Sea lion bill passes U.S. House
On June 26 The United States House of Representatives approved HR-2083, a bill sponsored by Washington Representative Jaime Herrera-Beutler (R-Battle Ground).
The bill amends Section 120 of the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 to authorize the NOAA to issue permits to the states of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho, as well as the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission and other tribal entities to kill problem sea lions in the Columbia River or its tributaries.
The bill was amended slightly before approval to require that only sea lions be killed and not other pinnipeds, and to mandate that the Secretary of the Interior produce a report to Congress on the potential impact of the lethal taking of California Sea Lions on the recovery of Salmonid stocks.
HR-2083, or The Endangered Salmon and Fisheries Predation Prevention Act, is supported by the governors of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho.
The permits may be issued only if the sea lions are part of a population that is not depleted. A companion bill is moving through the U.S. Senate now, sponsored by Senators Jim Risch (R-ID) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA).
The bill passed on a 288-116 vote.
Merwin fishing event for special needs kids
Children with disabilities will have a chance to reel in some trout during a special fishing event July 14 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Merwin Fish Hatchery, east of Woodland.
More than 100 young people and their families are expected to turn out for the 20th annual Merwin Special Kids Day, sponsored by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) and Pacific Power.
Sponsors ask that participants pre-register by June 30 by calling 800-899-4421.
Prior to the event, WDFW will plant the wheelchair-accessible hatchery waters with up to 3,000 trout ranging in size from one to four pounds each. Volunteers will then serve as one-on-one fishing coaches, assisting youngsters throughout the day.
Rods, reels, tackle and T-shirts will be provided for the young fishers to use and keep. A free barbecue lunch will be served, followed by a casting contest and other activities.
Instituted in 1999, the annual fishing event draws youngsters from the Washington School for the Blind, Doernbecher Children’s Hospital, Emanuel Legacy, Kaiser Kids and Shriners hospitals, but anyone will a special-needs child is invited to join in the fun.
Ore. marine fish daily bag limit reduced
The daily bag limit for general marine fish (rockfish, greenlings, skates, etc.) will be reduced from 5 to 4 beginning July 1.
“Participation in this fishery has been really good so far this year with effort higher than even record years seen in two of the past three years,” said Lynn Mattes, Project Leader, ODFW. “Reducing the bag limit to 4 fish on July 1 is necessary to keep black rockfish, other nearshore rockfish and yelloweye rockfish catches within annual limits.”
Cabezon retention also opens on July 1 with a 1-fish sub-bag limit (meaning that of the 4-fish marine bag, no more than 1 can be a cabezon). Bag limits for lingcod, flatfish and the longleader fishery remain the same.
Anglers this year made 40,619 bottomfish trips through May (17,750 in May alone), compared to 24,080 for January-May last year, which until 2018 was the highest effort year on record. Angler effort is only expected to increase as summer fishing peaks.
Last year, recreational bottomfish closed on Sept. 18 after the annual quotas for several species were met early, the first in-season closure since 2004. The closure disrupted coastal charter businesses and anglers. (Typically, recreational bottomfish fishing is open all year, though effort significantly drops off after early fall.)
ODFW has been working to avoid another early closure this year by providing effort and catch rates at more frequent intervals and modeling impacts of various bag limit scenarios.
