Coastal recreational halibut fishing reopens on Thursday, May 31 and Saturday, June 2 off the Juan de Fuca coast in the marine area 3 (Neah Bay) and along the Pacific out of marine area 4 (LaPush), the state Department of Fish & Wildlife has announced. As usual, there is a one fish quota. Fisheries community volunteer Dan Leinan, who is now retired from his post as City of Forks Treasurer/Clerk and has more opportunities to go fishing, reported that the first week of halibut fishing earlier this season saw some 68,000 lbs. of halibut caught and reported, and that for this year’s halibut fishery just under 40,000 lbs. of halibut remains to be caught under the 108,030-pound quota for the north coast for this season. The halibut catch count was 1882 for the marine areas, the first week, and 1537 the second week Leinan reported.

Heather Reed, a WDFW fish biologist, said in a news release that…"once we tally the catch during those two days of fishing, we’ll see if we can provide another opening.”