Coastal salmon fishing shutdown among 3 options weighed

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — Regional fishery managers are considering closing recreational and commercial salmon fishing off the coast of Washington and northern Oregon this summer due to a low number of returning coho salmon.

The closure is one of three options being considered by the Pacific Fishery Management Council, which sets the fishing seasons in ocean waters off the Pacific coast.

The News Tribune reports that two other options, released Monday, would permit some salmon fishing this year. The third alternative would close both recreational and commercial non-tribal ocean fishing for chinook and coho salmon north of Cape Falcon, near Manzanita, Oregon.

The council will decide on an option at its April meeting in Vancouver, Washington. It will forward its recommendation to a federal agency for final approval before May 1.

The last time the ocean salmon fishing season was closed was 1994. Fishing was severely curtailed in 2008.