Washington Hunter
Well-known member
Published March 29, 2006
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Commercial fishers brace for possible salmon season closure
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SALEM, Ore. -- Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski said Tuesday he will request a federal disaster declaration if federal fishery managers shut down commercial coastal salmon fishing this year -- one option being considered because of unexpectedly small spawning runs of Klamath chinook.
Next week the Pacific Fishery Management Council is expected to eliminate or sharply curtail the commercial season along 700 miles of Pacific coast, including all of Oregon, becaue of three years of poor chinook returns from the Klamath River. Fishermen can't take other salmon from the ocean without killing the Klamath chinook.
State and local officials and federal representatives met here Tuesday at a quickly convened conference to discuss how to help the fishermen and related industries get through a closure -- and the mood was glum.
As a third-generation salmon fisherman, Paul Heikkila of Myrtle Point said he has made it through good years and bad -- "but I've never seen a year when I was looking at 'zero' as an option."
Suggestions for riding out a closure ranged from direct payments to fishermen based on previous earnings to retraining workers to restoring the health of the the Northern California river.
The governor gave state agencies until April 14 to provide a list of specifics to mitigate the economic effects of a closure.
Kulongoski said he has asked Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez and Interior Secretary-designate Dirk Kempthorne to come to Oregon this year to discuss the problem and the proper management of the Klamath River among its various users.
Troller Jeff Feldner of Logsden said in other years fishermen had alternative fisheries such as rockfish to fall back on, but now those, too, are gone.
"There's a sick river down there we've got to fix," he said.
Heikkila said buyers have worked for years to develop good markets and prices for Oregon troll-caught salmon, and those could be endangered by one or two years of closure. And if fishermen can't fish, he said, they won't be able to afford upkeep on their boats.
Some suggested direct payments based on a recent history of production and earnings.
Onno Husing, executive director of the Oregon Coastal Zone Management Association, estimated boat-to-buyer losses from a closed season at $10 million, rising to $25 million when losses at related industries such as fuel docks, ice plants, processors, repair yards and maritime supply businesses were factored in.
He said that would be devastating for fragile coastal economies, which "cannot afford that kind of hit."
Husing was among many who said the long-range solution is better management of the Klamath River, where farmers, American Indian tribes and fishermen compete for water use.
"You're going to see bumper stickers," he predicted. "They'll say, 'Fix the Klamath.' Nothing else."
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Commercial fishers brace for possible salmon season closure
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SALEM, Ore. -- Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski said Tuesday he will request a federal disaster declaration if federal fishery managers shut down commercial coastal salmon fishing this year -- one option being considered because of unexpectedly small spawning runs of Klamath chinook.
Next week the Pacific Fishery Management Council is expected to eliminate or sharply curtail the commercial season along 700 miles of Pacific coast, including all of Oregon, becaue of three years of poor chinook returns from the Klamath River. Fishermen can't take other salmon from the ocean without killing the Klamath chinook.
State and local officials and federal representatives met here Tuesday at a quickly convened conference to discuss how to help the fishermen and related industries get through a closure -- and the mood was glum.
As a third-generation salmon fisherman, Paul Heikkila of Myrtle Point said he has made it through good years and bad -- "but I've never seen a year when I was looking at 'zero' as an option."
Suggestions for riding out a closure ranged from direct payments to fishermen based on previous earnings to retraining workers to restoring the health of the the Northern California river.
The governor gave state agencies until April 14 to provide a list of specifics to mitigate the economic effects of a closure.
Kulongoski said he has asked Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez and Interior Secretary-designate Dirk Kempthorne to come to Oregon this year to discuss the problem and the proper management of the Klamath River among its various users.
Troller Jeff Feldner of Logsden said in other years fishermen had alternative fisheries such as rockfish to fall back on, but now those, too, are gone.
"There's a sick river down there we've got to fix," he said.
Heikkila said buyers have worked for years to develop good markets and prices for Oregon troll-caught salmon, and those could be endangered by one or two years of closure. And if fishermen can't fish, he said, they won't be able to afford upkeep on their boats.
Some suggested direct payments based on a recent history of production and earnings.
Onno Husing, executive director of the Oregon Coastal Zone Management Association, estimated boat-to-buyer losses from a closed season at $10 million, rising to $25 million when losses at related industries such as fuel docks, ice plants, processors, repair yards and maritime supply businesses were factored in.
He said that would be devastating for fragile coastal economies, which "cannot afford that kind of hit."
Husing was among many who said the long-range solution is better management of the Klamath River, where farmers, American Indian tribes and fishermen compete for water use.
"You're going to see bumper stickers," he predicted. "They'll say, 'Fix the Klamath.' Nothing else."
