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November 23, 2016
The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission will meet in Salem on Friday, Dec. 2.
The meeting begins at 8 a.m. at the ODFW headquarters building, 4034 Fairview Industrial Dr. SE in Salem. ODFW will live-stream portions of Friday’s meeting via Periscope on Twitter feed https://twitter.com/MyODFW.
The complete meeting agenda and supporting materials are online at http://www.dfw.state.or.us/agency/commission/minutes/16/12_dec/index.asp.
The Commission will receive a Director’s Report containing an update on ongoing analyses related to Columbia River Fisheries Reform policy, and will consider adopting rules to extend the transition period for the policy by one month (through Jan. 31, 2017). The Commission had been scheduled to consider rulemaking on the policy at the December meeting, but requested the extension to allow for more staff analysis and additional review by the Commission. The Commission is now scheduled to consider rulemaking on the policy on Jan. 20, 2017.
The Commission also will consider proposed regulations for 2017 groundfish fisheries. Commercial and recreational groundfish fisheries are based on federal regulations and the Commission may adopt additional or more conservative regulations. For the recreational angler, the proposed regulations would retain the seven marine fish bag limit but would:
- Create a sub-bag limit of six black rockfish.
- Remove the sub-bag limit for canary rockfish.
- Add China/quillback/copper rockfishes to the sub-bag limit with blue/Deacon rockfish and change the limit from three to four fish.
- Remove the 10-inch minimum size for kelp greenling.
- Require anglers to carry a rockfish descending device and use it when releasing most rockfish outside 30 fathoms.
Other items to be considered by the Commission:
- Appointment a new public-at-large representative to the Restoration and Enhancement Board.
- Appointment of a new chair and hunter representative to the Access and Habitat Board.
- Approval of expenditures of $103,885 for six enhancement project approved by the R&E Board in September.
- An informational briefing on recent changes to the state’s Sensitive Species List resulting from a recent staff review. The changes will be posted on the ODFW website in December 2016.
The Commission is the policy-making body for fish and wildlife issues in the state. Public testimony before the Commission will be held first thing Friday morning, just after the adoption of temporary rules. 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. Contact the Director’s Office by calling 800-720-6339 or 503-947-604.
Reasonable accommodations will be provided as needed for individuals requesting assistive hearing devices, sign language interpreters or large-print meeting 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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