Marine Zone

April 17, 2025

Announcements

For the latest regulations, including in-season changes

See the fishing regulations update page.

Saltwater News Bulletins

Be among the first to know about in-season changes! You can subscribe to receive emails and text message alerts for marine topics that interest you. It's easy to unsubscribe at any time. Your contact information will remain confidential. Three different lists of interest to ocean enthusiasts are available: bottomfish, halibut and ocean salmon.

Bottomfish ‌

A few reminders

• Cabezon are currently prohibited and will reopen on July 1, 2025 with a daily sub-bag limit of one fish per angler as part of the general marine bag limit.
• There is a daily sub-bag limit of 1 canary rockfish per angler.
• Retention of quillback rockfish and yelloweye rockfish remains prohibited.
• Click ‘Regulation Updates' above to see what's new for 2025 or visit the sport bottomfish seasons page.

Port by port reports:

• Ocean conditions across the coast last week made it challenging to fish most days.
• Garibaldi: A few vessels made it out and anglers landed about 3 rockfish on average, with a mix of black, canary, copper, deacon, and yellowtail rockfishes. Lingcod fishing was decent, with about 1 fish per angler.
• Depoe Bay: With moderate effort last week, anglers saw an average of 3.5 rockfish per angler, mostly black, deacon, yellowtail and canary rockfishes. Lingcod landings were around 1.5 fish per angler.
• Newport: Decent effort afforded anglers close to 3.5 rockfish each with mostly black, deacon and canary rockfishes. Lingcod landings were around 1 fish per angler.
• Charleston: Anglers that made it out landed an average of 3 rockfish, with a mix of black, deacon, and canary rockfishes. Lingcod was good at about 1.5 fish per angler.
• Brookings: A small number of anglers were able to muster about 2 rockfish per angler. Mostly black and blue rockfishes were brought in. Lingcod landings were low.

The offshore longleader fishery gives anglers an opportunity to catch more fish and to distribute effort away from nearshore species. Learn more about the gear and the fishery. 

Bottomfish fishing resources:

What can I keep and how many? Keep up with in-season regulation changes.

Know what you've caught with some helpful rockfish identification tips (including online quizzes and video).

Waypoints for fathom lines and other restricted areas.

Shore and estuary fishing

Daily bag limits, seasons and licensing requirements for shore-based anglers are the same as for boat-based anglers.

In Oregon, herring come into bays and estuaries to spawn usually between Valentine's Day and St. Patrick's Day, though run timing has varied in recent years.

In 2025, herring spawned on March 13 at limited areas around Yaquina Bay. After another spawning event on March 26, fishing slowed down until the following week, when anglers reported catching herring in good numbers, some of which had yet to spawn. There were reports of herring spawning around the bay from April 4-6. Since most fish depart the bay within days of spawning, it's likely that the 2025 spawning run is over.

In the past, herring have been caught off the south jetty, near the international dock and upriver near Sawyer's Landing. When fishing for herring, please be respectful and give way to the commercial vessels entering and exiting the commercial docks, as the channel is narrow and needs to remain accessible.

If you've never been herring fishing, here are 9 reasons to fish for herring (and anchovies).

There are plenty of rocky or sandy fishing sites up and down the coast where shore anglers can drop a line for saltwater fish. Read about how and where

Lingcod and many other bottomfish species are available year-round to shore anglers fishing in rocky areas. A common setup for lingcod is a jig head with a rubber swim bait – it's simple but effective. Also pack a measuring device for lingcod: the minimum legal size is 22 inches.

Surfperch are available in the surf year-round along sandy beaches and rocky shores, with the best fishing (and safest fishing) occurring when swells are small. Learn about ocean surfperch fishing.

Want more opportunities that don't include a boat? Check out the crabbing and clamming recreation report for updates on crabs, clams, mussels and more!

When fishing from shore or inside estuaries and bays, it is important to check the tide. Many fish that swim into estuaries and bays, including salmon, surfperch, and Pacific herring, tend to come in with the tide. Catch of these species is more likely to occur closer to slack tide. Additionally, the accessibility of some areas can be completely dependent on the tide. Do not allow the incoming tide to become a safety issue.

Ocean salmon

Ocean Chinook salmon season (all-salmon-except coho) opened as scheduled from Cape Falcon to Humbug Mt. from March 15 through May 15. The daily bag limit is two salmon, except closed to retention of coho, with minimum size limits of 24" for Chinook and 20" for steelhead. Poor ocean conditions last week reduced ocean salmon effort across all ports. Newport had the highest Chinook catch rate observed again this week, with 0.55 Chinook per salmon angler.

Seasons from May 16, 2025 through May 15, 2026 were approved by the Pacific Fisheries Management Council (PFMC) on April 15, however, recommended salmon seasons are not official until final approval by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce (expected by May 16), and after adoption by the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission on April 18 for waters within three nautical miles of shore.

See the season details here (dates, places and other regulations).

In-season adjustment notifications can be received by signing up here

To check the quota status, visit the Ocean Salmon Management Program catch index page.

A guide to ocean salmon identification is available here.

Pacific halibut

The Pacific halibut fishing season is closed. The staff recommended 2025 Pacific halibut sport regulations have been posted on the Pacific halibut sport regulations page. They will not be finalized until the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission meeting on April 18. To read more about how the season is set and to get involved, visit the Management of the Pacific halibut sport fishery page.