John Holloway, Columnist

The terms of surrender are presently being negotiated regarding marine reserves in Oregon’s ocean.

That’s correct, your right to access sustainably managed marine resources in your state is being given away to political special interests. This access will affect more that just fishing interests. Seafood consumers throughout Oregon who value the nutritional superiority of wild-caught local stocks are being compromised, as well. The only question that remains is how much for now.

The Ocean Policy Advisory Council has been told by Gov. Ted Kulongoski that saying no to any marine reserves is not an option. Public outreach meetings will be happening in Oregon where you, too, can participate in shaping the terms of surrender. At outreach, you will be told that your candid input is being sought. However, any input that does not fit with a preconceived agenda will be graciously accepted but not considered.

How can this happen? It’s really very simple. Oregon’s ocean has recently become an attractive target for takeover by outside interests of wealth and means. This is also true for wave energy. These outside interests are more than willing to use their huge financial resources led by paid representatives, lobbyists and lawyers to conquer the local resistance. This is simply a corporate takeover of local marine real estate. It is a form of political extortion.

Here’s how it works: The wealthy marine reserve advocates say, “Give us some of the control of the ocean through sacrificial area designation. If you don’t, we will simply place a marine reserve initiative on the state ballot. We feel confident that our massive public relations machine will convince the voters in Portland and Eugene that our ocean is in serious trouble. They will swallow our propaganda hook, line and sinker (pun intended). With a sufficient majority vote in these two areas, we can roll over the rest of the state even if eastern Oregon doesn’t toe the line. So you see, it is surrender now or suffer a worse fate later.”

Who are these wealthy political special interests? The major players in this takeover are Pew Charitable Trust, headquarters Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., 2007 net assets, 4.9 billion dollars (www.pewtrusts.org); Oceana, headquarters Washington, D.C. and international, 2006 net assets U.S. operations $10 million (www.oceana.org); Surfrider Foundation, headquarters San Clemente, Calif., 2006 net assets, $3.4 million (www.surfrider.org).

These are large corporate enterprises. They make huge amounts of money, much like Exxon and Mobil. They sell a product that costs very little to produce. They are selling crises and demons.  Exxon is a petroleum merchant, Pew is a crisis merchant. They sell a crisis to their donors (Oregon’s ocean is depleted or soon could be). Next is the claim of the responsible demons (Oregon’s fishermen have caused this crisis). There is little willingness to negotiate with fishing interests for a give-and-take solution to their demands. Environmental interests could become unemployed if they strike a compromise with fishing interests. There would be no inventory to sell. There would no longer be a crisis or an enemy to fight. Fishing interests would be more than willing to give up some areas for a different philosophy of full protection if an offer of helping fisheries with funding for mitigation of economic loss and fishery data research were offered. This could have the potential of expanding fishing opportunities beyond any lost to modest reserve closures. The communication cable companies have done this successfully with fishermen in Oregon

Expansion is another concern. There is a manifest destiny attitude with fishery closure advocates. No West Coast marine reserve has ever gotten smaller. Many have grown in size. Channel Islands reserves in California are an example. New marine reserves in Central California waters were designated in July 2007 and already proponents are involved in the process of expanding them into federal waters. The ink on the original paperwork isn’t even dry. Starting small is no problem for proponents. All they want is a foot in the door.

What can you do? Large public displays of anger couldn’t hurt. You must show up in enormous numbers at public meetings. You must let your elected officials know that this situation is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. These wealthy environmental interests already have successfully threatened elected officials with retaliation in California. They will surely do so in Oregon, as well. If your elected officials stick up for you they may face heavily subsidized opposition candidates in their next election. Let those officials who support you know that you vote and the out-of-state interests don’t.

Only public outrage can stop this. If not, this could be the beginning of the end for widespread public access to sustainably managed ocean resources.

Just say no to thugs.

(John Holloway is the chairman of the Oregon Chapter, Recreational Fishing Alliance Portland/Garibaldi.)