Sablefish

Sablefish, also known as blackcod, is harvested in a variety of West Coast groundfish fisheries, including the primary sablefish fishery,limited entry trawl fishery, limited entry fixed gear daily/weekly fishery, and the open access daily/weekly fishery. For the limited entry fixed gear sablefish fishery, we publish tier limits by January 1 of each two-year management cycle (2009-2010, 2011-2012, etc.). Regulations for participating in each of these fisheries are published in the Code of Federal Regulations, as well as Tables 1, 2, and 3 (North and South).

Longline vessels with limited entry permits may be eligible to land halibut taken incidentally with sablefish north of Point Chehalis, Washington. The Pacific Fishery Management Council recommends incidental halibut limits at its April meetings. We announce those limits to the public in a public notice near May 1 of each year.