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SUNNY Temp: 50 °F Wind: CLM at 0 mph Tuesday, September 30, 2003 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine Joy Magazine Tempo A & E RogueValleyAutoFinder RogueValleyHomeFinder Real Estate Showcase Wellness Connection 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 Employment Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend June 27, 2003 Biologist will back fish limits Remarks from anglers are mixed at a public meetingon catch-and-release only rules for spring chinook By MARK FREEMAN Mail Tribune SHADY COVE — A state fish biologist said Thursday he will push for limited harvest of wild spring chinook on the Rogue River next year, eschewing plans for a ban on wild spring chinook harvest as earlier proposed. Russ Stauff, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Rogue watershed manager, said he will lobby his ODFW bosses for a 2004 limit of one wild spring chinook a day and up to three a season as an interim plan while his agency develops a conservation plan to rebuild the depressed wild run. Any ODFW proposal must be adopted by the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission before it becomes law. Despite mixed reviews from anglers during a Thursday public meeting in Shady Cove, Stauff said he will stump for the so-called "1-and-3" plan over a current proposal to ban all wild spring chinook harvest upstream of Gold Ray Dam next year. Advertisement The rule would allow anglers to keep one wild spring chinook a day and up to three a year. Current rules allow two per day and up to 20 a year, despite a 15-year trend of declining wild spring chinook. "I will support this internally in conjunction with a conservation plan for wild spring chinook," Stauff said after the public meeting in Shady Cove. "If this is successful, (ODFW fish managers) will hold me accountable to deliver this management plan. We have to deliver." Stauff’s comments came after a mixed review in Shady Cove of an ODFW proposal to ban harvest on wild spring chinook in the upper Rogue spawning grounds as well as a seasonal closure when the depressed chinook are in lower stretches of the Rogue. All wild spring chinook spawn upstream of Gold Ray Dam. Some anglers, such as Dick Bailey, want the ODFW to keep its current rules in place until a conservation plan is developed. "I think you guys need to back off until you develop a plan," Bailey said. Others, like Otis Swisher of Medford, urged release of all wild spring chinook to ensure the rare fish remains in the Rogue. "I’ve had 50 years on the river," Swisher said. "I don’t want to see the same thing happen in the next 50 years that I saw happen to me." But many anglers like Medford sport-fishing guide Jim Dunlevy expressed support for the limited wild chinook harvest, even though this year’s catches show a good return of wild fish. "We need to get involved in this conservation plan," he said. "For now, 1-and-3 is something we can live with." The ODFW had proposed a strict catch-and-release policy for wild spring chinook above Gold Ray Dam because hatchery fish have outnumbered wild fish in recent years by about 10 to 1. The old proposal also called for wild chinook harvest bans in lower stretches of the river once most or all of the wild spring chinook had passed. But better-than-expected returns of wild chinook this year have prompted Stauff to suggest a compromise. Through June 8, 8,700 of the 23,874 adult spring chinook counted past Gold Ray Dam were wild. That’s the most since 1997, and the wild count is expected roughly to double by the end of the run. The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission will vote on any rule change during its Aug. 8 meeting in Astoria. The upcoming conservation plan will include a public task force to wade through the myriad issues affecting wild spring chinook numbers — including Lost Creek dam operation, impacts of hatchery fish, habitat, sport and commercial fishing. Rich Nawa from the Siskiyou Regional Education Project said a conservation plan is "way overdue" for wild spring chinook, which spawn in the upper Rogue upstream of TouVelle State Park and a few key tributaries such as Big Butte Creek. "Fishing regulations are the least important thing, when you look at management of these fish," said Nawa, a biologist. "There needs to be reduced production of hatchery fish to restore some balance and get the river ecologically stable." 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