The halibut fisheries have been finalized for this season, and while the overall catch quota is somewhat smaller than last year, anglers can look forward to more opportunities in years to come.

"The halibut are a healthy stock, and we can expect some increases [higher catch quotas] in the future, not large increases but modest ones," said Michelle Culver, a state Fish and Wildlife regional manager in Montesano.

Back in December, the International Pacific Halibut Commission [IPHC] had proposed a sport, commercial and tribal fishery halibut catch quota of 1 million pounds for all areas south of the U.S.-Canada border for this year.

During the final meeting last week the IPHC decided to raise the catch quota to 1.22-million pounds (220,238 pounds for sport only) compared to 1.34-million (239,636) last year. read more