ODFW Invites Anglers to Recreational Bottomfish and Pacific Halibut Public Meetings in Brookings, North Bend, Newport

By the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife

NEWPORT, Ore. – Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife staff are hosting in person meetings Oct. 6, 7, and 8 to discuss the 2026 recreational bottomfish and Pacific halibut seasons with anglers. The Oct. 8 meeting in Newport also offers a virtual option.

Meeting information:

• Oct. 6, Brookings: 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Port Meeting Room at the Port of Brookings, 16330 Lower Harbor Rd.
• Oct. 7, North Bend: 6-8 p.m. at the North Bend Public Library, 1800 Sherman Ave.
• Oct. 8, Newport: 6-8 p.m. at the Hatfield Marine Science Center, Gladys Valley Marine Studies Building in Classroom 176, 2030 SE Marine Science Dr. To join the meeting virtually on Microsoft Teams, see link at bottom of page.

Attendees will learn how the bottomfish fishery progressed this year with the lower harvest guidelines and more restrictive bag limits for black rockfish and canary rockfish due to recent stock assessments for these fish species. ODFW staff will discuss the pros and cons of both a year-round fishery and a four-fish general marine species daily bag limit with a one-fish sub-bag limit for canary rockfish and ask anglers for input.

For Pacific halibut, discussion will focus on the proposals that were adopted at the September meeting of the Pacific Fisheries Management Council for further public review. There were two main concepts available for more consideration:

• Restructure of the Columbia River subarea nearshore fishery to better suit the needs of recreational anglers, and
• Frontload the Central Oregon Coast subarea quota to the spring all-depth fishery providing more flexibility on how to better use the subarea quota.

ODFW staff will have meeting materials posted on the recreational bottomfish and Pacific halibut webpages by Friday, Oct. 3.