DFO Pacific Area 8 recreational fishing regulations
Current tidal-water recreational limits, sizes and closures for DFO Pacific Area 8, read from DFO’s own area page and refreshed daily. Last updated 2026-09-01. Openings change in-season and subarea boundaries are set by coordinates — always confirm on DFO before fishing.
Closures in effect today (September 16, 2026)
Nine closure areas are in effect. A closure overrides the area-wide limits wherever the two overlap.
- Dean Channel — closed to crab - box, crab - dungeness, crab - red rock, crab - king, crab - puget sound king, crab - shore and crab - other (year round)
- Doc Creek — closed to crab - box, crab - dungeness, crab - red rock, crab - king, crab - puget sound king, crab - shore and crab - other (Jun 1 – Sep 30)
- Koeye Inlet — closed to crab - box, crab - dungeness, crab - red rock, crab - king, crab - puget sound king, crab - shore and crab - other (year round)
- Kwatna Bay — closed to crab - box, crab - dungeness, crab - red rock, crab - king, crab - puget sound king, crab - shore and crab - other (year round)
- Quatlena River Estuary — closed to crab - box, crab - dungeness, crab - red rock, crab - king, crab - puget sound king, crab - shore and crab - other (year round)
- South Bentinck 1 — closed to crab - box, crab - dungeness, crab - red rock, crab - king, crab - puget sound king, crab - shore and crab - other (year round)
- South Bentinck 2 — closed to crab - box, crab - dungeness, crab - red rock, crab - king, crab - puget sound king, crab - shore and crab - other (year round)
- Namu River — closed to finfish (year round)
- Coastwide — closed to eulachon (no end date given)
Salmon — area-wide limits
| Species | Subareas | Min size | Daily | Status |
|---|
| Chinook salmon (hatchery and wild combined) | 8,108 | 45cm | 2 | Open |
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| Chum salmon | 8,108 | 30cm | 4 | Open |
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| Coho salmon (hatchery and wild combined) | 8,108 | 30cm | 4 | Open |
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| Pink salmon | 8,108 | 30cm | 4 | Open |
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| Sockeye salmon | 8,108 | | 0 | Closed |
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Finfish other than salmon — area-wide limits
| Species | Subareas | Min size | Daily | Status |
|---|
| Codfish | 8,108 | | 8 | Open |
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| Eulachon | 8,108 | | 0kg | Closed |
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| Finfish - all other species | 8,108 | | 20 | Open |
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| Greenling | 8,108 | | 3 | Open |
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| Halibut | 8,108 | | 2 | Open |
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| Herring | 8,108 | | 20kg | Open |
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| Lingcod | 8,108 | 65cm | 3 | Open |
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| Mackerel | 8,108 | | 100 | Open |
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| Northern Anchovy | 8,108 | | 20kg | Open |
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| Pacific sand lance | 8,108 | | 5kg | Open |
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| Pacific sardine | 8,108 | | 100 | Open |
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| Rockfish - Yelloweye | 8,108 | | 0 | Non Retention |
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| Rockfish - all species except Yelloweye | 8,108 | | 3 | Open |
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| Sablefish | 8,108 | | 4 | Open |
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| Sculpin | 8,108 | | 8 | Open |
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| Shark - Basking | 8,108 | | 0 | Closed |
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| Shark - Blue | 8,108 | | 0 | Closed |
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| Shark - Brown Cat | 8,108 | | 0 | Closed |
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| Shark - Great White | 8,108 | | 0 | Closed |
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| Shark - Salmon | 8,108 | | 1 | Open |
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| Shark - Sixgill | 8,108 | | 0 | Closed |
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| Shark - Tope | 8,108 | | 0 | Closed |
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| Shark - all other species | 8,108 | | 0 | Closed |
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| Skate | 8,108 | | 1 | Open |
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| Smelt | 8,108 | | 20kg | Open |
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| Sole or Flounder | 8,108 | | 8 | Open |
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| Spiny Dogfish | 8,108 | | 0 | Non Retention |
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| Surfperch | 8,108 | | 8 | Open |
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| Tuna - Albacore | 8,108 | | 20 | Open |
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| Tuna - Pacific bluefin | 8,108 | | 20 | Open |
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| Tuna - all other species | 8,108 | | 20 | Open |
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| White Sturgeon | 8,108 | | 0 | Non Retention |
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| Wolf Eel | 8,108 | | 0 | Non Retention |
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| Trout (hatchery and wild combined) | 8,108 | 30cm | 2 Combined Total * Consisting of no more than: 2 - Hatchery - marked 50cm or less; 1 - Hatchery - marked over 50cm; 2 - Wild - unmarked 50cm or less; 0 - Wild - unmarked over 50cm | Open |
|---|
Bivalve shellfish and snails — area-wide limits
| Species | Subareas | Min size | Daily | Status |
|---|
| Clam - Butter | 8,108 | | 0 | |
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| Clam - Horse | 8,108 | | 0 | |
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| Clam - Littleneck | 8,108 | | 0 | |
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| Clam - Manila | 8,108 | | 0 | |
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| Clam - Razor | 8,108 | | 0 | |
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| Clam - Softshell | 8,108 | | 0 | |
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| Clam - Varnish | 8,108 | | 0 | |
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| Clam - all species combined | 8,108 | | 0 | |
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| Cockles | 8,108 | | 0 | |
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| Geoduck | 8,108 | | 0 | |
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| Mussel - Blue | 8,108 | | 0 | |
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| Mussel - California | 8,108 | | 0 | |
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| Mussels - all species combined | 8,108 | | 0 | |
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| Oyster - Olympia | 8,108 | | 0 | |
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| Oyster - all species except Olympia | 8,108 | | 0 | |
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| Scallop - Pink and Spiny | 8,108 | | 0 | |
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| Scallop - Purple-hinged rock | 8,108 | | 0 | |
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| Scallop - Weathervane | 8,108 | | 0 | |
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| Scallop - Weathervane and Purple-hinged rock combined | 8,108 | | 0 | |
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| Snail - Moon | 8,108 | | 2 | |
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| Snail - other | 8,108 | | 75 | |
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| Whelks | 8,108 | | 75 | |
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Crab — area-wide limits
| Species | Subareas | Min size | Daily | Status |
|---|
| Crab - Box | 8,108 | | 1 | Open |
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| Crab - Dungeness | 8,108 | 165mm | 6 | Open |
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| Crab - Dungeness, Red Rock and King combined | 8,108 | | 6 | Open |
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| Crab - King | 8,108 | | 2 | Open |
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| Crab - Puget Sound King | 8,108 | | 1 | Open |
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| Crab - Red Rock | 8,108 | 115mm | 6 | Open |
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| Crab - Shore | 8,108 | | 25 | Open |
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| Crab - other | 8,108 | | 4 | Open |
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Other invertebrates — area-wide limits
| Species | Subareas | Min size | Daily | Status |
|---|
| Abalone | 8,108 | | 0 | Closed |
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| Barnacles - Giant | 8,108 | | 6 | Open |
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| Barnacles - Goose | 8,108 | | 2kg | Open |
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| Invertebrates - all other species | 8,108 | | 20 | Open |
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| Limpet | 8,108 | | 75 | Open |
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| Octopus | 8,108 | | 1 | Open |
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| Sand Dollar | 8,108 | | 6 | Open |
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| Sea Cucumber | 8,108 | | 12 | Open |
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| Sea Star or Starfish | 8,108 | | 6 | Open |
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| Sea Urchin | 8,108 | | 12 | Open |
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| Shellfish - all other species | 8,108 | | 20 | Open |
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| Shrimp - Ghost | 8,108 | | 50 | Open |
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| Shrimp including prawn | 8,108 | | 125 | Open |
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| Squid - Opal | 8,108 | | 200 | Open |
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| Squid - all other species | 8,108 | | 20 | Open |
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Source: DFO Pacific Area 8 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.
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