Fisheries Off West Coast States; West Coast Salmon Fisheries; 2024 Specifications and Management Measures

Through this final rule, NMFS establishes fishery management measures for the ocean salmon fisheries off Washington, Oregon, and California for the season beginning May 16, 2024, and ending May 15, 2025 (the 2024 ocean salmon fishing season), under the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA). The fishery management measures establish fishing areas, seasons, quotas, legal gear, recreational fishing days and catch limits, harvest guidelines, possession and landing restrictions, and minimum lengths for salmon taken in the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) off Washington, Oregon, and California. The management measures are intended to prevent overfishing while achieving, on a continuing basis, the optimum yield from the fishery, and to apportion the ocean harvest equitably among treaty Indian, and non-Indian commercial and recreational fisheries. The measures are also intended to allow a portion of the salmon runs to escape the ocean fisheries in order to provide for spawning escapement, comply with applicable law, and to provide fishing opportunity for fisheries occurring in State waters.