Fish and Wildlife Commission to set ocean salmon seasons at April 23 meeting

SALEM, Ore. – The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission will meet in Roseburg on Friday, April 23 to consider ocean salmon fishing seasons.

The meeting will begin at 8 a.m. at the City of Roseburg Council Chambers at 900 SE Douglas Ave., Roseburg, Ore. 97470. Meeting agenda and materials.

On Thursday, April 22 the Commission will tour several locations in southwest Oregon including the Rock Creek Hatchery fish ladder project, North Bank Habitat Management Area, and the Winchester Dam. Members of the public are invited to join Commission members on the tour, but must use their own transportation. To join the tour, be ready to depart from ODFW Southwest Regional Office, 4192 N. Umpqua Hwy in Roseburg by 10 a.m.

During Friday’s meeting, the Commission will be asked to adopt 2010 ocean salmon seasons for sport and commercial fisheries for state waters in keeping with Pacific Fishery Management Council guidelines that will be adopted April 15.

The PFMC will adopt salmon fishing regulations for ocean waters from three to 200 miles off shore. The Commission will consider similar regulations for ocean waters within the three-mile nearshore.

South of Cape Falcon, the PFMC is expected to adopt the first significant ocean fisheries for chinook salmon since 2007. However, the fisheries will still be relatively restricted because stocks of Sacramento River chinook salmon continue to be weak for the third straight year.

North of Cape Falcon the PFMC may adopt larger quotas for chinook salmon due to higher forecasts for Columbia River chinook. Coho salmon predictions are down, however, and quotas will be smaller than last year.

The PFMC recommendations to be considered by the Commission will be posted on the ODFW website in the Commission meeting packet on April 19.

In other business, the Commission will be asked to formalize rules concerning how the department disposes of shed antlers it acquires. The proposed rules would allow antlers to be donated to non-profit organizations, schools and government agencies for purposes consistent with the agency’s mission, such as for educational displays or to wildlife conservation groups to raise money for habitat projects. The proposed rules would also allow the department to sell antlers using state procurement processes.

Deer, elk and other ungulates naturally shed their antlers every year in late winter or early spring. Every year ODFW acquires a small number of antlers from its own ongoing operations or from other agencies, such as from Oregon State Police in the aftermath of criminal cases when antlers have been confiscated or from Department of Transportation cleaning up road kill.

SB 391, passed by the 2009 Oregon State Legislature, changed the agency responsible for regulating captive pure-bred gray wolves from the Oregon Department of Agriculture to ODFW. Staff will ask the Commission to adopt administrative rules in line with the new responsibility. There are only two active permits regulated by the state of Oregon and the proposed rules will allow these two current permit-holders to continue to hold pure-bred gray wolves. No new permit-holders or facilities for pure-bred gray wolves will be permitted by ODFW.

Finally, the Commission will consider a citizen-initiated petition that asks for one permit to be issued to a licensed bait company allowing it to harvest anchovies from Yaquina Bay and sell them as live bait.

The Commission is the policy-making body for fish and wildlife issues in the state. The seven-member panel meets monthly. Agenda item exhibits may be requested by calling the ODFW Director’s Office at 800-720-6339 or 503-947-6044.

Public testimony will be held Friday morning immediately following the expenditure report. Persons seeking to testify on issues not on the formal agenda may do so by making arrangements with the ODFW Director’s Office, at least 24 hours in advance of the meeting, by calling 800-720-6339 or 503-947-6044.

Reasonable accommodations will be provided as needed for individuals requesting assistive hearing devices, sign language interpreters or large-print materials. Individuals needing these types of accommodations may call the ODFW Director’s Office at 800-720-6339 or 503-947-6044 at least 24 hours in advance of the meeting.

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