NEW blog — “The Salmon Fishing Current” provides salmon updates this season
Salmon fishing in Marine Area 5 (Sekiu and Pillar Point) and Marine Area 6 (East Strait of Juan de Fuca) open daily for salmon fishing beginning July 1
Washington’s salmon season setting process is one of the most complex fishery management systems in the world, and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) fishery managers work hard to keep the public informed on sport fishing-related regulations.
The annual salmon season setting process known as North of Falcon is a series of more than a dozen public meetings WDFW hosts. This two-plus month long process to set the 2024–25 salmon fishing seasons concluded in mid-April with a final fishing package approved in early June. North of Falcon refers to waters north of Oregon’s Cape Falcon and marks the southern border of management of the state’s salmon stocks, including Puget Sound, Strait of Juan de Fuca, Columbia River, and coastal areas.
The work by WDFW fishery managers doesn’t end once the salmon seasons are approved, and the continued efforts to provide marine and freshwater fishing opportunities and in-season updates span nearly every day of the year.
As part of the ongoing summer and fall salmon fishing season, WDFW has created the “The Salmon Fishing Current” blog. This blog is a way to keep anglers informed of any in-season fishing rule changes, emergency closures or other related developments in Puget Sound, the coast and Columbia River. We share your frustration when opportunities for upcoming scheduled seasons change or close sooner than expected, and we hope this blog provides a better understanding of why those changes could occur.
WDFW favors transparency by keeping an open door when it comes to public expectations. We listen closely to the input of everyone, and we take that feedback seriously to help inform and find solutions to our current and future management strategies that best serve the wide array of interested participants, and to the best extent possible, seek win-win outcomes for everyone.
Often, the in-season changes are needed to ensure that conservation goals that aid the recovery of salmon and steelhead are met, including keeping the fishery impacts within the constraints under the Endangered Species Act. We are committed to keeping the public abreast of the rationale.
We hope this increased public interaction that started with our first-ever Town Hall meeting on Jan. 30 along with the Salmon Daily Digest blog during the North of Falcon process and this new blog, can provide information to keep anglers up to date. Visit the WDFW North of Falcon FAQs and Glossary Information for helpful key terms and suggested resources. You can also read more about understanding Puget Sound fisheries management on the WDFW blog. If you have any other ideas to build on our communication in future years, please let us know.
You can follow key developments in the posts below.
June 28, 2024 — Marine Areas 5 and 6 in the Strait of Juan de Fuca open for salmon fishing July 1
Anglers can make plans to fish in two marine areas along the Strait of Juan de Fuca that open for salmon fishing starting July 1.
Marine Area 5 (Sekiu and Pillar Point) in the western Strait of Juan de Fuca will open July 1 through Aug. 15 for retention of hatchery-marked Chinook and coho only, release sockeye, chum, wild coho and wild Chinook (if the Chinook retention fishery closes sooner than expected the area will remain open for hatchery coho only). The daily limit is two salmon including no more than one hatchery Chinook. The hatchery Chinook minimum size is 22 inches.
The Marine Area 5 salmon fishery is also open Aug. 16 through Sept. 26, release Chinook, chum, sockeye, and wild coho; and open Sept. 27 through Oct. 15, release Chinook, chum, and sockeye. The daily limit is two salmon with no minimum size.
The 2024 Chinook retention fishery could close sooner if the legal-size (Chinook longer than the 22-inch minimum size limit) encounter guideline of 6,539 is achieved. In 2023, the legal-size encounter was 7,254 with a full Chinook fishing season from July 1 through Aug. 15.
Marine Area 6 (East Strait of Juan de Fuca) — west of a true north/south line through the #2 Buoy immediately east of Ediz Hook — will open July 1 through Aug. 15 for retention of hatchery-marked Chinook and coho; release sockeye, chum, wild coho and wild Chinook (if the Chinook retention fishery closes sooner than expected the area will remain open for hatchery coho only). The daily limit is two salmon. The hatchery Chinook minimum size is 22 inches.
The Marine Area 6 salmon fishery is also open Aug. 16 through Sept. 26, release Chinook, chum, sockeye, and wild coho; and open Sept. 27 through Oct. 15, release Chinook, chum, and sockeye. The daily limit is two salmon with no minimum size.
The 2024 Chinook retention fishery could close sooner if the legal-size encounter guideline of 11,173 is achieved. In 2023, the legal-size encounter was 11,516 with a full Chinook fishing season from July 1 through Aug. 15.
Marine Area 6 east of a true north/south line through the #2 Buoy immediately east of Ediz Hook is open July 1 through Sept. 26 for retention of hatchery-marked coho only, release Chinook, chum, sockeye, and wild coho; and open Sept. 27 through Oct. 15, release Chinook, chum and sockeye. The daily limit is two salmon with no minimum size.
WDFW fishery managers will monitor the Marine Areas 5 and 6 Chinook retention fisheries and provide updates on the WDFW salmon fishery guidelines and quotas webpage. There are many areas currently open for salmon fishing and others will open later in July. Follow this blog for updates or refer to the WDFW Sport Fishing regulation pamphlet for details.
June 20, 2024 — Additional Marine Area 11 salmon fishing opportunity for remainder of this month and daily limit increases to two hatchery Chinook salmon beginning June 21
Salmon fishing in Marine Area 11 (Tacoma-Vashon Island) is open daily for remainder of June and anglers may keep two hatchery Chinook salmon as part of their daily salmon limit beginning June 21.
Estimates of the catch through June 23, indicate the fishery has reached 39% of the hatchery Chinook quota (562 of 1,423), 16% of the total unmarked wild fish encounter (148 of 910) and 2% of the sublegal fish encounter (49 of 2,608) agreed to in the List of Agreed Fisheries.
Between June 5–23 (10 total fishing days), 2,380 boats with 4,650 anglers retained 562 Chinook, and released 133 hatchery Chinook and 143 wild Chinook.
The June season was originally scheduled to be open Wednesdays through Saturdays only from June 5–30, but slower catch rates will allow for additional days of fishing in June. The daily limit is two salmon, and anglers may retain up to two hatchery Chinook. Chinook minimum size limit is 22 inches. Release chum and wild Chinook. In Marine Areas 5 through 13, it is illegal to bring salmon aboard a vessel if it is unlawful to retain that salmon. “Aboard a vessel” is defined as inside the gunwale (upper edge of the side of a boat) and is to reduce further stress or possible mortality.
In 2023, the Marine Area 11 June fishery was open eight days — June 1–4 and June 8–11 — and had exceeded the unmarked “wild” Chinook encounter limit (1,036 of 901) by 15%. The closure was necessary despite remaining under the harvest quota by 69% (988 of 1.423) and 67% of total sublegal encounter limit (1,130 of 1,697).
The 2024 hatchery Chinook retention fishery in Marine Area 11 — from the northern tip of Vashon Island to the northernmost part of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge — is split into two distinct seasons to allow for additional summer fishing.
Salmon fishing in Marine Area 11 will reopen July 18–20. The allowable catch quota during the second half of the season is 3,379 hatchery-marked Chinook and a total sublegal encounter limit of 5,907 fish. WDFW will assess the Chinook catch after the initial three-day opener. Additional Chinook openings in Marine Area 11 may occur in late July based on available quota and it is planned to open for Chinook on Aug. 1.
State fishery managers indicate the two summer segments were modeled separately due to the stock composition found in Marine Area 11 during June and the July to September time frames. This allowed fishery managers to meet all management objectives for stocks of concern and add time on the water. This type of management planning for summer fisheries also occurs in other marine areas. To view the Puget Sound salmon fishery guidelines and quotas, visit WDFW webpage.
State fishery managers indicate the two summer segments were modeled separately due to the stock composition found in Marine Area 11 during June and the July to September time frames. This allowed fishery managers to meet all management objectives for stocks of concern and add time on the water. This type of management planning for summer fisheries also occurs in other marine areas. To view the Puget Sound salmon fishery guidelines and quotas, visit WDFW webpage.
Puget Sound salmon seasons are a result of an annual collaborative state and tribal salmon season-setting process known as North of Falcon and information can be found on the WDFW North of Falcon webpage.
Several other marine areas are currently open for salmon fishing including Marine Area 10 (Seattle/Bremerton), the Tulalip Terminal Area Fishery (open Fridays through noon Mondays only), Marine Area 13 (South Puget Sound) and sections of the Skagit and Cascade rivers. The ocean salmon fishing season opens Saturday, June 22, at Neah Bay, La Push, and Ilwaco (Marine Areas 4, 3, and 1), and June 30 at Westport-Ocean Shores (Marine Area 2). Refer to the WDFW webpage or the 2024–25 WDFW regulation pamphlet for additional salmon season details.
