ILWACO — A sporadic 2026 commercial tuna season is coming to a close on the coast, defined by inconsistent fishing and wracked by record-high fuel prices.
Local commercial and recreational charters reported hit-and-miss fishing that was beleaguered by finicky fish and painfully high diesel prices, which sapped participation as many fishermen elected to stay in port instead of risking the gamble to pursue schools of albacore offshore.
Annual commercial albacore tuna landings this season are on pace to potentially set a record low for Washington.
As of Oct. 18, final landing figures were still being updated on the Pacific Fisheries Information Network (PACFIN) database, however the struggle of the 2026 tuna season was glaringly apparent.
Approximately 268 metric tons of tuna have been landed in Washington this season, according to the latest figures from PACFIN, averaging $2.06 per pound and generating roughly $1.2 million in revenue.
As of August, the total so far is only about 5% of the total landed last year (4,788 metric tons), with overall participation down roughly 60% from the same period and just 52 vessels this season compared to 128 last year. As of Sunday, Oct. 18, final landing figures for September and October were yet to be updated in the PACFIN database, and calls for comment on final landings went unreturned before the deadline. But the sentiment on the season hadn’t changed since summer.
“It was probably the most inconsistent season we’ve ever had,” said Shake ‘n Bake charter owner Mike Colbach upon returning from their final charter trip of the season on Tuesday, Oct. 13.
Traditionally, the season starts unofficially by mid-July, when migrating tuna begin to arrive offshore in numbers. August, historically the month with the highest tuna landings, never quite materialized into the bonanza of previous years.
“[It] started out very good, then it slowed up,” Colbach continued. “[There were] lots of fish that we could not catch. We would see them on the sonar under the boat but they wouldn’t come up; probably one of the slowest Augusts ever. September was better but still very hit-or-miss. It would be wide open one day and very slow the next day in the same spot. The fish refused to bite; this happened over and over again. As of yesterday there were still tuna around, but they were not biting.”
High fuel prices, particularly marine diesel, made the necessary offshore trips — which typically require fishermen to travel 50 miles or more offshore to reach the tuna fishing grounds — increasingly less lucrative and less appealing for fishermen already operating on increasingly narrow margins.
“Also, for some reason, the Astoria Canyon was very slow this year,” Colbach said. “We did not start fishing here until the end of September, before that it was a dead zone. It truly sucked running 55 miles each way burning $6-per-gallon diesel.”
As the season went on, the fishing slowed as the fuel prices continued to rise, putting more pressure on charters and commercial fishermen. On the final fuel stop of the season, Colback noted paying $6.20 per gallon for marine diesel, a historic high.
“It was brutal toward the end. It cost us $13 to go one mile on the F/V Shake N Bake. It didn’t prevent us from fishing, it just prevented us from making any money — even with a $300 surcharge. The slow fishing and high fuel prices led to less participation than I’ve seen in a long time, probably ever. It definitely kept some of the commercial and sport boats tied to the dock. The only good part was because fishing was so bad, prices were sky high. Blast and bled (frozen tuna) was going for $7,400 per ton at the end of the season.”
The highest commercial albacore landings in Washington occurred during the 2003 season, when 10,793 metric tons of tuna were caught (averaging .66 cents per pound and generating $15 million in revenue at the time). Approximately 352 vessels participated that season among 52 dealers, compared to 52 vessels and just seven dealers this season.
Washington commercial tuna landings by year:
*2026: 268 metric tons; $2.06 average price per pound; $1.2 million in revenue
2025: 4,788 ; $1.97; $20.7 million
2024: 2,181; $1.52; $7.2 million
2023: 2,505; $1.25; $6.8 million
2022: 4,719; $2.10 $21.8 million
2021: 2,302; $2.00; $10.1 million
2020: 4,946; $1.49; $16.2 million
2019: 4,321; $1.67; $15.9 million
2018: 4,162; $1.61; $14.7 million
2017: 5,194; $2.05; $23.4 million
2016: 7,051; $1.59; $24.7 million
*September and October are still being accounted for as of Oct. 18 and were unavailable at print at deadline