Tag Archives: Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Commission
Oregon imposes new limits on Dungeness crab fishermen to protect whales
After a lengthy debate, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Commission voted late on Friday to extend and add on new rules limiting how the state’s Dungeness crab fisherman are allowed to fish, in an effort to protect whales from getting caught in their traps for the next two years. The crustaceans are native to the Pacific Northwest and are one of Oregon’s most profitable products, raking in more than $91 million for the state’s fisherman in the 2021-2022 season. The commission, however, passed a number of regulations in 2020, in response to concerns that migrating whale populations off the coast of Oregon were getting caught in ropes and traps known as crab pots set up by crab fishers and becoming injured or exhausted to the point that they could drown. >click to read< 09:44
On Friday, the commercial fishery won the day – Gillnetters get continued access to main Columbia channel
By a tight 4-3 vote, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Commission veered away from an outright ban on gillnetting in the main channel of the lower Columbia River and set the state at odds with neighboring Washington on how to manage protected salmon and steelhead. The commission heard more than six hours of staff reports and strikingly discordant testimony from commercial gillnetters and recreational anglers, who have argued for years over who gets to catch how much of seasonal salmon runs, and what methods they may use. On Friday, the commercial fishery won the day, their case made by a parade of gritty Astoria gillnetters who spoke of generational ties, community businesses and family fortunes at risk if they were no longer able to make a living. Read the story here 08:06
Editorial: Fish and Wildlife must continue gillnetting on the Columbia
It was good to see at last week’s Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Commission meeting in Salem that Lower Columbia River commercial fishermen still have a fire in the belly to preserve their way of life. Jobs that produce original economic value are increasingly precious things in rural America. Salmon have been a source of family income in places like Astoria, Warrenton and Ilwaco, Wash., for generations. Fishermen have invested lifetimes and life savings in the boats, gear, permits and expertise needed to carefully tend gillnets, which have been fine-tuned for more than a century to catch their intended targets while preserving naturally spawning salmon and other nontargeted species. Read the Op-ed here 14:24
