Outdoor News Daily

Recreational salmon fishing in Elliott Bay will close Friday (Aug. 6) because of a low return of chinook to the Green River, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife WDFW announced today.

The closure takes effect at 12:01 a.m. Aug. 6. The fishery, which opened July 2 on a Friday-through-Sunday schedule, was slated to close at the end of the day Aug. 8.

To date, anglers have caught 144 chinook, the lowest sport catch in that fishery in nearly a decade, said Steve Thiesfeld, Puget Sound salmon manager for WDFW. A recent test fishery conducted by treaty tribes and WDFW also resulted in very low catches of chinook.

“Indications are the chinook return to the Green River watershed is going to be much lower than expected this year,” Thiesfeld said. “To allow more salmon to reach the spawning grounds, we are closing the final weekend of the sport fishery and the tribes have cancelled their chinook fishery.”

Marine Area 10 outside of Elliott Bay remains open for recreational fishing. Anglers fishing that area have a daily limit of two salmon, but must release wild chinook. Beginning Aug. 1, anglers in Marine Area 10 also must release chum.

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