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 Rule proposals target Rogue By MARK FREEMAN Mail Tribune Shaving evening fishing hours on the far upper Rogue River and altering the river’s spring chinook bag limits highlight a list of potential angling rule changes up for a vote Aug. 8. Oregonians have until Wednesday evening to comment on a slew of proposed changes to angling regulations that the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission will consider during its upcoming meeting in Astoria. The proposals come to the commission from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife during what is considered an off-year from the biennial regulations process. Normally, the process includes an opportunity for anglers to propose new regulations, followed by statewide public hearings and an intensive commission review. But off-years, like this one, are reserved more for housekeeping changes or alterations based on some biological factors. Advertisement The proposals before the commission Aug. 8 include three for the Rogue. ODFW fish managers recommend the commission reduce the number of wild spring chinook that anglers can catch annually in the Rogue, where the spring run is now dominated by hatchery-bred fish sporting clipped adipose fins. The agency is proposing that anglers can keep one wild spring chinook a day and up to three a year when the spring chinook are present in portions of the Rogue. The proposal calls for lifting the wild chinook limit in sections of the river when spring chinook are mostly gone and wild fall chinook — far more abundant than spring chinook — are present. The proposal calls for allowing up to two wild chinook a day beginning June 1 from the river mouth upstream to Whiskey Creek near Rainie Falls. Similar rules would kick into gear July 15 between Whiskey Creek and Gold Ray Dam. ODFW managers originally proposed a ban on the killing of wild spring chinook by anglers during the same periods, but they since have backed the so-called "1-and-3" rule after public comment and updated Gold Ray Dam fish counts showing a stronger than normal wild spring chinook run. Also on the Rogue, the agency is proposing to close fishing at 7 p.m. each night between Cole Rivers Hatchery and the Highway 62 bridge at McGregor Park during the spring season. The closure, which would run April 1 through July 31, is proposed to help curb what ODFW managers say is rampant illegal and unethical angling as well as drunken rowdiness among some anglers there. The agency is proposing to relax the fall chinook salmon limits for the lower Rogue beginning next fall. Anglers now are allowed to keep one chinook a day and up to five a year on the lower Rogue up to the Hog Creek boat landing from Oct. 1 through December. Chinook spawning in lower Rogue tributaries have rebounded in recent years, so ODFW biologists opted to request a relaxing of the rules to the regular limit of two chinook a day. Here are other ODFW proposals that will come before the commission Aug. 8. A reduction of the daily surfperch limit from 25 to 15. The change addresses concerns about surfperch over-fishing and matches Washington’s limit. California allows five surfperch per day. For recreational crabbers, a change to allow for up to two daily limits in holding pots. There currently is no limit. A cut of the statewide sturgeon annual limit from 10 to five, but keeping current size restrictions. Set a new definition for "fin clip" to denote hatchery salmon and steelhead. The current definition is of a healed scar where the adipose fin has been completely removed. The new definition drops the "completely removed" language because some clips are not complete on hatchery salmon and steelhead. 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