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| A New Plan For Salmon AND Salmon Fishing
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 | | | New Plan for Salmon |
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by Trey Carskadon
For decades, fishermen around the region have been calling for an end to gillnetting salmon on the Columbia River. Initiative petitions have been launched and proved unsuccessful. Several bills have been introduced in Salem but failed to make it to first base.
All the while, anglers have been fuming because they believe gillnets are the chief obstacle to salmon recovery and opportunities for salmon sport-fishing.
Just ask any sport salmon fisherman what he or she thinks about gillnets and you're bound to get an earful. It's a red hot subject, and this year it has boiled over, and reached a whole new level of frustration and acrimony in an already difficult situation.
Historically, while the frustration and anger have been clear, fishermen have failed to show up in the numbers necessary to do anything about it.
With over half a million licensed anglers in the state, sport fishing has a potentially booming voice in state government. Yet, most of the energy around this issue is spent grousing on the internet or just being frustrated with the situation.
Oregon salmon anglers---here's your chance!
Without a doubt the 2009 legislative session offers the best opportunity to be heard on this difficult and highly contentious issue.
There are three different bills percolating in Salem that deal with the issue of gillnetting salmon in the Columbia River. They should all be introduced shortly.
One of the bills calls for an outright ban. Another will push for new and different means of selective harvest and a third, called, SAFE for Salmon, will keep gillnets but move them out of the main stem Columbia River and into "Select Areas" also known as SAFE (Select Area Fisheries Enhancement) areas.
So you have choices...
In my decades around this issue, this year is the first time that the practice of Columbia River gillnetting has been elevated to this level in the Oregon legislature.
Most sport anglers don't know the fine details of why the decisions are rendered. What they do know is that 900 foot nets are allowed to drift down the main stem Columbia River and intercept anything that gets in their way.
For most sports anglers this practice defies any reasonable standard of conservation. Moreover, fishermen know that any gillnet season, no matter how short, means they'll be fishing less on the Columbia River.
What was once a little known issue in Oregon State Government is now a prominent one that begs for resolution after 2008 salmon seasons were abruptly closed and sport anglers felt disenfranchised and betrayed by the agencies charged to serve their interests. Spors anglers have taken the bait and risen to the occasion, calling and writing their legislators by the thousands.
I first got involved with this issue as a college sophomore in 1978. I attended some Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission meetings where this issue surfaced and was briefly discussed. Then, the issue of gillnetting was confined to Willamette spring Chinook. It was heated then, as it is now, there were only a couple sport anglers in those meetings and dozens of commercial fishermen. The decisions reflected the lopsided participation.
Over the years this issue has morphed as have I. I was 20 then, I'm 50 now and over those 30 years I have worked on ballot measures and in the halls of Salem trying to gain some resolution to this issue for sports fishermen. It's been a long haul for sure, but the prospects ahead are as bright as they've ever been given the range of options on the table.
For me, SAFE for Salmon is where I'm placing my focus and energy. It's a viable win--win solution that solves a range of problems and keeps everyone currently involved in these fisheries fishing.
SAFE for Salmon is the product of four accomplished scientists. The authors, Jim Martin, Bill Shake, Don Swartz and Rod Sando are the “who's who” among salmon managers. Jim Martin is a retired Director of Fisheries for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) and was hired by Governor Kitzhaber to initiate Oregon's Salmon Plan. Jim is revered nationally as one of the leading scientists on the subject of N.W. and Columbia basin salmon. Bill Shake served three decades with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and was instrumental in launching the SAFE program in the lower Columbia. Don Swartz served as one of the primary "modelers" for the ODFW where his chief responsibility was to manage and forecast Columbia Basin salmon returns. Rod Sando served as the Director of Minnesota DNR, one of the largest natural resource agencies in the country, as well as Idaho's Director of Fish and Game and the Columbia Basin Wildlife Authority.
The qualifications of this team, related to this issue are unimpeachable. The SAFE for Salmon Plan is elegant in its simplicity. It calls for an end to all mainstem Columbia River gillnetting by moving the nets out of the Columbia River and into the Select Areas. Doing so solves a litany of problems.
Of course, as has been made clear in the discussion that's underway, "the devil's in the details." Thankfully, these scientists and managers have addressed all the issues to assure a long-term win-win result.
First, by moving the commercials out of the mainstem of the Columbia and into the SAFE areas means they're still in business. As Jim Martin puts it, "they'll get at least the same number of fish they're getting today, probably more. And by moving some stocks from other release sites into the Select Areas we'll increase ocean survival and therefore increase both the sport and commercial catch."
WAIT! Move stocks from one area to another? Won't that spell the end to those fisheries?
That's a common misunderstanding of the plan. Take the Clackamas River for instance. The recreational catch of spring Chinook is about 300 fish a season with anywhere from 7,000 to 10,000 fish returning. The relatively low harvest rate essentially means fish are being "wasted" by not being caught which causes straying and some level of interaction with wild stocks.
To better deal with the potential fallout of hatchery strays both Oregon and Washington have adopted strong hatchery reform programs that were initiated by the federal government. These reforms call for either eliminating or shifting hatchery production, which is another way of saying, "Folks, hatchery production is changing whether we like it or not."
So, a 10% reduction in Clackamas River hatchery plants would have virtually no impact on the return class or harvest rates but could be used to effectively seed these SAFE areas. Also, Willamette stocks could be easily shifted with no appreciable loss to Willamette fisheries. Again, a 5% shift would not even tip the piscatorial scale when it comes to returns but could deliver compelling benefits to these Select Areas.
Essentially, the same number of fish would be harvested commercially just without the current by-catch and disruption to seasons. Right now tens of thousands of coho and Chinook are being needlessly wasted and could be used much more productively in this program. Even more importantly is the fact that if this trend of overproduction and underutilization continues, hatchery production will likely be lost entirely.
It's already happening with the de-funding of Mitchell Act (Columbia Basin) federal hatcheries and losses in steelhead production throughout the N.W.
SAFE for Salmon also takes conservation to new levels. Pulling the nets out of the mainstem Columbia and confining them to the Select areas will immediately end the wholesale intercept of wild salmon, steelhead and sturgeon.
For sport anglers, SAFE for Salmon will broadly enhance Columbia River salmon seasons. By transferring most of the Snake River Endangered Species Act impacts that currently constrain sportfishing seasons from the commercial gillnet fleet to the sportfishing community, it will extend recreational seasons considerably.
With the SAFE For Salmon plan it's clear to me that everyone wins. However, if you're looking for a perfect solution then you may have to wait awhile! In all my time around any of these issues, I have yet to see perfect legislation. SAFE for Salmon most closely matches my values and objectives in these issues and that's why I'm pushing for it here in Freshwater Boating News and down in Salem.
I'd like to see everyone win and I think SAFE for Salmon does just that.
1) It allows the commercial community to catch their fish and should provide considerably more fish for market with far less gut-wrenching processes that only divide communities.
2) It expands sport fishing seasons in the main stem Columbia and creates new sportfishing opportunities with increased returns of salmon to the SAFE areas.
3) It elevates conservation standards to a level we haven't seen in 100 years. SAFE for Salmon will go a long way towards restoring much-needed tourism and stimulating license sales. Fishing license sales are the primary funding source for the ODFW so enhanced sport fishing opportunities, especially for salmon, should help drive sales.
4) Finally, there are benefits to communities. Astoria will surely benefit from increased sportfishing activity and a fully-functioning commercial community. Surprisingly, so will Tillamook, Newport, Depoe Bay, Coos Bay and others. The salmon stocks used in these SAFE areas are south-migrating, meaning they'll spend their lives growing off the Oregon Coast. That means trollers, charters and recreational anglers will have access to tens of thousands more fish than they've had previously.
After last summer's widespread offshore salmon closures, this plan should be welcome news to coastal communities looking to draw out-of-area visitors.
Wherever you are on this issue now's your chance to weigh-in. If you don't contact your legislator, then don't expect to change the future of N.W. salmon fishing. If you're going to wait for someone else then expect the status quo.
To get this done is going to take a tidal wave of support. That's what it took to get Oregon's Beach Bill passed. Thousands of letters poured in from around the state to legislators in support of the bill. Without that support Oregon's beaches would likely be private not public.
If you want to be part of the chorus that's responsible for changing the future of Columbia River fisheries, contact your state representative and state senator today. They need to hear from you and they need to hear from you more than once.
Call or email them today, again next month, and continue to contact them. If they tell you they're a sponsor on the bill then you've done your job brilliantly. Thank them if they've taken that step, and make sure you support them when they're up for re-election.
Contacting your legislator is easy. If you have access to the internet, just go online and enter http://www.leg.state.or.us/findlegsltr/ and follow the prompts or call 800-332-2313.
About the author:
Trey Carskadon is a lifelong Oregon sport fisherman and is the lobbyist for the N.W. Sportfishing Industry Association and Government Affairs Director for the Oregon Marine Trade Association. |
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