National Marine Fisheries Service
09/21/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 09/21/2026 17:29
West Coast Pacific Halibut Directed Commercial Fishery: Closure Announcement
NOAA Fisheries announces the closure of the 2026 Area 2A non-Tribal directed commercial Pacific halibut fishery. As of September 21, 2026, the directed commercial fleet harvested an estimated 96% of the 261,211-pound (118 mt) allocation, net weight. NOAA Fisheries determined there is not sufficient allocation remaining for an additional fishing period that would not risk exceeding the 2A non-Tribal directed commercial allocation.
Preliminary Harvest Estimates
- Fishing period #1 (June 23-25): 65,129 pounds (30 mt) net weight caught
- Fishing period #2 (July 7-9): 50,633 pounds (23 mt) net weight caught
- Fishing period #3 (July 21-23): 44,127 pounds (20 mt) net weight caught
- Fishing period #4 (August 18-20): 51,837 pounds (23 mt) net weight caught
- Fishing period #5 (September 1-3): 13,574 pounds (6 mt) net weight caught
- Fishing period #6 (September 15-17): 26,345 pounds (12 mt) net weight caught
Other Regulations and Resources
Regulations listed above are only a partial list of applicable regulations. Some helpful links to more regulations and resources include:
Questions?
Contact the West Coast Region Pacific halibut team at [email protected].
National Marine Fisheries Service published this content on September 21, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on September 21, 2026 at 23:29 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]