NORTH BEND - The governor’s office would like to see all Oregonians become involved in the nomination process for marine reserves.

That was just one of the messages Gov. Ted Kulongoski’s Natural Resources Policy Advisor, Jessica Hamilton, brought to the Bay Area Chamber of Commerce Independent Business Operators luncheon at The Mill Casino-Hotel on Wednesday.

There are a number of increasing threats to the ocean, Hamilton said, and establishing off-limits areas of the ocean, marine reserves, would be one way to guard against threats such as unknown impacts of wave energy, potential aquaculture and climate change.

“There are things happening out there that we should be prepared for,” Hamilton said.

Hamilton said the idea of marine reserves is not new. The Ocean Policy Advisory Council has been working on them for at least seven years, under both Gov. John Kitzhaber and Kulongoski.

Marine reserves has been a hot-button issue for most of those years, with ocean users the most vocal and involved in the process. Commercial fishermen, sport fishermen, ports and marine-related businesses have a vested interest in the issue. Many are concerned the set-aside areas could translate into lower revenue or business closure.

“If there were marine reserves right out in front of Charleston, I would take a hit,” said Marjorie Whitmer, owner of Betty Kay Charters in Charleston.

“That’s certainly not the intent of the governor,” Hamilton said, noting that Kulongoski has said he would welcome fewer than 10 reserves and would be designed to have very little or no socioeconomic impact.

Kulongoski’s plan calls for a public nomination process in early 2008 in which all Oregonians can suggest marine reserve sites. So far, the issue has been discussed primarily at OPAC meetings — that’s the official public forum for these issues, Hamilton said — but eventually, the whole state would be able to have a say.

Hamilton said it’s the governor’s hope that coastal communities also may be able to take pride in their local marine reserves and help enforce the use and non-use of the areas. So far, the primary dialogue has been with the fishing industry.

However, at various OPAC meetings, several representatives of environmental groups from state and national groups have urged council members to keep moving forward in the reserves process.

“It’s important that folks on the coast work with all of the community, not just the crabbers, salmon fishermen or charter boats,” Hamilton said.

Nonetheless, of the 60 or so people attending the luncheon, it was only those from marine-related businesses or organizations and sport and commercial fishermen who asked questions such as the cost of implementing the reserves, enforcement and how a few sites in Oregon can compare to larger sites in Washington and California. Representatives from businesses that have a lesser relationship with ocean use were silent.

Coos Bay-North Bend Rotary member Andy Nasburg commented on a Rotary meeting held in July in which Oregon Coastal Zone Management Association Executive Director Onno Husing discussed the reserves process. At that meeting, Nasburg said, Rotary members found out that fishermen have adjusted their fishing methods and management so that some fish stocks have greater protection and that the ocean ecosystem isn’t as affected by fishing gear.

“Sometimes people on shore don’t recognize that,” Nasburg said.

“Yes,” Hamilton said, agreeing that fishing methods have changed. “But it’s not just about fishing. It’s also about protecting a place.”

Hamilton equated marine reserves to set-aside areas on land in which there is no extractive activities such as logging.

Sport fisherman Lou Leberti said that even in those wilderness areas, people often are still allowed to hunt and use the area.

“I see you making a picture like that to inland people,” Leberti said, but, he added, it’s worth noting that much of the nearshore coastal ocean already is protected about half the time — by weather. The ocean often is inaccessible due to storms.

“It’s a scary, scary process you’re pointing at the coast,” he said.

The Ocean Policy Advisory Council will continue to discuss marine reserves at its meeting today and Friday in Gold Beach.

(Susan Chambers covers fisheries issues for The World. She can be contacted by calling 269-1222, ext. 273; or by e-mail at schambers@theworldlink.com.)