The West Coast halibut fleet left most of its quota for the July 7 opener

The Pacific halibut fishery off Washington, Oregon, and California barely touched its quota in the first opener — which means there's plenty still to catch when boats head back out July 7.

In the season's first three-day window, June 23–25, the commercial fleet landed just under 70,000 pounds, only 27% of the roughly 261,000 pounds set aside for the year. That leaves about 191,000 pounds, nearly three-quarters of the season's allocation, still on the table.

The next opener runs from 8 a.m. July 7 to 6 p.m. July 9, and if the fleet still hasn't caught its limit, a third window is set to open July 21. How much any one boat can bring in depends on its size — from 2,000 pounds for vessels under 35 feet up to 5,000 pounds for those 56 feet and longer.