Biologists want anglers’ input to help craft the last of this year’s complicated salmon seasons.
And the news is better for those who fish in coastal estuaries and rivers.
In a webinar Wednesday evening, managers from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife laid out two alternatives, which slightly relax last fall’s ban on keeping wild fall chinook salmon in several popular fisheries. They included Tillamook Bay, effectively ending most fishing there.
Both alternatives include the retention of one wild chinook daily and two or five for the season everywhere except the Elk and Coquille rivers on the south Oregon coast.
Managers are struggling to avoid a coast-wide crash of wild chinook salmon like what seems imminent on the Coquille system.
There is also a proposal to open chinook fishing in popular “bubble” fisheries off some bay entrances, including Tillamook Bay. While the ocean remains closed to protect southbound California chinook, the bubbles would be open under the same restrictions — daily and season bag limits — as those in the adjoining bay.
Chinook fishing may be eclipsed in some basins by continued robust returns of coho salmon, with numerous wild-retention proposals in the alternatives.
The agency plans to finalize and announce fall coastal seasons in early July, but would like to hear from anglers in an online survey.
Find it at MyODFW.com.
Use the search function to find “fall coastal salmon management,” then follow the links to the survey and comprehensive webinar (it’s at the bottom of the page; fast-forward to the 16:30 mark).
— Bill Monroe for The Oregonian/OregonLive