A few of the trawl boats docked in Charleston will be affected by changes in the nearshore waters off the Oregon Coast in May and June due to closures by the Pacific Fishery Management Council on Thursday. Smaller boats are not able to fish the deeper waters beyond 1,500 feet deep like the larger boats can. World Photo by Lou Sennick

The Pacific Fishery Management Council voted Thursday to close more nearshore waters to commercial trawl vessels during part of May and June, a decision that will make it difficult for dozens of small vessels on the West Coast to stay afloat financially.

"That doesn't make any sense," Jeff Sober, owner of the small, 45-foot trawl vessel Searcher 1, said from his Bandon home Thursday. "They (managers) closed it last year in September; that took us a couple months to catch up and get even again."

The waters between 600 feet deep and 1,500 feet deep, termed the Rockfish Conservation Area because of its design to protect some species of long-lived rockfish, already are closed to trawl vessels and some non-trawl vessels, with slight boundary line changes according to seasonal fishing variations. New data suggest that more fish is being thrown overboard than originally believed.

Thursday's decision would result in no trawling inside of waters 1,500 feet deep for much of May north of a line near Cape Mendocino, Calif., as well as lower harvest limits.

Managers would then allow fishermen to fish shoreward of waters up to 300 feet deep or outside of waters 1,200 feet deep during part of May and most of June - as soon as the government paperwork goes through.

The changes will take place during two months of the prime fishing season for some species of groundfish.

The council members, meeting in Vancouver, Wash., heard testimony from several people that the changes will crimp small-boat trawlers.

"The results of adopting this proposal will be felt by fishermen and processors who have already made fishing plans for this season, who are already gearing up for May, and who will suddenly be shut down with two week's notice," said a Groundfish Advisory Subpanel report to the council. "To further complicate matters, the lack of harvest in May of this year will mean the bycatch model has less data to use next year so this could, in effect, wind up as a permanent closure."

But proponents also said that ignoring the data that's available would put some species of rockfish at further risk, an unacceptable option. Conservation groups said the council set a new precedent for using observer data to rapidly adjust fishery practices.

"This is a huge victory for better management of our Pacific groundfish," said Phil Kline, fisheries program director for Oceana, a conservation group in Washington, D.C.

Opponents were still critical of the data, insisting that:

n The decision is based on information from last year's observer program, in which federal employees accompanied crews on fishing trips and recorded which fish were harvested for market and which fish were discarded due to market or management changes, prior to the Rockfish Conservation Area's establishment.

Fishing methods and areas have changed since then and the bycatch data from last year may no longer be relevant;

n The decision targets only trawl fishermen, despite the fact that observers also took part in fixed-gear (fish pots and longline-style equipment) and open access fisheries.

Bycatch of unmarketable fish also takes place in those fisheries; and

n There is no other option available to support or contradict the conclusions of a mathematical bycatch model that has not been thoroughly tested.

The fleet of trawl vessels that are larger will continue to have access to fish in deep water. The council increased the harvest limits to encourage boats to fish outside of the continental shelf.

But for the small trawl vessels that primarily target flatfish in nearshore, sandy areas, the next couple months likely will be difficult.

"We're the boat that's being most affected," Sober said. "We can't go out into the open area outside of 250 fathoms. It's not safe for us."

A combination of higher fuel prices, lower harvest limits, area closures and other fisheries such as crab or shrimp that may not be profitable this time of year could add to the problem.

Ironically, the closure comes at a time when markets for flatfish begin to pick up.

"There seems to be more of a demand for the fish in the summertime," Sober said.

"Everything's really coming down here now to where I hope we can still make the bank payment."

- The Associated Press contributed to this report