Fishery Notice

For 2024, the recreational Halibut fishery total allowable catch is 805,679 pounds. The recreational Halibut fishery is actively managed to stay within the sector's allocation and fishers should watch for subsequent Fishery Notices to announce potential in-season changes.

Limits and sizes:

Effective at 00:01 hours February 03, 2024, fishing for Halibut was opened coast-wide until further notice (see 2024 Fishery Notice FN0084)

Effective at 00:01 hours April 01, 2024 until December 31, 2024:

The daily limit will remain at one (1) halibut per day.

The possession limit for halibut is EITHER of:

---- one (1) halibut measuring 85 cm to 126 cm in length (65 cm to 97 cm head-off),
OR
---- two (2) halibut, each measuring under 85 cm in length (65 cm head-off).

No person shall retain a Halibut greater than 126 cm head-on length (97 cm head-off).

Head-off measurements are made from the base of the pectoral fin at its most forward point to the extreme end of the middle of the tail.

Annual Limit:

No person shall catch and retain more than ten (10) halibut in the aggregate from April 1, 2024 to March 31, 2025. 

All halibut retained by the licence holder between April 1, 2024 and March 31, 2025 shall be immediately recorded on the 2024/2025 Tidal Waters Sport Fishing Licence, or, if mobile access is immediately available, the licence holder may record catch in the National Recreational Licensing  System or on an approved third-party app. The area from which each halibut is caught and its head-on length shall immediately be recorded.

Licensing:

The 2023/2024 Tidal Waters Sport Fishing Licences and Conditions of Licence, are in effect until March 31, 2024. 

The 2024/2025 Tidal Waters Sport Fishing Licences and Conditions of Licence will be in effect from April 1, 2024 until March 31, 2025. 

The exceptions to these openings are:

Areas 121: No person shall fish for or retain halibut, rockfish and lingcod in Area 121 outside the 12 nautical mile limit seaward of a line that begins at 48 degrees 34.000 minutes and 125 degrees 17.386 minutes W and continues south easterly at a bearing of 116 degrees True to a point at 48 degrees 28.327 minutes and 125 degrees 01.687 minutes W.

Areas 121: Closed to all finfish, year round in the waters of Swiftsure Bank. Those portions of Subareas 121-1 and 121-2 inside a line that begins at 48 degrees 34.000 minutes N and 125 degrees 06.000 minutes W, then true east to 48 degrees 34.000 minutes N and 124 degrees 54.200 minutes W, then southeasterly to the International Boundary, outer perimeter at 48 degrees 29.618 minutes N and 124 degrees 43.553 minutes W, then westerly following the International Boundary perimeter to 48 degrees 29.605 minutes N and 124 degrees 56.190 minutes W, then northwesterly to the beginning point.

Rockfish Conservation Area (RCA) and Glass Sponge Reef (GSR) closures remain in effect - refer to the following web pages for descriptions:

1)RCAs- http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fm-gp/rec/restricted-restreint-eng.html#rca

2)GSRs- http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fm-gp/rec/restricted-restreint-eng.html#sponge

Variation Orders 2024-RCT-099(Close Time) and 2024-RFQ-100(Quota) are in effect.

Anglers are reminded of the mandatory condition of licence for the release of rockfish; all anglers in vessels shall immediately return all rockfish that are not being retained to the water and to a similar depth from which they were caught by use of an inverted weighted barbless hook or other purpose-built descender device.


FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Greg Hornby, Regional Manager Recreational Fisheries, Greg.Hornby@dfo-mpo.gc.ca

Fisheries & Oceans Operations Center - FN0238
Sent March 15, 2024 at 0839

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Printed from the Pacific Region web site on May 20, 2024 at 1223