Council to Limit Salmon Fishing Off Washington, Oregon

VANCOUVER, Wash. (AP) — The Pacific Fisheries Management Council has adopted limited summer salmon fishing seasons off the Washington and northern Oregon coasts. At a meeting on Thursday in Vancouver, the council avoided a complete closure of the season, a possibility that had been discussed in March.

The Columbian newspaper reports season closure discussion was prompted by weak coho runs forecast for 2016 in Puget Sound waters and many coastal streams.

Two years of warm water in the north Pacific Ocean are considered the likely cause.

For the waters between Cape Falcon, Ore. (near Manzanita) and Leadbetter Point at the northern tip of Long Beach Peninsula, salmon fishing will open July 1 and is scheduled to continue daily through Aug. 31, or until 18,900 fin-clipped coho are caught.

The bag limit will be two salmon, but only one chinook.

Cape Falcon to Leadbetter Point is the only portion of the northern Oregon and Washington coast where coho fishing will be allowed.