Salmon groups to present pre-season forecasts, options

By Terry Dillman Of the News-Times

February 29, 2008

Oregon coast salmon fishermen can learn about 2008 season prospects when the Ocean Salmon Industry Group (OSIG) and Oregon Salmon Commission (OSC) hold back-to-back sessions in Newport next week.

The two groups will meet at the Best Western Agate Beach Inn Thursday, March 6, to discuss 2008 salmon season forecasts, regulations, and other matters pertaining to commercial and recreational salmon fisheries.

Commercial fishermen are still recovering from the 2006 salmon fishery disaster, so interest is high in the issues influencing the structure of the 2008 season and the possible options stemming from them.

Co-sponsored by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) and the Oregon Coastal Zone Management Association (OCZMA), the OSIG session begins at 10 a.m. Eric Schindler, leader of ODFW's Ocean Sampling Project, will open the session with a review of 2007 ocean fisheries.

The sampling project - staffed by Schindler and an assistant leader in Newport, and two sampling coordinators, one each in Tillamook and Charleston - collects and analyzes data on Oregon's commercial ocean salmon fishery, including catch and fishing effort, recovers coded wire tags, and gathers average weight data from commercial salmon landings. Schindler said the project also conducts the Ocean Recreational Boat Survey "to estimate effort and catch in the ocean recreational boat fishery." The survey estimates total ocean sport effort by boat type (charter and private), using random interviews to generate catch estimates fro both salmon and non-salmon species.

"We regularly sample fishery landings at all primary Oregon coastal ports," Schindler said, noting that 20 to 30 seasonal samplers assist in the effort.

Craig Foster, ODFW project biologist, will provide 20008 coho and chinook abundance forecasts, and Steve Williams and Ron Boyce from ODFW will discuss guidelines and issues affecting the 2008 season structure. Williams and Boyce will talk about the Sacramento River fall chinook collapse, Oregon coastal natural coho limitations, Lower Columbia River wild coho limitations and tule chinook.

Schindler said ODFW staff, along with fishing industry representatives, will spend the afternoon developing Oregon preferred options and "recreational and commercial ocean salmon fishing concepts to take forward through the Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) regulation setting process." Commercial fishery options focus on areas north of Cape Falcon , from Cape Falcon to Humbug Mountain , and from Humbug to the Oregon/California border. Recreational options focus on areas north of Cape Falcon , from Cape Falcon to Humbug Mountain , and the Klamath management zone.

The session will conclude with a recap of preferred options.

Season in jeopardy?

The Oregon Salmon Commission will convene at 3:30 p.m. Thursday to discuss the 2008 season, which many commercial fishermen believe is in jeopardy due to the announced collapse of Sacramento River Chinook stocks due, they say, to water diversions from the Sacramento/Central Valley system. California 's Central Valley Chinook stocks reportedly provide 60 to 80 percent of the combined commercial and recreational harvest for Oregon and California fishermen, and have provided the main source for West Coast salmon fisheries since the demise of the coho fishery.

NOAA Fisheries has listed Oregon coast coho salmon as a threatened species under the federal Endangered Species Act. In addition to existing state restrictions on harvest and hatchery operations, the listing will put specific ESA protections in place to prohibit certain activities that harm fish, and to designate critical habitat.

No new state restrictions are expected.

The Sacramento River collapse is especially worrisome to an industry still recovering from the 2006 salmon season closure. The February issue of the OSC newsletter "Taglines" provided information about funds remaining under the 2007 Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Bill, which provided disaster relief to fishing communities, Indian tribes, fishermen, fish processors and related businesses, and others to mitigate the socioeconomic effects caused by the commercial fisheries failure.

The Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission (PSMFC) has a contract with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to distribute the funds for the program.

About $5 million of the $22 million available remains unspent. According to Tagline, PSMFC had to amend the contract to determine the fate of those funds.

"Part of the original terms of the contract, which specified that fishermen would receive 100 percent of their best year's income of salmon landings (in Oregon south of Cape Falcon ) from 2002 through 2006 have been met," the newsletter stated. Possible options for those remaining funds included immediate redistribution to the fishermen, fish processors, and related business owners who qualified for the first distribution; hold part or all of them for a future disaster; fund research; divide between the industry and research efforts; or hold some and spend some on industry and/or research.

OSC members had an opportunity to make recommendations to PSMFC, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), and federal legislators, and opened the matter to input from the commercial salmon fishing industry during a Feb. 15 teleconference. OSC represents fishermen and processors in marketing efforts and concerns regarding rules, legislation, or any other government action that could affect the salmon trolling industry.

During next week's session, the commissioners - including fisherman Kevin Bastien and processor representative Mark Newell from Newport - will, among other things, discuss the possible season options and their recommendation to the Pacific Fisheries Management Council. PFMC meets March 9-14 in Sacramento .

Anyone with questions about the March 6 session should call Eric Schindler at (541) 867-0300, ext. 252, Georgia York at OCZMA at (541) 265-8918 or 265-6651, or visit www.dfw.state.or.us/MRP/salmon/ online.

Information about the Lincoln City-based Oregon Salmon Commission is available online at www.oregonsalmon.org, e-mailing Administrator Nancy Fitzpatrick at njf@class.oregonvos.net, or calling (541) 994-2647.

Terry Dillman is a reporter for the News-Times. He can be reached at (541) 265-8571 ext. 225, or terrydillman@newportnewstimes.com.  

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