Marine Area 9 Will Not Open To Salmon Fishing On January 16th, 2017

Marine Area 9 salmon season reopening delayed

Action: Marine Area 9 will not reopen on January 16.

Effective Date: January 16, 2017 until further notice.

Species affected: Salmon

Location: Marine Area 9 within Puget Sound, excluding year-round piers.

Reason for action: Preliminary estimates and fishery projections indicate that reopening January 16 would lead to an early closure of Area 9 by reaching the allowable limit of total chinook encounters earlier than the April 15 closure date. Delaying the opening to mid-February or early March will allow the state time to monitor the sub-legal to legal-sized proportion of chinook and determine a reopening date that will give anglers opportunity later into the spring.

Other information: WDFW will continue to evaluate the ratio of legal to sublegal-size chinook to help minimize the risk of anglers encountering sub-legal chinook and maximize fishing opportunity for the mark-selective chinook fishery in Area 9. Edmonds Public Fishing Pier is unaffected by this rule change and specific regulations can be found in the Washington Sport Fishing Rules pamphlet.

Information contact: Ryan Lothrop (360) 902-2808