Chinook fishery to end Sunday in Marine Area 10 off Seattle

OLYMPIA - The sport fishery for chinook salmon in Marine Area 10 (Seattle/Bremerton) will close at the end of the day Sunday (Aug. 18), when state fishery managers anticipate the annual catch guideline for that area will be met.

Exceptions are Sinclair inlet and five fishing piers within the marine area, where anglers can continue to catch chinook salmon as part of their daily limit. Those piers include Elliott Bay Fishing Pier at Terminal 86, Seacrest Pier, Waterman Pier, Bremerton Boardwalk, and Illahee State Park Pier.

There and elsewhere in Marine Area 10, anglers can also continue to catch coho and pink salmon under limits described in the state Fishing in Washington rule pamphlet, available online at http://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/regulations/ .

High catch rates in the area since early August propelled the fishery toward the annual area guideline of 3,700 legal-size chinook caught or released, said Ryan Lothrop, Puget Sound recreational salmon manager for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

"The fishery really took off in the past two weeks," Lothrop said. "Anglers did really well throughout the marine area."

Lothrop noted that Shilshole Bay remains closed to all salmon fishing through Aug. 31 southeast from Meadow Point West Point. Elliott Bay also remains closed to fishing, except in the specified Elliott Bay Fishery described in the fishing rules pamphlet.