09-24 REELLIFE digital - Flipbook - Page 22
fishing
It has been an awesome
year for chasing salmon
out on the salt, but if you
are a Marine Area 7 (San
Juan Islands) fisherman
you may be thinking now
what? MA 7 chinook is
closed for the year. At this
point, there are limited fall
chinook opportunities for
our Western Washington
salmon slayers. Then
halibut, although the
fishery is open through
September 29th most of
them are out in the open
ocean doing halibut things.
Lingcod are closed for the
season and our rockfish
fishery continues on a longterm conservation closure…
What do we fish for?
Why not chase San Juan
Island coho, the other red
meat?
As always review the
regulations and Emergency
Regulation notices before
heading out but the current
season is modeled as being
open as follows: 9/1-9/29 1
coho. When heading out to
hunt San Juan Island Coho,
make sure you are aware of
the southeast MA 7 closure,
and if you plan to fish the
banks be cognizant of
your actual location. Know
where the Canadian border
is and where both the MA 7
and MA 6 boundaries are.
Regarding regulations;
this year there has been
an increase in the number
of WDFW staff Safety and
Security Incident Reports
filed for harassment of
WDFW personnel. The
Safety and Security Incident
Reports relate to negative
interactions with anglers
and were submitted by
Puget Sound Sampling
staff over a two-month
period this summer.
The negative interaction
makes WDFW recruitment
and retention difficult and
staff have quit their job
over the treatment they've
received this summer.
As a participant in our
recreational salmon fishery,
please remember that the
department is required to
monitor the fishery.
