West Coast fishermen get new rules for rockfish and thornyhead, plus updated catch limits
What happened
US regulators just set new catch limits for groundfish off the West Coast for 2025 and 2026. They also created a new rebuilding plan for California quillback rockfish and changed how shortspine thornyhead catches are divided.
Why it matters
These rules directly affect how much fish commercial and recreational fishermen can catch off Washington, Oregon, and California. The new rebuilding plan means specific restrictions will be in place to help the quillback rockfish population recover. Changing the allocation for shortspine thornyhead could shift who gets to catch how much of that species.
The signal
Watch for changes in catch numbers for quillback rockfish and shortspine thornyhead in the next two years, and how fishing communities adapt to the new limits.