State commissions near decision on gillnet ban
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - The Oregon and Washington fish and wildlife commissions are nearing a decision on a push to ban the use of gillnets to catch salmon on the main stem of the Columbia River.
Oregon's commission is scheduled to vote Friday on the proposed new rules for the lower Columbia. A decision in Washington is scheduled for next week.
The proposed rules would phase in the nontribal gillnet ban over three years and prioritize recreational fisheries on the river's main stem. By 2017, gillnets would be allowed only in side channels.
The plan has angered many of the roughly 200 commercial fishermen who work the Columbia River and fear they won't be able to make a living if they're confined to tributaries and side channels. They've taken a skeptical view of the rules.
"There's just no way that this works," said Bill Hunsinger, a longtime commercial fisherman and leading voice opposing tough restrictions on gillnetting.
There's not enough room in the side channels to accommodate all the gillnetters, Hunsinger said.
Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber requested that the rules be developed as a compromise after a group of environmentalists and recreational fishing interests pushed a ballot measure that would have banned gillnets altogether next year. His proposed budget includes $5.2 million to increase hatchery fish in areas where gillnetters would be allowed to operate, and to help gillnetters to convert their fleet to use alternative nets.
Gillnets hang under the water surface and snag fish by the gills. Critics say gillnets are harmful to salmon restoration because they kill many of the fish they catch but can't differentiate between endangered fish and targeted species.
"That's really the principle behind this: How can we manage a fishery so these wild and endangered salmon can get back to their spawning ground and produce more wild fish?" said Jeremy Wright, a spokesman for Stop Gillnets Now, the group that initially pushed a ballot measure and is now aggressively lobbying for Kitzhaber's proposal.
Gillnet critics are advocating the adoption of seine nets, which form a circle in the water and trap fish inside. Endangered salmon can be separated from other species and set free. Seines are currently illegal in Oregon and Washington, and commercial fishermen question whether they could be economically viable on the Columbia.
Fish recovery plans allocate a certain number of endangered fish that can be impacted by fish harvests. These "impacts" are divided between tribal, commercial and recreational fisheries. Tribal fisheries are not impacted by the proposed new rules.
The rules would steadily decrease impacts allocated for commercial fisheries and increase the allocations for recreational fisheries.
Kitzhaber pitches his plan as an effort to improve both commercial and recreational fisheries. In a statement, he acknowledged that his proposal relies on assumptions that may not come to fruition, including that he'll be able to secure funding to enhance fishing areas off the main stem.
"This conflict has gone on too long," Kitzhaber's statement said. "It is time to come together."
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
Why is there a commission on this subject? The voters of Oregon spoke just last month, saying that they don't want a ban on gill netting! What good does Oregon's ban do if Washington is not banned? This ban will only push Oregon business to Washington. It seems that our retread governor is totally against any private business in Oregon. He seems to be doing everything he can to drive it out of Oregon! Oregon can not survive without private businesses, but this duffus governor can't seem to comprehend that!
@Freedom1267
We voted we didn't want a ban on JUST Oregon gillnetting.
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Thus paving the way for Washington gill-netters to have free reign.
@Podunk.2, Your name fits all too well. Try all the indusrties they support.My family has been commercial fishing the Columbia for more than 100 years and this will have a way bigger impact than you Greedy Sporties admit. Just keep spinning your lies, the voters spoke and I offered nothing but common sense. Also in answer to your question of how only 200 Comercial Fishermen have that kind of clout? They tell the Truth!
 @swede760 Ahh,when we cant come up with a valid point its real easy to call names.The voters did not speak because it was withdrawn because of the promises Kitz made.Do you really think it would not of passed if he did not promise to head it off before it got to a vote? And all the families in the other states where kill netting has been eliminated have done just fine.And how much really gets back to the economy from the gill netters versus the sporties.Again 200 have had the rest bamboozled that its really needed to have fish in the market.How do you explain the killing of Sturgeon by the gill netters in their incidental catch when the sporties have all much gone to catch and release only. The truth is that this method of harvest kills everything in its path and should of been eliminated long ago.
 @podunk.2 @Repoman If you had read my earlier comment you would realize that I make sense. Yes Gillnets should be phased out and replaced with Tangle nets that do not kill fish and they should have a time limit and resusitation boxes like they do during the Spring season. There is no reason to kill a sustainable industry that employs way more than just 200 Fishermen. Also Barbed Hooks should be banned from the Columbia and Sports Fishermen should also be required to use resusitation boxes. Next The Tribal Fisheries should be banned fro Set Netting which does kill everything that gets near it and changed to Tangle gear as well. We sould all bear responsibility for maintaining the fish run but that is not what this is really about is it? No the Sports Fishermen want to just destroy 200 families, thier businesses, thier investment and thier job so that the Soprt Fishermen can have all the fish for themselves. Sounds like Greed to me. BTW if you know anything about fishing you would know that Sturgeon are nearly impossible to kill and I have never seen one die from being caught in a gillnet unless it kept for sale, they live forever in a fish box, but they are dying in large numbers fron too many hooks in thier mouths to feed and being stressed from being caught by Sports Fishermen. Also ODFW has proven that Sport Fishing and Gillneting have the same mortality rate for released fish, it is just that the Sporting industry takes way more fish than the commercial industry does that the percentage is the same but the real numbers are way higher for the Sporting industry. So if you want to save the fish ban all fishing not just one small group
If you had paid attenetion to my original posr you would realize that I am asking ALL lobbies to compromise. Which do you have a problem with, Facts or Compromise?
Yes the conflict has gone on too long, we Voted on this last month and the Voters decided to let the Gillnets stay. Yet our Governor has once again to go against the will of the Voters and do his own thing just like Capital Punishment. Should things change? Absolutely but not this way. First they fail to mention that the Sport Fishing Industry, and yes it is an Industry, have the same Moratlity rates for endangered fish that they release as the Gillnets and they take a much higher number of fish so they are responsible for more endangered fish death than the Gillnets. Or that Seining has an even higher mortality rate because the fish beat the scales off each other when bunched up in the purse, I have also heard the arguments about wildlife being caught, the closest thing to a bird I or anyone in my family has seen caught in a gillnet is a KFC Box most likely thrown into the river by a Sport Fisherman. The closest thing to a Beaver or Muscrat we have ever seen is Beaver Chewed Sticks and as far as Seals and Sea Lions the same Sport Fishermen trying to ban the Commercial Fishermen want the State to kill them for them. What I would like to see is new regulation phasing out Gillnets and replacing them with Tangle nets. The Tangle nets have been proven to not kill fish before they are caught, when caught they are put into a Resusitation Box and revived before being released. I would also like to see a Ban on Barbed Hooks and having a requirement for Resusitation Boxes for All Salmon Fishermen on the Columbia River. Also I see no reason why the Tribal Fisheries Commission should not go along with converting from Set Nets to Drifting with Tangle Nets with time limits for how long the net can be in the water like the Lower River Commercial Fishermen have when they are required to use Tangle Nets. For the Salmon to survive and for us to retain our local economies that are driven by Commercial fishing all parties need to give something and actually work together instead of pointing fingers and spreading irresponsible lies. Allot more than 200 Commercial Fishermen will lose thier businesses if they are banned. There are so many other people that rely on the Fishermen for income, Canneries and thier Employees, Suppliers that sell the Fishermen thier gear, Boat Builders, Mechanics, Marinas, Resturants, Bars and Taverns, Fuel Companies that sell the Gas and Diesel used to catch fish, Fish and Wildlife Obsevers, the list goes on and on. Also what a ban of Commercial fishing will do is the Consumer will no longer be able to go to the store to buy Fresh Columbia River Salmon, no you will have to buy a License, Gear and learn how to fish yourself if you want the Privilige of eating our Native Salmon or you could buy it on the Reservation from the Native Americans but that is caught in a Set Net and who knows how long it sat dead in the net before being pulled out. Or you can just accept eatting Farmed Atlantic Salmon that has to have dye injected to make it look real. Yes we need to do something and that is make all the facts clear to everyone and make everyone compromise not just the smallest group out of three that currently has the least impact.
 @swede760 And how can only 200 gill netters carry enough political clout to still allow this practice to continue? Who is in their pocket now,in the past it was one of their own on the ODFW board that helped them out.And how much financial impact is 200 netters verses the thousands of sports that actually put money back into the economy going to have.If Kitz would not of offered this agreement before the vote took place the netters would of been voted off the rivers but everyone held their vote to see if he was going to carry through on his promise to get them off the river, should of been banned years ago like everywhere else has done.
 @swede760 Go back to your gillnet boat and stay off the inter-webs with your bias point of view.
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First I live on my Sail Boat, next I made common sense suggestions, do you have a problem with Facts or Compromise?
 @iamright555  @swede760 iamright555, do you make a living off of the fishing industry or are you just one of the Portland Liberals who don't have a stake in something but think they do?
My family has a stake considering it they have been commercial fishing the Columbia and Alaska for over 100 years. You have a problem with Facts or with Compromise?
Didn't we just VOTE on this?!?! Since it didn't come out like Kitzy wanted, he's going to change it any way!!! This is BS!!!
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Comrade Kitzy strikes again
 @Sara No Sara, the organizations that wrote the proposed change backed off the issue and told there people to not vote on it since the governor told them he will personally fix this himself.
This only works if ALL gillnetting is banned, this includes Oregon, Washington and the Indians.
 @russell.stephens You go tell the indians what they need to change.. see how far that gets you
 @iamright555  @russell.stephens The river is not on a reservation , so yes we can enforce a no gill net law for the indians. Now having said that I hope that the kitzclubber, in bypassing what the voters of the state of Oregon VOTED DOWN, has a fund for the lawsuits that will be generated by overzealous game wardens chasing WA fisherman to thew WA side of the river and citing them. Yes Even though the Kitzclubber thinks he owns the entire river , he does not.
@iamright555 @Civ @russell.stephens or just break it like we did all the others. It could be just like SSI and Medicare, Oh sorry we changed our mind your screwed
 @Civ  @russell.stephens hear of the Celilo Falls?When white men built the dams we wrote them a contract to forever that they get to net the Columbia. Build a time machine and rewrite that contract.