Outdoors Notebook | Halibut quota is larger than early proposal

The halibut fisheries have been finalized for this season, and while the overall catch quota is somewhat smaller than last year, anglers can look forward to more opportunities in years to come.

"The halibut are a healthy stock, and we can expect some increases [higher catch quotas] in the future, not large increases but modest ones," said Michelle Culver, a state Fish and Wildlife regional manager in Montesano.

Back in December, the International Pacific Halibut Commission [IPHC] had proposed a sport, commercial and tribal fishery halibut catch quota of 1 million pounds for all areas south of the U.S.-Canada border for this year.

During the final meeting last week the IPHC decided to raise the catch quota to 1.22-million pounds (220,238 pounds for sport only) compared to 1.34-million (239,636) last year.

"We had a large component from Washington, which included representatives from the treaty tribes as well as a strong contingent of commercial and recreational fishermen at the meeting," Culver said. "These groups made the argument on how they rely on the fisheries from an economic benefit and how they carry quite a bit of weight. That got us the higher quota than what they had proposed for."

Even though the quota is smaller, Calvin Blood, an IPHC sport fishery biologist says the two drivers on how long these fisheries will last are usually dictated by the number of anglers that turn out in each area and the weather.

"In general, it will be a few days shorter with the lower quota under the same kind of effort as last year," Blood said.

Neah Bay-La Push will open May 13, and close when the catch quota of 79,194 pounds is attained. Fishing will be allowed Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Fishing will reopen three days per week June 17 with a late-season reserve quota of 30,798 pounds.

Westport will open May 1, and close when the catch quota of 44,700 pounds is achieved. Fishing will be allowed Sunday and Tuesday of each week following the opener.

Last year, the fishing at Westport lasted only six days mostly due to more people on the water [an average of 400 per day], better weather and larger halibut, which averaged 27 pounds.

"At Westport we wanted to lengthen the season, which is why we went to the two days a week fishery [this season]," Culver said. "In the past we had a five-day-a-week season in Neah Bay, and a reduction there of days to fish also lengthened the season."

Culver said the other change at Westport is fisheries set aside 10 percent of the quota to provide a near shore fishery.

"That in combination with the lower quota is why we also needed to go to a two-day-a-week season there," Culver said.

The Ilwaco area will be open daily starting May 1, and close when the catch quota of 18,762 pounds is reached.

Culver said the halibut fishing seasons for the Strait of Juan de Fuca east of Sekiu and inner-Puget Sound will be made at a meeting on Jan. 29.

"Area 5 [Sekiu] has always opened on the Thursdays before Memorial Day weekend [opener would be May 29 this year]," Culver said. "Puget Sound has opened on April 9 the past two years, and we expect it to open around the same time frame [this year]."

Notes

• Hundreds of bald eagles are feeding on the winter grounds along the Skagit River looking for spawned out salmon carcasses before heading back to Alaska and British Columbia this summer.

The Upper Skagit Bald Eagle Festival is today at the Skagit River Bald Eagle Interpretive Center located at the Howard Miller Steelhead Park, 52809 Rockport Park Road.

The center is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Fridays to Mondays through Feb. 18. Details: 360-853-7626 or www.skagiteagle.org.

• The Coast Guard Auxiliary Edmonds Flotilla is hosting a 13-week Boating Skills and Seamanship class starting Feb. 7, and an Advanced Coastal Navigation class starting Feb. 5. Both will be held in the Shoreline area. Details: 206-546-4171 or email Boatclasses@hotmail.com.

• Mountain climber Ed Viesturs will read from his book No Shortcuts to the Top and present a slide show with discussion on Monday at 7 p.m. at The Mountaineers, 300 3rd Avenue West in Seattle. Viesturs spent 18 years to climb the world's 14 8,000-meter peaks without the aid of bottled oxygen. Details: 206-284-6310 orwww.mountaineers.org.

• The Methow Valley Sports Trails Association Snowshoe Festival is 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday at Sun Mountain Lodge. There will be an introduction to snowshoeing and free use of Alta snowshoes. Families are welcome, and at 11 a.m. people may participate in the Nature Winter Tour Series snowshoe walk with a local naturalist to learn about winter ecology, wildlife and animal tracks. There will also be an evening snowshoe walk beginning at 5 p.m. Details: www.mvsta.com.

• The Washington Sportsmen's Show is today at the Puyallup Fair and Events Center in Puyallup. Details: www.otshows.com.

• The Seattle Boat Show is today through Saturday at Qwest Field and Event Center in Seattle and Chandler's Cove on South Lake Union. Details: www.seattleboatshow.com.

Mark Yuasa: 206-464-8780 or myuasa@seattletimes.com