Document text
CLEAR Temp: 61 °F Wind: NNE at 4 mph Tuesday, August 12, 2003 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine W3 Magazine Jobs @ Mail Tribune Tempo A & E Oregon CarZone Wellness Connection Real Estate Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend July 31, 2003 Canaries are singing the blues Outdoors By MARK FREEMAN Mail Tribune Concern over a bug-eyed, blotchy bottom-dweller is about to take the deep out of deep-sea fishing for Oregon’s recreational anglers. Federal fish managers are poised to restrict how deep anglers can fish for all forms of rockfish beginning next year under a plan to protect one overfished species — the canary rockfish. Longtime favorites among sport and commercial fishermen for their tasty white flesh, the "canaries" have been fished down to such low levels that anglers will be asked to steer clear of them while fishing for other, less troubled, species. Possible restrictions range from cutting months off the bottomfishing season and instilling a catch-and-release rule for canaries, which co-exist in offshore reefs with dozens of other rockfish species. Advertisement But marine biologists believe the most likely changes would include a ban on keeping canaries as well as an outright ban on all rockfish angling in deeper offshore waters, where the canaries are most prevalent. Options include banning the recreational fleet from bottomfishing outside the 30-, 40- or 50-fathom "curve" — those lines that map various nautical depths of the ocean floor. "I’m thinking that what we’ll see will be a depth closure and a ban on retention of canaries," says Don Bodenmiller, marine fisheries project leader for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. "And I’m guessing right now that it will be the 40-fathom (curve)." The Pacific Fishery Management Council is mulling several options for the recreational and commercial fleets, and the council now is taking public comment on the various options. The council, which sets offshore fishery policies and seasons for the federal Department of Commerce, is set to approve next year’s season during its meeting Sept. 8-12 in Seattle. If the 40-fathom proposal comes to pass, it will have vastly different impacts depending upon from which port Oregonians launch. Anglers fishing out of south coast ports like Brookings, Bandon and Coos Bay likely will see little change because most bottomfishing there is in near-shore waters well shy of 40 fathoms, which is 240 feet. But ports further north, like Garibaldi and Newport, regularly head to deep offshore reefs for trips. So do anglers who launch out of Winchester Bay near Reedsport, where the only decent bottomfishing is in deep waters. "Winchester Bay is completely zeroed out unless we can come up with some sort of exemption for them," says Wayne Butler, a Bandon charterboat captain who represents the charter industry on a PFMC advisory panel. "But I don’t think the feds will go for that because everybody would want an exemption." The pinch could come to south coast anglers if the ban is set at the 30-fathom curve. At 180 feet, that brings some underwater rockfish havens off Brookings and Gold Beach into the no-fishing zones. Regardless of location, however, anglers will be releasing canaries destined to die. Research shows that canaries pulled from waters deeper than 15 fathoms will die from inflated swim bladders, Bodenmiller says. Half of those caught in shallower waters are presumed dead, he says. "You’re going to be throwing back a lot of fish that simply aren’t going to make it," Butler says. "No fish means dead fish." Once targeted primarily by commercial trawlers, canary rockfish increasingly have been caught and kept by recreational anglers fishing primarily for black and blue rockfish. A 2001 assessment conducted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration concludes that the canaries have been fished down to less than 10 percent of their pre-fishing levels. In an effort to curb their catch and give the slow-growing fish a chance to rebound, the PFMC has enacted strict quotas for sport and commercial interests coastwide. Currently, Oregonians can keep one canary rockfish a day, but they can fish anywhere and any day they choose. That’s not true in California and Washington, where shortened bottomfishing seasons exist. Sport anglers get about 40 percent of the total canary catch, with Oregon’s fishery getting the lion’s share. Also, the allocations, which come in the form of metric tons of canaries, not only include the fish kept but also account for the fish that die after their release. Oregon will have to halve its catch next year, and Bodenmiller says one way to pencil that out is to enact the canary harvest ban and institute the 40-fathom curve rule. But whether the council chooses that option or one of several other options on the table remains to be seen, he says. Whatever direction it chooses, however, the council likely won’t be cutting any months from the traditional year- round recreational season, Bodenmiller says. Cutting summer months would spare few canaries, he says, because most people are fishing for salmon. In winter, bottomfishing is less popular and generally focuses on near-shore waters, he says. "Nobody’s really talking about period closures," Bodenmiller says. "They’re talking about depth closures." "It seems to be the reality," he says. Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 776-4470, or e-mail [email protected] Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2003 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Rogue Valley Auto Finder Rogue Valley Job Finder --> Rogue Valley Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Real Estate Showcase Food for Thought Hike of the Week Wellness Connection Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Openings Prime Times