National Marine Fisheries Service

08/27/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 08/27/2026 15:39

Inseason Notice: West Coast Pacific Halibut Directed Commercial Fishery 5th Fishing Period

NOAA Fisheries announces a fifth fishing period for the 2026 Area 2A non-Tribal directed commercial Pacific halibut fishery. The total allocation for this fishery is 261,211 pounds (118 mt), net weight, with an estimated 51,415 pounds (23 mt) remaining.

5th Fishing Period Dates

  • A fifth fishing period will open on September 1 at 8:00 a.m. and will close on September 3 at 6:00 p.m.

5th Fishing Period Limit

The fishing period limit (vessel catch limit) is equal among all vessel size classes, set at 5,000 pounds (2.268 mt), dressed weight (head-on with ice/slime).

Preliminary Harvest Estimate

  • Fishing period #1 (June 23-25): 65,129 pounds (31 mt) net weight caught
  • Fishing period #2 (July 7-9): 50,633 pounds (23 mt) net weight caught
  • Fishing period #3 (July 21-23): 44,116 pounds (20 mt) net weight caught
  • Fishing period #4 (August 18-20): 49,907 pounds (23 mt) net weight caught

Other Regulations and Resources

Regulations listed above are only a partial list of applicable regulations. Some helpful links to more regulations and resources include:

Questions?

Contact the West Coast Region Pacific halibut team at [email protected].

National Marine Fisheries Service published this content on August 27, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on August 27, 2026 at 21:39 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]