FRANK ARMENDARIZ/PHOTO – On Lower Winchester Bay last week the bar crossing was closed to recreational boats under 24 feet.
Unless you are a commercial fisherman, sport charter captain, or possibly an avid ocean recreational angler, the Marine Resources Program is not likely to be discussed at many kitchen tables.
But if you are a consumer of any ocean species of fin or shellfish, harvested in Oregon waters – whether you buy your seafood from your local market or harvest it yourself – you can be assured that the marine biologists of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife who work in the MRP have sampled those commodities for their sustainability as a sport or commercial catch, for the maturity of specific species, and for each species’ safety as table fare.
Particularly when it come to shellfish.
The MRP are the ODFW staff and biologists who greet you at the docks of our ports to check your salmon. They tell us when shellfish collection and consumption should be avoided, when crabs have soft shells, and make recommendations about the sport or commercial harvest of every consumable species of fish caught in Oregon waters, including salmon, tuna, halibut, lingcod, several species of rockfish, dungeness crab and other shellfish.
You may also encounter a “fish checker” at an inland boat landing during salmon season, essentially collecting data that the MRP will analyze to make future recommendations for seasons not yet realized. They have no jurisdictional authority and don’t write or issue citations. They are only collecting data.
The MRP’s geographical responsibility covers 363 miles of shoreline, 1,400 miles of coastal wetlands, bays, estuary frontage, and extends 200 nautical out to sea. In addition to the sport and commercial fish species, the MRP also samples non-sport ocean species as a general indicator of the ocean’s overall health.
The MRP does not make policy or set dates for the start or ending of a season. They make “recommendations” to the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission, which ultimately decides on the calendar details and allowable retention limits.
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On Lower Winchester Bay last week the bar crossing was closed to recreational boats under 24 feet. Waves can be seen on the northern edge of the Umpqua River Bar and a swell extends to the south jetty. These conditions can bring all ocean fishing to a standstill any time of the year.
Particularly among sport anglers, there has been plenty of frustration over how the Fish and Wildlife Commission has decided on the dates for the fisheries they manage, often relegating open days to fish for some species over a series of consecutive weekends or some other window of limited dates.
Unfortunately there was no consideration of weather or ocean conditions, if anglers can’t get on the ocean on open days to fish because the ocean is too rough and unsafe to boat. Those are lost days, quotas are not met, paychecks are not written, and money that coastal economies depend on goes unearned.
A recent irritation to anglers has been the duration of the halibut fishery. The largest of the flat fish that inhabit the eastern Pacific are prized by sport and commercial fishing operations. Halibut are also one of the most sustainable fisheries the Pacific has to offer. They are a powerful fish, put up a very good fight, and can run to well over 100 pounds when nurtured in Oregon’s ocean waters.
Last year the halibut season was set for several consecutive weekends in the late spring. Ocean conditions keep boats in the harbor many of the open weekends.
This season will be different, I can report that there was intense lobbying of the ODFW by a number of sport fishing groups. That might have made the difference and this season the MRP recommendation to the Fish and Wildlife Commissioners, in the Humbug Mountain to Cape Falcon management zone, is to have a seven-day-a-week halibut season for 2022, beginning May 12 through June 30 or until a harvest quota of 170,000 pounds is reached. The MRP also recommended “backup dates” in the event that the quota is not reached by June 30 and proposed July 7-9 and July 21-23.
In a meeting scheduled for April 22, the Fish and Wildlife Commissioners are expected to approve the staff recommendations from the MRP. I’ll have more information in future Angler’s Logs and more details on the MRP recommendations can be found at myodfw.com/halibut. But it’s time to make a charter boat reservation …
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After a spell of nearly spring-like weather, particularly in western parts of Lane County and coastal Oregon in general, winter returned to Oregon this week.
Steelheaders will be delighted; the precipitation was just what was needed to reignite what started out as a promising winter steelhead season rhat precipitously ground to a near standstill because of the lack of rainfall over the last 30 days. Again just last week the Florence STEP group processed about 40 hatchery steelhead captured in their trap on Whitaker Creek. The fish are in the rivers, hopefully the conditions conducive to catching a steelhead will persist through March.
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