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77 °F Forecast | Road Cams Thursday, September 16, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal How To Guide Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Rogue Valley's Finest EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend August 19, 2004 Marine biologists put a cap on cabezons By MARK FREEMAN Mail Tribune Sport-fishing for cabezon on Wednesday closed abruptly in Oregon for the year after ocean anglers caught enough of these large sculpin to reach a state- imposed harvest cap. The cabezon closure is the first such midseason halt to bottomfishing harvest under state quotas enacted last year to curb perceived over-fishing of groundfish species until studies reveal their relative health. Recreational anglers can still fish for black rockfish, lingcod and other popular species caught in Oregon’s near-shore fisheries. However, all cabezon caught through December must be released unharmed. State marine biologists had hoped the cap — which rolled back the recreational harvest to the 2000 harvest of 15.8 metric tons — would allow a yearlong season on cabezon. But fishing-friendly spring ocean conditions and federal rule changes that pushed anglers in shore toward traditional cabezon waters likely triggered the higher catches, according to Don Bodenmiller, project leader for marine recreational groundfish fisheries for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. Advertisement Similar caps exist for other groundfish species that could trigger other closures later this year, Bodenmiller says. "We’re tracking and following them, but it may be before the end of the year that we hit one of these other caps," Bodenmiller says. The most important cap could be the one on black and blue rockfish, Bodenmiller says. Like with cabezon, the black and blue rockfish quota is expected to last the entire year, he says. Hitting that cap could trigger a complete closure on recreational bottomfishing, Bodenmiller says. "They’re the target species," Bodenmiller says. "If you can’t keep the target species, I don’t know what else you could do." Wednesday’s closure angered some recreational ocean-fishing advocates such as Jim Welter of Brookings, who believes the caps should never have been enacted. The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission set the caps beginning last year as a method to curb any over-fishing for these slow-growing bottomfish before long-awaited stock federal assessments get done. But advocates like Welter instead wanted to avoid closures like this one until science shows caps and shutdowns are necessary. "They just stuck this cap on it arbitrarily," Welter says. "It’s hogwash. They should have never done it." The closure already has created a backlash against the ODFW marine program. Bodenmiller says at least one Depoe Bay charterboat captain refused ODFW catch observers on board last weekend. Catch-and-release fishing for cabezon should not be difficult even when caught in deep water, Bodenmiller says. Cabezon do not have air bladders like black and blue rockfish, which often die when caught in deep water and released, he says. Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 776-4470, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities