May 6, 2004
Action: The Hood Canal recreational shrimp season will open for four days in May
Effective date: Shrimping will be open May 15, 19, 22 and 26 from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on a Wednesday-and-Saturday schedule. Additional openings for May 29 or June 2 will depend on May catch rates, and will be announced after May 26.
Species affected: All shrimp
Location: All waters of Marine Area 12 (Hood Canal), south of the Hood Canal Bridge.
Reason for action: This year's allowable catch of shrimp for recreational fishers in Hood Canal is 75,000 pounds.
Other information: Sport fishers are limited to one shrimp pot per person, with a daily limit of 80 shrimp. Pots must conform to gear specifications contained in the 2004/05 "Fishing in Washington" rules pamphlet. The pamphlet also describes legal buoys. Other regulations for Hood Canal shrimp fishing include:
Any shrimp caught over the individual fisher limit of 80 may be passed to other licensed fishers on the boat that don't have their limit. After the boat limit is reached, shrimp must be returned immediately to the water unharmed. Each limit must be kept in a separate container. Fishers may remove and discard the heads from their shrimp while on the water.
Each vessel participating in the fishery may have on board and operate no more than four shrimp pots.
Pots may not be set prior to 9 a.m. and must be removed from the water by 1 p.m. each fishing day. Each fisher must set and pull his or her own gear, although a second person may assist the pot owner in operation of the gear.
Once a person has reached his or her limit another person may fish the gear as long as the identified pot owner is aboard. Another person may attach a buoy bearing his or her name and address to the pot and continue fishing for a separate 80-shrimp limit. It is acceptable to securely affix duct tape to a buoy and legibly mark your name and address. However, only one name and address may appear on any buoy.
Shrimp fishers also may harvest clams and oysters on Hood Canal's public beaches subject to regulations in the fishing pamphlet and on the WDFW shellfish hotline (listed below). Shrimp fishers may not fish for crab, as the Hood Canal Crab season is currently closed. The crab fishery in Hood Canal is projected to open in early June.
Information contact: Dave Sterritt (ext. 228) or Rich Childers (ext. 400), at the Point Whitney Office, (360) 796-4601
Effective date: Shrimping will be open May 15, 19, 22 and 26 from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on a Wednesday-and-Saturday schedule. Additional openings for May 29 or June 2 will depend on May catch rates, and will be announced after May 26.
Species affected: All shrimp
Location: All waters of Marine Area 12 (Hood Canal), south of the Hood Canal Bridge.
Reason for action: This year's allowable catch of shrimp for recreational fishers in Hood Canal is 75,000 pounds.
Other information: Sport fishers are limited to one shrimp pot per person, with a daily limit of 80 shrimp. Pots must conform to gear specifications contained in the 2004/05 "Fishing in Washington" rules pamphlet. The pamphlet also describes legal buoys. Other regulations for Hood Canal shrimp fishing include:
Any shrimp caught over the individual fisher limit of 80 may be passed to other licensed fishers on the boat that don't have their limit. After the boat limit is reached, shrimp must be returned immediately to the water unharmed. Each limit must be kept in a separate container. Fishers may remove and discard the heads from their shrimp while on the water.
Each vessel participating in the fishery may have on board and operate no more than four shrimp pots.
Pots may not be set prior to 9 a.m. and must be removed from the water by 1 p.m. each fishing day. Each fisher must set and pull his or her own gear, although a second person may assist the pot owner in operation of the gear.
Once a person has reached his or her limit another person may fish the gear as long as the identified pot owner is aboard. Another person may attach a buoy bearing his or her name and address to the pot and continue fishing for a separate 80-shrimp limit. It is acceptable to securely affix duct tape to a buoy and legibly mark your name and address. However, only one name and address may appear on any buoy.
Shrimp fishers also may harvest clams and oysters on Hood Canal's public beaches subject to regulations in the fishing pamphlet and on the WDFW shellfish hotline (listed below). Shrimp fishers may not fish for crab, as the Hood Canal Crab season is currently closed. The crab fishery in Hood Canal is projected to open in early June.
Information contact: Dave Sterritt (ext. 228) or Rich Childers (ext. 400), at the Point Whitney Office, (360) 796-4601