WA/OR Herring, Anchovy, Smelt, Squid Purse Seine or Lampara Fishery - MMPA List of Fisheries

Current Classification on the List of Fisheries

^ Number of participants estimates are based on state and federal fisheries permit data. The estimated number of participants is expressed in terms of the number of active participants in the fishery, when possible. If this information is not available, the estimated number of vessels or persons licensed for a particular fishery is provided. If no recent information is available on the number of participants, then the number from the most recent LOF is used. NOAA Fisheries acknowledges that, in some cases, these estimations may be inflating actual effort.

*Observer coverage levels include the latest information reported in the most current final Stock Assessment Report (SAR).

¹ Indicates the stock or species is driving the classification of the fishery.

Basis for Current Classification

Classified as a Category III fishery based on the lack of documented mortality or serious injuries of marine mammals based on the available data.

Distribution

This fishery includes fishing for herring, anchovy, smelt, market squid, and other baitfish that occur in inland and coastal waters of Oregon and Washington, including bays and estuaries. Some portions of the fishery are generally open year-round, but there are other variations depending on target species and gear type.

Gear Description

Fishermen use a variety of gear types in this fishery that include purse seine, lampara net, drag seine, and dip bag net gear. A purse seine is a large wall of netting deployed around an entire school of fish. When a school of target species is located, a skiff will encircle the school with one end of the seine attached to it while the other end is attached to the fishing vessel itself. Once the skiff circles back around to the vessel, the lead line at the bottom of the seine is pulled in “pursing” the net closed on the bottom which prevents the fish from escaping when swimming downward. 

Purse seine, drag seine, and lampara nets have a minimum mesh size of a ½-inch stretched. In Puget Sound, lampara nets are allowed to be up to 200 feet in length. The maximum length of purse seine nets varies by location with the smallest maximum length of 300 feet in inland Oregon to the largest allowable length of 1,400 feet in the offshore and coastal waters of Washington. Drag seines used in Willapa Bay, Grays Harbor, and the Lower Columbia River can be a maximum of 350 feet long with a 1¼ inch minimum stretch measure net mesh size. Squid fishing in Washington’s waters includes dip net bags with a maximum diameter of 10 feet and maximum size of 18 ft², and a minimum mesh size of 1-inch.

Management

There is some overlap of the management of this fishery with the Pacific Fishery Management Council’s Coastal Pelagic Species (CPS) Fishery Management Plan (FMP) in coastal and offshore waters. There are additional state regulations that govern the harvest of some species. State permits are generally required to fish for each species type and/or gear used within Washington’s coastal and inland waters (e.g., Puget Sound herring lampara fishery license, smelt dip bag license). Many of the permits are open access, with some exceptions that include limited entry permits for herring fisheries on the Washington coast, and the Yaquina Bay herring roe purse seine fishery in Oregon. 

Logbooks are required for some species/gear used in each state. Catch limits for individual landings or total fleet catch may apply. For example, both states limit the landing of anchovy to 5 metric tons (mt) daily, and to 10 mt weekly (in Oregon this applies to anchovy caught within inland waters). Other examples include that the Puget Sound herring fishery is closed by emergency regulation if the harvest exceeds 10% of the adult spawning biomass. There are limits on how much catch can be converted into fish meal or other products. Incidental bycatch of non-target species may be allowed up to certain limits depending on the fishery type and the species incidentally caught.

Historical Information

Timeline of Changes