CORVALLIS, Ore. — Oregon’s Fish and Wildlife Commission will meet Friday to reconsider its commercial-fishing-friendly decision regarding the controversial Columbia River salmon reforms.
The meeting begins at 8 a.m. at Guerber Hall on the Benton County Fairgrounds, 110 S.E. 53rd St.
The Columbia River reforms are the seventh and final item on the agenda.
In 2013, Washington and Oregon adopted a sweeping set of Columbia River fishing reforms, which included prioritizing sport fishing, shifting gillnetting on the main stem of the river to off-channel locations and enhancing those locations with more fish.
A four-year transition period ended in 2016, with this year being the first year of full implementation of the reforms.
However, in mid-January, the Oregon commission adopted its “enhanced commercial rebalance scenario.’’
The rules were designed to improve economic returns to the commercials relative to both an economic baseline and pre-policy allocations.
Oregon’s rules eliminated gillnets from spring fisheries, but not in other seasons, and differed substantially from Washington’s policy.
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown later scolded the commission for its January decision and gave it an April 3 deadline to reconsider, urging concurrence with Washington and policies that better align with the original intent of the reforms.
Brown wrote that Oregon’s rules would “make enforcement complicated, confusing and untenable, an put at risk ongoing funding and bistate cooperation need for fishery reforms.’’
The four main areas of disagreement are:
n Oregon allows spring tangle-net fisheries after the mid-May chinook run size update if Endangered Species Act catch impacts are not needed in off-channel fisheries.
n Oregon allows gillnetting for summer chinook.
n Oregon allocates fall chinook impacts 66 percent sport-34 percent commercials. Washington has a two-year allocation of 75 percent sport-25 percent commercial, then shifts in 2019 to 80 percent sport-20 percent commercial.
n Washington rules call for ending gillnetting between Woodland and Beacon Rock beginning in 2019, while Oregon has no sunset provision.
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife staff has prepared a new recommendation which keeps the potential spring chinook tangle-net season, eliminates gillnets for summer chinook and allocates fall chinook impacts 70 percent sport-30 percent commercial.
The Oregon staff also calls for continued use of gillnets beyond 2018 between Woodland and Beacon Rock.
