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Mark Freeman Commentary MT file photo Lingcod are a prize catch for sport fishermen. Lingcod limits trimmed to two By MARK FREEMAN Fishing cutbacks to protect depressed lingcod populations next year are flexible enough to leave the fun in fishing for the prized bottom-dwellers, ocean sport-anglers say. Federal fish managers have set a two-fish daily maximum for lingcod angling in 1999, down from the three fish a day but retaining current size restrictions and year-round angling. That framework is far more liberal than proposals that would have cut limits to one fish a day, tightened size restrictions and shortened the season to seven months. "I do feel a lot better knowing I can catch two every time I go fishing," says Susan Huson, a Medford woman who fishes for lingcod and other "bottom fish" out of Brookings a half-dozen times a year. "Even if I don't catch two, just knowing I can is great," Huson says. The Pacific Fishery Management Council set the sport and commercial seasons last week in Portland. The seasons must pass federal Department of Commerce review before becoming law. The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission is set to adopt the package for near-shore fishing Nov. 20 in Portland. The fishery management council opted for the two-fish limit over one that would have allowed just one 24- to 34-inch lingcod a day and a fishing season limited from April through October. The council looked into cuts in sport and commercial lingcod harvest after a recent groundfish assessment showed that lingcod total about 9 percent of their historical, pre-fishing numbers. That survey, done every three years, looked at lings from Port Orford to the Canadian border. Federal Magnuson Act rules require the government to rebuild ocean stocks that fall below 25 percent of their pre-fishing levels. No-harvest rules are part of the package for stock rebuilding. Lingcod are long and spiny fish, with big heads, canine-like teeth and oversized mouths. Their white flesh is considered some of the most tasty fish available, and they are prize catches for sport fishermen who revere them as much for their tough fighting as their smooth eating. "Lingcod's what everybody wants," says Deanna Rife, a Medford woman who fishes regularly out of Brookings. "That's the trophy.'' They range from Baja California north to Kodiak, Alaska. Exceptionally large fish measure 4 feet long and weigh about 40 pounds, with females the largest. Oregon's reefs, particularly off Coos Bay and Newport, are home to many lingcod. As recently as 1996, the sport harvest accounted for 15 percent of lingcod landings. Commercial outfits took the remaining 85 percent. Harvest totals have since reached closer to an even split. The fisheries management council has considered zero harvest as well as an option to limit catches to one fish a day, 24-34 inches long and fishing only from April through October. But California sport-anglers balked at that option and argued that such cuts would dig too deeply into the sportsmen's pockets, says Jim Glock, the council's groundfish management coordinator in Portland. The council eventually set the two-fish limit coastwide, Glock says. It estimates that the total lingcod catch in 1999 will be 730 metric tons, down from 838 metric tons last year, Glock says. The limit cuts should drop the sport catch to about 310 metric tons, down from 438 metric tons in '98, Glock says. If lingcod fishing were cut to one fish a day in an April-through-October season, the sport harvest was projected at about 180 metric tons. "I probably would have still gone," Rife says. "I'm the type who will go no matter what." The restrictive '99 season will buy a year's time to do a coastwide assessment to see if the stock is truly depressed, Glock says. Then a rebuilding plan -- likely something heavy on fishing restrictions -- could be designed to get the ling's slide reversed. Outdoor Journal main page Mail Tribune Copyright � interRogue & The Mail Tribune 1998, Medford, Oregon USA