NORTH BEND �” Hoping to see a marine reserve developed off the Coos County coast? Don’t hold your breath.

The group charged with discussing the idea isn’t talking about whether a reserve would be appropriate near Charleston. It’s not discussing alternatives, such as waiting for pilot projects in Port Orford and Depoe Bay to prove their worth.

Instead, the Marine Reserves Recommendation Committee spent much of its meeting Wednesday discussing its concerns about ocean management overall.

Jamie Doyle, a Sea Grant Extension faculty member, facilitated the meeting and presented the idea of a four-step process for the group to complete its mission.

Since some opponents have argued marine reserves are designed to solve nonexistent ocean resource problems, the committee needs to establish the issues or questions for it to address to validate its work, Doyle said. Then the committee can determine how to resolve those issues.

A marine reserve is like a watery wilderness, where fishing and most other human activities are prohibited.

Members of the group, which was brought together by the Oregon International Port of Coos Bay, produced a varied list of concerns.

� Some wanted to learn more about the conditions of the ocean and how they are changing, while others wanted to know the potential economic impacts of a marine reserve. Several questioned the validity of scientific claims for global warming and the need for marine reserves to perform research, and others wanted to study how the acidification of the oceans are affecting the South Coast.

Environmentalists and fishermen both said they want to improve biomass stock assessing and help the public learn more about the ocean and enjoy it. And both sides emphasized the need to use tax dollars appropriately.

Jan Hodder, a professor at Oregon Institute of Marine Biology in Charleston, asked if it would make more sense for marine reserves staff to be based here rather than just Newport, since they are being funded with New Carissa shipwreck settlement funds.

John Griffith, a former OPAC member, asked if the state should fund marine reserves when state funding is so limited.

But before it can move on, the committee wants to hear from the more than a dozen members who were absent Wednesday. And with others likely to miss the December meeting because of the opening of crab season, the second step might not begin until January. Doyle said she’ll continue to accept questions from committee members for another two weeks and port officials will compile the list and bring it to the next meeting.

The group already has established eight possible recommendations to consider. Those range from creating a marine reserve to doing nothing. Any decision will by made by consensus. If one can’t be reached, a vote will be taken and the majority wins, said port deputy director Mike Gaul.

“We know it’s going to be a long process, but we are moving forward,” he said.

The meeting ended on somewhat of a positive note, at least as far as Gus Gates was concerned. Representing the environmental/recreation group Surfrider, Gates said he wouldn’t necessarily have said the evening’s proceedings were fun, but he found them useful.

“Maybe we have more in common than how we differ,” he said.