts ($4.4 billion), Washington ($3.8 billion), and Alaska ($3 billion).

The most jobs were generated in California (179,000), Florida (103,000), Massachusetts (83,000), Washington (75,000) and Texas (47,000).

source: NMFS

On March 16, 2010, NOAA's Fisheries Service announced the listing of Pacific smelt as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

Under the ESA, a "threatened" species is in danger of becoming endangered in the foreseeable future. An "endangered" species is one in danger of extinction in all or part of its range.

Pacific smelt, known officially as eulachon, are small ocean-going fish that historically ranged from northern California to the Bering Sea in Alaska. They return to rivers to spawn in late winter and early spring. This little fish is so high in body fat during spawning that it can be dried, strung on a wick and burned, lending another name to its list of aliases-candlefish. There is a small and widely dispersed commercial and recreational fishery for pacific smelt.

For more information on the eulachon ESA listing, see the Web at: http://www.nwr.noaa.gov/Other-Marine-Species/Eulachon.cfm.

In 2010, NOAA Fisheries adopted a catch-share program for West Coast trawl fishing that will make a major shift in how groundfish are managed.

The new approach does away with the conventional practice of setting a fleet-wide quota of how many fish can be caught and then letting fishermen compete with each other to catch as much of that quota as possible before the fishery is closed. Instead, the new system divides the total quota into shares controlled by individual fishermen. Those shares can be caught whenever the fisherman wants, ideally more efficiently and at more profitable marketing times.

The new system has the support of the trawl fishing industry and was developed by the Pacific Fishery Management Council, which works with the fisheries agency in producing fishery management plans for the West Coast.

West Coast groundfish include:

Dover sole (Microstomus pacificus)
Rex sole (Glyptocephalus zachirus)
English sole (Parophrys vetulus)
Petrale sole (Eopsetta jordani)
Arrowtooth flounder (Atheresthes stomias)
Pacific sanddab (Citharichthys sordidus)
Lingcod (Ophiodon elongatus)
Yellowtail rockfish (Sebastes flavidus)
Widow rockfish (Sebastes entomelas)
Chilipepper rockfish (Sebastes goodei)
Splitnose rockfish (Sebastes diploproa)
Sablefish (Anoplopoma fimbria)
Pacific grenadier (Coryphaenoides acrolepis)
Longnose skate (Raja rhina)
Shortspine thornyhead (Sebastolobus alascanus)
Longspine thornyhead (Sebastolobus altivelis)