NEWPORT – Meetings in five Oregon ports will discuss sport and commercial groundfish issues for 2009 and 2010. 

The Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) is currently setting harvest levels and management measures for the next two years of recreational and commercial groundfish fishing. Seven West Coast groundfish species are declared overfished with five of those species affecting fisheries off Oregon.

In April the PFMC adopted preferred harvest levels for both depleted and healthy stocks, as well as a range of management measures for all groundfish fisheries. At the next PFMC meeting on June 6 through 13 in Foster City, Calif., the Council will take final action and adopt management measures that will be recommended to the National Marine Fisheries Service for implementation.

“It is important that fishers attend the ODFW meetings so they can let Oregon’s representatives to the PFMC know what messages to give the Council,” said Gway Kirchner, Assistant Program Manager for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Marine Resources Program.

The meetings will be:

• April 28 at the Oregon Department of Forestry Office, 5005 Third Street, Tillamook
• May 2 at the Embarcadero Resort, 1000 SE Bay Blvd., Newport
• May 5 at Chetco Grange Community Center, 97895 Shopping Center Ave., Harbor
• May 6 at North Bend Public Library, 1800 Sherman Ave., North Bend
• May 6 at the Port Orford City Hall, 555 W. 20th St., Port Orford

All meetings will be at 7 p.m. except for Port Orford, which will be at 1 p.m. The meetings will start with a general session to discuss harvest levels, then commercial and recreational breakout sessions to discuss specific management measures. 

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