Keywords: Fishes, Species of concern, Salish Sea Currents magazine

In the final installment of our series on sharks in Puget Sound, we look at how fishing regulations have changed to protect potentially vulnerable shark species. Experts say more regulations may be needed as research evolves.  


To better protect vulnerable shark species, Washington state fishing rules have evolved somewhat over the past 24 years, but the effectiveness of the rules today may not match potential threats facing the sharks of Puget Sound.

In regulations on the books for decades, all sharks, regardless of life history, have been classified as “bottomfish” and lumped together with cod, sole, flounder, rockfish, hake, lingcod, sculpins, ratfish, skates, wolf eels and others. In general, anglers may take up to 15 bottomfish per day in Puget Sound.

In August of 2000, in response to news that two anglers had caught sixgill sharks in Seattle’s Elliott Bay, a new rule was imposed to outlaw the taking of sixgill sharks anywhere in Puget Sound, although catch-and-release was still allowed.

A news release from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife explained the justification for the new rule: “Sharks are typically slow-growing and late to mature and have relatively low reproductive rates. Because of these factors, there is special concern for their survival under a targeted fishery.”

In 2004, an additional protection was added by requiring anglers to keep sixgills in the water until they were released. This was intended to reduce the stress and risk of mortality from handling.

In 2013, amid growing concerns about the effects of fishing on sharks in coastal waters, the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission banned “fishing for, retention, or possession of sixgill, sevengill or thresher sharks.” The requirement to keep sixgills in the water until release was expanded from Puget Sound to all state waters.

Several anglers testified against the measure, including some who wanted to maintain a catch-and-release fishery. On the other hand, some supporters of the new rule wanted to require that all three species (not just sixgills) be kept in the water until release. But those proposals were not adopted.

Fisheries managers generally agree that regulations protecting sharks should be based on conditions—including shark populations, food supply and reproductive success as well as other factors such as fishing pressures. For example, it could be critically important to protect reproductive-age females or at least females who are pregnant, since sharks have long and sometimes infrequent gestation periods, leading to few offspring.

Regarding size, female sixgill sharks can reach 16 feet in length along the West Coast and in Puget Sound, while sevengills can grow to 10 feet and soupfins to 7 feet.

Three images of three shark species.

Sixgill sharks can reach 16 feet in length (left), sevengills can grow to 10 feet (upper right), and soupfin sharks up to 7 feet (lower right). Photos: (Left) SaraThiebaud/iNaturalist (CC-BY-NC); (upper right) Lisa Hillier/WDFW; (lower right) Dayv Lowry/NOAA

More research is needed to answer questions about population numbers and vulnerabilities, experts say. The lack of answers causes some people to argue that further fishing restrictions should wait for a greater understanding of shark needs. Others contend that, in the face of uncertainty, over-protective regulations would be better than those that might allow the shark population to be wiped out or seriously depleted.

As things stand today, one cannot legally try to catch sixgill, sevengill or thresher sharks, but there is no rule against fishing for other sharks. In fact, soupfin sharks, also known as tope sharks, may be caught and taken home for dinner, even though they are under federal review for listing as an endangered species. The take-home limit comes under the general limit for bottomfish, or up to 15 of the sharks each day, although nobody has been able to catch that many.

The recent confirmation by researchers that soupfin sharks can be found in South Puget Sound raises new issues for officials with the Department of Fish and Wildlife. While it is a violation to intentionally fish for sixgill or sevengill sharks, it appears that is exactly what some anglers are doing, said Lisa Hillier, WDFW’s leading authority on sharks. Some fishermen seem to be enjoying a catch-and-release fishery for big sharks in the midst of uncertainty about adverse effects on individual sharks or their populations. If questioned by Fish and Wildlife officers, these anglers can simply say they are fishing for soupfin sharks. Several years ago, before the soupfins made their appearance in Puget Sound, fishers often said they were fishing for dogfish.

It would be best, until researchers better understand these populations, to avoid fishing for large sharks in Puget Sound, Hillier said. If one wants to fish for sharks, it appears that the population of Pacific spiny dogfish can support today’s level of fishing pressure. Hooks used to catch sixgill, sevengill and soupfin sharks are generally much larger than those needed to catch dogfish, so an angler can usually avoid catching the larger sharks by using smaller hooks.

Department of Fish and Wildlife officials have been considering whether to ban fishing for soupfin sharks, although that might cause fishers to come up with another large target fish, perhaps a salmon shark, allowing them to keep skirting the rules and catching the larger sharks. Enforcement could become more of a cat-and-mouse game than it already is.

“We have to consider whether to act now as a precautionary measure or wait until we get more information,” Hillier said. “We might want to have different rules for different waters (within Puget Sound).”

If the federal government decides to list the soupfin shark as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act, the state would be compelled to protect the species and its habitat. That would likely lead to greater prohibitions on when and where fishers can legally land these sharks.

Meanwhile, WDFW is reminding fishermen of the rules regarding sharks and hoping to convince them that they could be harming the shark populations.

Screen capture of an Instagram post with an image of a shark and text.

Instagram message from WDFW to anglers about shark fishing in Puget Sound.

A WDFW post on Facebook and Instagram in September carried this message:

“Reminder to anglers fishing from piers and the shore in Puget Sound: It is illegal to target bluntnose sixgill sharks and broadnose sevengill sharks. Many of these migrating sharks come into Puget Sound to give birth during the warmer months. They are an essential part of maintaining a healthy ecosystem.

“Catching these sharks, even unintentionally, can be fatal for them. The stress of being caught on a hook, coupled with increased water temperatures and acidification in Puget Sound, makes it harder for them to survive even if they are released.

“Anglers can review regulations using the Washington Sport Fishing Rules pamphlet or Fish Washington mobile app for the water they plan to fish, and check for emergency rule changes before heading out.”

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About the author: Christopher Dunagan is a senior writer at the Puget Sound Institute.

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