Here we go again
Proposed gillnet ban would delegate resource management to TV pitchmen

http://www.dailyastorian.info/main.asp?SectionID=23&SubSectionID=392&ArticleID=66704
12/29/2009 11:17:00 AM

An advocacy group is at it again this winter, promising to put an initiative to ban gillnetting on Oregon's November ballot. Voters should reject this self-serving plan.

All types of fishing play important parts in the economy and culture of the Lower Columbia River. Although the commercial importance of salmon isn't what it once was, gillnetting continues to support local families. And for many residents, gillnetters provide our only hope of buying a splendid taste of the salmon that swim past our towns.

Nor should we overlook the contributions of recreational fishing. Taking many forms, from casting a line off a jetty to spending thousands on a boat, sport angling is both a key lifestyle choice and a prime economic sector.

Just as our economy needs all types of fishing, salmon need all types of fishermen to serve as allies in the struggle against river industrialization and environmental threats like global warming. Most fishing groups understand this partnership and have worked well together over the years.

The regrettable exception to this spirit of cooperation is the newly arrived Coastal Conservation Association, which might be better named "More Salmon For Us." This sport-fishing group will be trying to persuade voters that it is somehow immoral to catch salmon in a net. They tried and failed to push the same radical agenda in the Oregon Legislature last session.

Designing fisheries with a citizens' initiative is a horribly flawed idea, essentially taking management out of the hands of biologists and placing it with TV advertising pitchmen who will try to convince a big block of urban voters to put gillnetters out of business. This is no way to improve salmon populations.

There are worthwhile studies under way to enhance the selectivity of salmon harvests. These even include bringing back a form of fish traps, which permit fishermen to examine unharmed salmon and free any that spawn in the wild. Considering the money and expertise invested in gillnetting, any broad-scale change in methodology will necessitate much thought, planning and government assistance.

But such innovations may be the real future of salmon management, not heavy-handed resource grabs like the one being pushed upon voters in 2010.