Marine area 7 West now closed for spot shrimp

smckean (Tosca)

So that's it for the San Juans. I had a trip planned for the Waldron area this weekend too. NUTZ

PaulNBriannaLynn · Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2020 9:43 am Post subject:

Wow we used to spend all summer out there. Is it really being overfished? I never remember it closing this early in 7 west. How disappointing.

Before we left in 2016 shrimping had become a pretty big deal, growing exponentially every year. This may have been a long time coming.

The problem I see with having such a short season for spots, halibut, kings, etc., is it forces people to go out when conditions are not ideal to make sure they don't miss out. It becomes unsafe, over crowded and just a much different experience. Sorry to see this.

localboy · Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2020 12:36 pm Post subject:

We were our there over the weekend (3rd and 4th). Got two limits in only two drops for both days. Two pots had 96 spots each in them. Largest number of shrimp in a pot ever for us, and it occurred twice. I saw on the 7th they shut it down. Even on the 4th, there were only about 8 boats around us, but we started at 9:00 and were done by 12:00.

skiptowns98033 · Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2020 3:21 pm Post subject:

If you want to voice your concerns, there's a Member Roster with the contact info for the WDFW staff and Advisory Committee members at https://wdfw.wa.gov/about/advisory/psrcsac

This is now the 3rd time in 4 years they have increased the quota in MA 6 and turned around and closed the season because they reached the quota.
The reasoning I've been given each time was "hadn't anticipated the 'effort'. This year was the shortest time between the increase and the closure and the least notice - LESS than 24 hours.

Rather than increased limits and sudden closures, I'd like to see the limits reduced so we can get out all summer long. [/url]

localboy · Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2020 5:26 pm Post subject: