The new proposal, splitting lower Columbia River chinook between sport and commercial boats, is going to be approved by the Oregon and Washington fish and wildlife commissions next month. According to the source the Columbia River Fish Working Group – a committee that includes three fish and wildlife commissioners from Oregon and Washington – agreed on a recommendation for balancing the sport and commercial salmon fisheries, which have to share a two percent allowance of impacts to threatened and endangered species.
It is informed that the plan, which could last up to five years, edges commercial gillnetters out of any hope of a 50-50 catch share with sportfishers while introducing the possibility of a severe reduction to a 15-85 percent spit when salmon are scarce. It is also said that depending on the annual salmon run sizes, the recreational fleet could also see reduced fishing opportunity from recent years.
Steve Williams, fish division administrator for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, opined that as the Columbia River run size increases and the Willamette run size gets larger or smaller, it falls into different boxes on the matrix and different catch-sharing amounts.
Bruce Buckmaster, a commercial fishing advocate from Astoria, expressed that the plan might violate laws that require an equitable division of the resource between sport and commercial fisheries. Hobe Kytr, administrator of the commercial fishing group Salmon for All, said that it was very disappointing from its perspective. He added that the decision will come at the expense of the core rural economy of the lower river for the benefit of the Portland metro area, if it holds.
Urban sportfishing industry advocates weren’t happy with the plan either. Dan Grogan, a board member for the Northwest Sportfishing Industry Association and president of Fishermen’s Marine and Outdoor, said it looks like the matrix will result in sport boats getting less fish while having to pay a 20 percent increase in permit fees to the state.
