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Fishing group proposes marine reserve at Port Orford
Wednesday, October 01, 2008 | 1 comment(s)
PORT ORFORD (AP) — The first of an expected wave of ideas for marine reserves off Oregon’s coast comes from a group of fishermen who would bar themselves from a fertile site just off Port Orford.
Tuesday was the deadline for supporters of marine reserves to turn in proposals to the state.
Applications from Cannon Beach to Gold Beach are expected, along with a proposal for a network of reserves and less-restrictive protected areas from a coalition of conservation groups.
Gov. Ted Kulongoski wants as many as nine reserves in Oregon’s territorial sea, from the shore to three miles out, by 2011, to the frustration and opposition of many fishermen.
But one of the first proposals comes from the Port Orford Ocean Resource Team, led by fisherman Jeff Miles, four other longtime commercial fishermen from Port Orford and the wife of a second-generation commercial fisherman.
At 48, Miles said, he has fished at Redfish Rocks grounds for 35 years and gets 10 to 15 percent of his income there.
The group’s proposal mixes political pragmatism with a hope that the reserves will help boost fish populations — and increase scientific understanding of the species that support their families.
“We sat down and tried to do the best we could with input from the fishermen,” Miles said as his boat, Top Gun, chugged through the swells. “Not everybody’s happy about this. I gotta tell you. I’m not thrilled. But I can see how it can work.”
Port Orford has a half-circle bay dotted with reefs and rocks. Nearly 40 boats operate there, raised and lowered by 25-ton hoists and stored on a dry dock so they won’t be battered by the waves.
Offshore is Oregon’s biggest nearshore fishery, with the haul including rockfish, sablefish, salmon, tuna and crab. The fishermen use longlines and jigs.
Leesa Cobb, the ocean resource team’s executive director, says many fishermen question the decline in fish populations, especially with projections constantly shifting.
“My husband is a second-generation fisherman, and my father-in-law says the fish used to be bigger and there were more of them,” says Cobb, a Port Orford native. “A lot of folks remember that things used to be better. Let’s not forget that.”
After Kulongoski’s proposal in 2005, Cobb helped persuade her five-fisherman board to support a reserve.
Miles said part of the motivation was fear. Reserves are growing worldwide and are operating in Washington and California.
Conservationists have spotlighted not only Redfish Rocks but also nearby Humbug Mountain, Blanco Reef and Orford Reef.
“There are a lot of groups that would like to see this whole area closed off,” Miles said.
They’re proposing a 2.6-square-mile reserve and a 5.7-square-mile protected area that would allow crabbing and salmon fishing but provide a safe path for rockfish to deeper water. They’re also asking that it be approved as a pilot project, which could make it one of the first to take effect.
Tuesday was the deadline for supporters of marine reserves to turn in proposals to the state.
Applications from Cannon Beach to Gold Beach are expected, along with a proposal for a network of reserves and less-restrictive protected areas from a coalition of conservation groups.
Gov. Ted Kulongoski wants as many as nine reserves in Oregon’s territorial sea, from the shore to three miles out, by 2011, to the frustration and opposition of many fishermen.
But one of the first proposals comes from the Port Orford Ocean Resource Team, led by fisherman Jeff Miles, four other longtime commercial fishermen from Port Orford and the wife of a second-generation commercial fisherman.
At 48, Miles said, he has fished at Redfish Rocks grounds for 35 years and gets 10 to 15 percent of his income there.
The group’s proposal mixes political pragmatism with a hope that the reserves will help boost fish populations — and increase scientific understanding of the species that support their families.
“We sat down and tried to do the best we could with input from the fishermen,” Miles said as his boat, Top Gun, chugged through the swells. “Not everybody’s happy about this. I gotta tell you. I’m not thrilled. But I can see how it can work.”
Port Orford has a half-circle bay dotted with reefs and rocks. Nearly 40 boats operate there, raised and lowered by 25-ton hoists and stored on a dry dock so they won’t be battered by the waves.
Offshore is Oregon’s biggest nearshore fishery, with the haul including rockfish, sablefish, salmon, tuna and crab. The fishermen use longlines and jigs.
Leesa Cobb, the ocean resource team’s executive director, says many fishermen question the decline in fish populations, especially with projections constantly shifting.
“My husband is a second-generation fisherman, and my father-in-law says the fish used to be bigger and there were more of them,” says Cobb, a Port Orford native. “A lot of folks remember that things used to be better. Let’s not forget that.”
After Kulongoski’s proposal in 2005, Cobb helped persuade her five-fisherman board to support a reserve.
Miles said part of the motivation was fear. Reserves are growing worldwide and are operating in Washington and California.
Conservationists have spotlighted not only Redfish Rocks but also nearby Humbug Mountain, Blanco Reef and Orford Reef.
“There are a lot of groups that would like to see this whole area closed off,” Miles said.
They’re proposing a 2.6-square-mile reserve and a 5.7-square-mile protected area that would allow crabbing and salmon fishing but provide a safe path for rockfish to deeper water. They’re also asking that it be approved as a pilot project, which could make it one of the first to take effect.
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