DFO Area 28 Fishing Regulations & Limits

DFO Pacific Area 28 recreational fishing regulations

Current tidal-water recreational limits, sizes and closures for DFO Pacific Area 28 (Vancouver Harbour, Howe Sound), read from DFO’s own area page and refreshed daily. Last updated 2026-10-20. Openings change in-season and subarea boundaries are set by coordinates — always confirm on DFO before fishing.

Can you get out in Area 28?

Location	Today	Tomorrow
Vancouver Harbour	Good3 kt · 0.7 ft	Good3 kt · 0.9 ft
Howe Sound	Good6 kt · 0.3 ft	Good7 kt · 0.4 ft
Horseshoe Bay tides	Good4 kt · 0.5 ft	Good4 kt · 0.7 ft
Gibsons tides	Good6 kt · 0.7 ft	Good6 kt · 1.0 ft

Peak wind and biggest seas for the day: Good ≤10 kt & ≤2 ft, Rough ≥15 kt or ≥3 ft. Tap a location for the hourly Fishing Score, tides and best window. Save one and the site opens there next time.

Elsewhere in BC? Check which BC areas are calmest tomorrow or this weekend, or browse fishing by species.

Closures in effect today (October 31, 2026)

Seven closure areas are in effect. A closure overrides the area-wide limits wherever the two overlap.

Night closure area — closed to crab - box, crab - dungeness, crab - red rock, crab - king, crab - puget sound king and crab - other (year round)
Point Atkinson — closed to finfish and shellfish (year round)
Porteau Cove — closed to finfish and shellfish (year round)
Whytecliff Park — closed to finfish and shellfish (year round)
Mannion Bay (Deep Bay) — closed to finfish (Sep 1 – Dec 31)
Coastwide — closed to eulachon (no end date given)
28 — closed to smelt (Aug 16 – Mar 31)

Salmon — area-wide limits

Species	Subareas	Min size	Daily	Status
Chinook salmon (hatchery and wild combined)	28	62cm	2	Open
Chum salmon	28	30cm	4	Open
Coho salmon (hatchery and wild combined)	28-1 to 28-10	30cm	2 Combined Total * Consisting of no more than: 2 - Hatchery - marked; 0 - Wild - unmarked	Open
Coho salmon (hatchery and wild combined)	28-11 to 28-14	30cm	0	Non Retention
Pink salmon	28	30cm	4	Open
Sockeye salmon	28	30cm	0	Non Retention

Finfish other than salmon — area-wide limits

Species	Subareas	Min size	Daily	Status
Codfish	28-1 to 28-7,28-9 and 28-11 to 28-14		8	Open
Codfish	28-8,28-10		0	Closed
Eulachon	28		0kg	Closed
Finfish - all other species	28		20	Open
Greenling	28-1 to 28-7,28-9 and 28-11 to 28-14		3	Open
Greenling	28-8,28-10		0	Closed
Halibut	28		2	Open
Herring	28-1 to 28-7,28-9 and 28-11 to 28-14		20kg	Open
Herring	28-8,28-10		0kg	Closed
Lingcod	28		0	Closed
Mackerel	28		100	Open
Northern Anchovy	28-1 to 28-7,28-9 and 28-11 to 28-14		20kg	Open
Northern Anchovy	28-8,28-10		0kg	Closed
Pacific sand lance	28-1 to 28-7,28-9 and 28-11 to 28-14		5kg	Open
Pacific sand lance	28-8,28-10		0kg	Closed
Pacific sardine	28		100	Open
Rockfish - Yelloweye	28		0	Closed
Rockfish - all species except Yelloweye	28		0	Closed
Sablefish	28		4	Open
Sculpin	28-1 to 28-7,28-9 and 28-11 to 28-14		8	Open
Sculpin	28-8,28-10		0	Closed
Shark - Basking	28		0	Closed
Shark - Blue	28		0	Closed
Shark - Brown Cat	28		0	Closed
Shark - Great White	28		0	Closed
Shark - Salmon	28		1	Open
Shark - Sixgill	28		0	Closed
Shark - Tope	28		0	Closed
Shark - all other species	28		0	Closed
Skate	28-1 to 28-7,28-9 and 28-11 to 28-14		1	Open
Skate	28-8,28-10		0	Closed
Smelt	28-1 to 28-7,28-9 and 28-11 to 28-14		20kg	Open
Smelt	28-8,28-10		0kg	Closed
Sole or Flounder	28-1 to 28-7,28-9 and 28-11 to 28-14		8	Open
Sole or Flounder	28-8,28-10		0	Closed
Spiny Dogfish	28		0	Non Retention
Surfperch	28-1 to 28-7,28-9 and 28-11 to 28-14		8	Open
Surfperch	28-8,28-10		0	Closed
Tuna - Albacore	28		20	Open
Tuna - Pacific bluefin	28		20	Open
Tuna - all other species	28		20	Open
White Sturgeon	28		0	Non Retention
Wolf Eel	28		0	Non Retention
Trout (hatchery and wild combined)	28	30cm	2 Combined Total * Consisting of no more than: 2 - Hatchery - marked; 0 - Wild - unmarked	Open

Bivalve shellfish and snails — area-wide limits

Species	Subareas	Daily
Clam - Butter	28	0
Clam - Horse	28	0
Clam - Littleneck	28	0
Clam - Manila	28	0
Clam - Razor	28	0
Clam - Softshell	28	0
Clam - Varnish	28	0
Clam - all species combined	28	0
Cockles	28	0
Geoduck	28	0
Mussel - Blue	28	0
Mussel - California	28	0
Mussels - all species combined	28	0
Oyster - Olympia	28	0
Oyster - all species except Olympia	28	0
Scallop - Pink and Spiny	28	0
Scallop - Purple-hinged rock	28	0
Scallop - Weathervane	28	0
Scallop - Weathervane and Purple-hinged rock combined	28	0
Snail - Moon	28	2
Snail - other	28	0
Whelks	28	0

Crab — area-wide limits

Species	Subareas	Min size	Daily	Status
Crab - Box	28-1 to 28-7,28-9 and 28-11 to 28-14		1	Open
Crab - Box	28-8,28-10		0	Closed
Crab - Dungeness	28-1 to 28-7,28-9 and 28-11 to 28-14	165mm	4	Open
Crab - Dungeness	28-8,28-10		0	Closed
Crab - Dungeness and Red Rock combined	28		4	Open
Crab - King	28		0	Closed
Crab - Puget Sound King	28-1 to 28-7,28-9 and 28-11 to 28-14		1	Open
Crab - Puget Sound King	28-8,28-10		0	Closed
Crab - Red Rock	28-1 to 28-7,28-9 and 28-11 to 28-14	115mm	4	Open
Crab - Red Rock	28-8,28-10		0	Closed
Crab - Shore	28		0	Closed
Crab - other	28-1 to 28-7,28-9 and 28-11 to 28-14		4	Open
Crab - other	28-8,28-10		0	Closed

Other invertebrates — area-wide limits

Species	Subareas	Daily	Status
Abalone	28	0	Closed
Barnacles - Giant	28	0	Closed
Barnacles - Goose	28	2kg	Open
Invertebrates - all other species	28	20	Open
Limpet	28	0	Closed
Octopus	28	1	Open
Sand Dollar	28	6	Open
Sea Cucumber	28	12	Open
Sea Star or Starfish	28	6	Open
Sea Urchin	28	12	Open
Shellfish - all other species	28	20	Open
Shrimp - Ghost	28	50	Open
Shrimp including prawn	28-1 to 28-7,28-9 and 28-11 to 28-14	125	Open
Shrimp including prawn	28-8,28-10	0	Closed
Squid - Opal	28	200	Open
Squid - all other species	28	20	Open

Source: DFO Pacific Area 28 recreational fishing. Check the Fishery Notices for changes newer than the update date. This page is a reading of DFO’s page, not a substitute for it, and does not reproduce the coordinate-defined subarea boundaries.

Fishing areas in Area 28

All BC fishing areas and tide stations