Groundfish Closed Areas

West Coast groundfish fisheries, and fisheries that may take groundfish incidentally, are managed with a variety of closed areas intended to either minimize the bycatch of overfished groundfish species, or to protect groundfish habitat. Many of the closed areas are gear-specific, meaning that they are closed to some particular gear types, but not others. We only provide information on marine areas closed to fishing by federal regulation. The states of Washington, Oregon, and California may have additional closures.