Hood Canal shrimp fishery to open one more day

OLYMPIA - Recreational shrimp fishers will get one more day to fish on Hood Canal, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) announced today.

Marine Area 12 will be open for shrimp fishing May 16 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The four-day Hood Canal season was originally scheduled to be open May 2-13, on Saturdays and Wednesdays only.

"Enough quota remains in Hood Canal to offer shrimpers some more time on the water," said Mark O’Toole, WDFW fish biologist. Since the opener, shrimpers have pulled in 57,500 pounds of prawns from Hood Canal. The 2009 quota for the area is 85,000 pounds.

Other areas of Puget Sound also opened for recreational shrimp fishing May 2, but most quickly reached their quota, causing early closures, O’Toole said.

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Areas closed to spot shrimp fishing include marine areas 8-1 (Deception Pass, Hope Island, Skagit Bay), 8-2 (Port Susan and Port Gardner), 9 (Admiralty Inlet), 10 (Seattle/Bremerton) and 11 (Vashon Island/Tacoma). The Discovery Bay Shrimp District in Marine Area 6 near Port Townsend remains closed to both spot and non-spot shrimp fishing.
 
The northern and central portions of Marine Area 7 (San Juan Islands) will close at 9 p.m. Friday, May 15. The southern portion of Marine Area 7 will close at 9 p.m. Saturday, May 16.

Marine areas 7, 8, 9 and 11 will remain closed until June 1 when the non-spot shrimp season opens. 

Waters still open to spot shrimp fishing include marine areas 4 (Neah Bay), 5 (Sekiu), 6 (eastern Strait of Juan de Fuca) and 13 (south Puget Sound).

More information on shrimp seasons and rules is available on the WDFW shellfish hotline at 1-866-880-5431, or online at http://wdfw.wa.gov/fish/shelfish/shrimpreg .