PETITION TO PROTECT OUR RIGHTS IN THE OREGON OCEAN,Peace and God Bless,VOTE FOR YOUR FREED

PETITION TO PROTECT OUR RIGHTS IN THE OREGON OCEAN
Some of us support the idea of marine reserves; some
do not. All of us want to keep the Oregon ocean and
Oregon beaches available to all Oregonians. And we
oppose creation of marine reserves now that, under
federal law, we have huge ocean areas set aside that
already are very much like marine reserves. In 2006,
through Amendment 19, NOAA Fisheries and the Pacific
Fisheries Management Council decided to protect huge
chunks of marine waters and seafloor off the West
Coast as Essential Fish Habitat (EFH).There is EFH for
ground fish, salmon, migratory species and for other
food
resources. For groundfish, it is from the high
tide line to the 3,500 meter line. And there are
Habitat Areas of Particular Concern, including, reefs,
kelp, estuaries, seamounts and undersea canyons. In
all these areas, regulators may close off some or all
fishing. What, if not essential fish habitat (and food
resources), would new marine reserves, as proposed by
some, protect? Shouldn't we be looking to finance the
study of these areas already set aside, to see what
works, instead of closing further areas to fishing and
human presence?
Even worse, all this may be just the opening salvo in
a coming federal and/or state effort to zone,
privatize and maybe close off much of our ocean. Some
areas may be set aside for undersea frozen methane
research and development; some for huge fish farms;
some for oil and gas development. In time, we will
lose our public access to fish in (commercially and
for subsistence) and use the Oregon ocean entirely.
and would not losing our public right to access and
enjoy our beaches be next? We could be losing the
legacy Hon. Tom McCall gave us all - with no debate,
no discussion of the larger picture. That is what we
oppose.To keep Oregon Shores in as Oregon's Territory
Sign:
PRINT:

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mail to
1540 N Nye St Toledo Oregon 97391

Lets not forget the agency(ODFW Publicly Owned) LIED to all of us in 2004
Did it not coast us Local Jobs,Lost Tax Revenue from
the County's City's local business that had to close
and the family that it destroyed,An most of all the
wel-fare burden on the middle class and working
poor(This includes Public and Private employees we are
all in this together).Sec.1.Natural rights inherent in
people

,2005 senate hearings.Of what I testified at.As former
Rep Jeff Krop stated that their are not off the hook
for the damages that they caused to the taxpayer's.
ODFW "Recreational"Groundfish Management
Issues and Closure,As an American born off two or more
generations it's our Constitutional Rights to FEED
ourselves and not to rely on hand outs,I'm a
Subsidence Fisher
.

Some links
http://oregontrackers.com/OregonTreaty_of_1846.html

http://www.leg.state.or.us/orcons/orcons.html

http://www.leg.state.or.us/orcons/ocapream.html

http://www.leg.state.or.us/07reg/measures/sb0900.dir/sb0942.intro.html

http://www.leg.state.or.us/05reg/measures/sb0800.dir/sb0803.intro.html

http://www.leg.state.or.us/05reg/measures/sb0800.dir/sb0804.intro.html

http://swfsc.noaa.gov/textblock.aspx?Division=FRD&id=1299&ParentMenuId=194
http://www.leg.state.or.us/orcons/admacts.html

http://oregontrackers.com/Evolution_of_ODFW.htmlhttp:

.http://fishwildliferights.blogspot.com/

Status

The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission (OFWC) has
closed the sport fishery for major groundfish species
in all saltwater areas (including fishing from shore,
in
estuaries and the ocean) effective Friday,
September 3, 2004. This closure includes all
rockfishes, lingcod and greenling.
OFWC closed the cabezon sport harvest August 18
because the harvest cap was reached. Cabezon have good
survival rates when released (because they do not have
airbladders), which allowed the Commission to impose
non-retention for cabezon without affecting other
fisheries.
When a rockfish species attains its harvest target,
however, non-retention is not an option. Most rockfish
will suffer embolisms (because they have airbladders),
and will not survive landing and release. Therefore,
when the black rockfish cap was reached, a full
closure was necessary because most black rockfish
caught inadvertently with other groundfish species
would not survive.
Federal and state harvest management

State and federal harvest limits are set for both
commercial and recreational fisheries.
Harvest caps
result from the formal federal stock
assessment of each species.
The Oregon sport groundfish fishery has operated under
federally imposed impact limits for several species
designated as “overfished” during recent years. This
includes lingcod, canary and yelloweye rockfish.
Harvest caps for these species are developed through
the Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC). The
Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission (OFWC) adopts
these caps for state waters (three miles from shore)
and may impose more restrictive (but not less
restrictive) conditions.
OFWC also sets management measures for near-shore
species and sets harvest caps for these species, which
include cabezon, greenling, “other nearshore
rockfish,” and black rockfish and blue rockfish
combined.
Harvest Targets for 2004

The allocation for
black rockfish in Oregon is 76%
recreational and 24% commercial.
The 2004 Oregon recreational targets for these species
are as follows. (The harvest as of August 22, 2004, is
in bold.) black rockfish (342 metric tons/322 mt),
canary rockfish (6.8 mt/3.0 mt), yelloweye (3.2 mt/2.1
mt), lingcod (110 mt/108 mt), cabezon (15.8 mt/ 17.2
mt closed 8-18-04), greenling (5.2 mt/4.3 mt) and
other nearshore rockfish (11.4 mt/6.5 mt).
Plus LETS NOT FORGET WE HAD 100mt to go,ODFW omitted
that they closed it down when it didn't need to be.But
as the former director,Lin


Recent history of recreational harvest management

2003

California exceeded the entire West Coast harvest of
lingcod and canary rockfish in its sport fishery. This
caused a late season closure for lingcod and an
offshore closure to protect canary rockfish COASTWIDE.
All three states were subject to this federal closure
in November.
Oregon and Washington sport anglers were strongly
opposed to another state driving closures coastwide.
Approximately 94 percent of the Oregon sport allowable
black rockfish take of 345 metric tons was harvested.
While this was extremely close to the limit, factors
such as weather and a healthy salmon fishery prevented
an early closure.
2004

With the support of the state’s sport fishing
community, Oregon worked with the PFMC to support
separate state stock fishery targets for the limiting
species such as black rockfish, lingcod, canary and
yelloweye.
California imposed severe restrictions on its sport
fishery.
California has closed its black rockfish fishery in
the north most of this summer through December.
New for the 2004 Oregon sport fishery were offshore
closures outside of 40-fathoms during the June through
September period to reduce impacts on canary rockfish
and yelloweye rockfish. This closure shifted fishing
effort closer to shore where more reef black rockfish
and lingcod harvest was likely. ODFW realized this had
the potential to drive early closures
in 2004, but
scientific models did not have a way to predict
exactly how the fishery would shift. A strong salmon
year could have mitigated this shift, as occurred in
2003.
Public decision-making

ODFW held a series of coastwide public meetings
beginning in March 2004 to discuss the 2004 fishery
and options for the 2005-2006 fisheries, which were to
be adopted under the federal PFMC process during 2004.
At those meetings the public was informed that the
result of the new offshore closures on angler behavior
was unknown and that catch of black rockfish, the
backbone of the sport groundfish fishery, could be
escalated, which might result in fishery closures as
early as September.
Oregon’s sport monitoring program is extensive. One in
every three sport anglers is interviewed at the
landings, and ocean
boat observation provides data on
discards. Data sets are fact-checked and analyzed with
a population model factoring in length, weight and
by-catch estimates. This provides ODFW with the
ability
to track the fishery monthly.
Catch levels for black rockfish were evaluated monthly
through July when the catch was approximately 242 of
the 342 metric ton limit. With 100 metric tons
remaining, ODFW staff projected the black rockfish
fishery would sustain through Labor Day and into
September based on the modeling.
As the summer continued, ODFW staff made more frequent
estimates. After the first week in August 2004, the
sport catch was reviewed. Increased catch of black
rockfish was relatively minor as weather had been an
issue. During the next two weeks ocean conditions were
much improved, catch rates increased
and the average
size of fish had increased. The poundage/catch impact
for groundfish species is in metric tons, not numbers
of fish, as with salmon.
A review of catch through August 22 resulted in only
20 metric tons remaining of the sport black rockfish
limit. It takes several days after the catch week for
data from the field to be entered, error-checked,
analyzed and catch-estimated, thus it was not until
Friday, August 27, that this black rockfish catch
numbers were established. The numbers made it clear
that an early closure was necessary, but ODFW staff
were not sure if the fishery could be sustained
through Labor Day weekend, which would greatly
mitigate impacts of the closure. It was decided to use
a manual call-in system to estimate the August 28-29
weekend harvest so that staff could establish whether
the fishery could remain open over Labor Day.
An informal emergency meeting with sport anglers,
charters, ports and community leaders and the Newport
media was set for Monday, August 30, at 10 a.m. at the
Marine Resources Program office in Newport. Others
along the coast joined in the discussion through a
conference call (approximately 40 individuals
participated). By 10 a.m., staff had hand-analyzed the
weekend sampling data, which showed that the harvest
exceeded12 metric tons (of the remaining 20 mt), with
some ports still not reporting. It was clear that a
closure before Labor Day
would be necessary. Within 30
minutes staff shared this information at the public
meeting. A number of options were discussed for
extending the fishery (hook and release in shallower
water, for example) or opening up other sport fishing
opportunities (salmon, halibut or yellowtail rockfish
in the deeper closed area), but because of enforcement
concerns and the risk of additional mortality, most
suggestions had to be ruled out and the black rockfish
fishery had to be closed in order not to exceed
federally adopted limits. Expanding sport halibut and
salmon opportunities are still being pursued.
Staff analyzed public options, briefed the
department’s leadership and prepared a final position
by 4 p.m. Monday, August 30. A news release was
distributed by 5 p.m. At 7 p.m. a previously scheduled
halibut management public meeting provided further
opportunity to share this information and discuss
public concerns.

Continuing sport-fishing opportunities

This closure does not limit all marine recreational
fishing opportunities. Anglers still may fish for
salmon, tuna, flounder, sole, sand dabs, perch,
herring, anchovy, striped bass and other offshore
pelagic species.
Commercial groundfish fishery

Commercial harvest of these species also is being
closely monitored. Projections are made on a biweekly
basis using fish ticket landings. Black rockfish were
projected to be harvested at a rate that would close
that fishery early, so the bimonthly trip limits were
severely reduced by an OFWC temporary rule in July.
All commercial fisheries for nearshore species
currently are projected to be sustained to October 31
through trip limit controls.




October 30, 2004

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
Lindsay Ball, director
3406 Cherry Ave.
Salem OR 97303
Dear Mr. Ball:

I am writing to present the recommendations of the
Lincoln County PAC for the upcoming sport/charter
groundfish season. A large number of ideas have been
presented, and the job is to work through them to
select the best, or best combination.

1. If we have to reduce the catch and/or effort in
sport groundfishing, the best time to do it is during
the winter. These months are the period when many
groundfish species are giving birth to young, and
therefore is the time they and their offspring are
weakest and most need protection. Happily, this period
is also the time when there is already very little
groundfish fishing going on at the coast due to the
weather conditions. It is true that, over the years,
coastal
businesses have struggled to bring business
into the coast in the winter. But that business is
still pretty small - far less than, say, the Labor Day
weekend. And it is not only the tiny groundfish sport
fishery that brings wintertime visitors. People come
to Newport and the rest of the Oregon coast for the
Seafood & Wine and similar festivals, and to enjoy
watching stormy seas from safe hotel rooms overlooking
the ocean. If we have to cut the groundfish charters,
the dead of winter is better than the high point of
summer or Labor Day - times when, many charter fishers
say, a cut in catch levels could hurt them at least as
much as a cut in winter sport catch. If we want to
protect weak species,
closing the tiny winter season
is probably the best way to do it.

2. Also, many commercial fishers said that we should
allow a higher commercial trip limit, so as to have
fewer trips, while not changing total catch allowed.
This will save on gas and other costs without cutting
the revenues brought in. If we allow higher trip
limits - or at least don't cut them - in the summer,
we can to some extent make up for winter losses to the
broader coastal economy if we stop wintertime
groundfish sport catch.

3. It is a continuing scandal that we force fishers
to throw back large quantities of fish that are dead
or will, in many cases, die anyway - either because
their air bladders burst or because they are otherwise
injured or because they become weak and are easily
eaten by predators. We should find ways to use these
fish - other countries already commercially use many
species we do not - instead of killing them
and
wasting them. For example, batfish can be used for cat
food processing, instead of just thrown out. As it is
now, lower dollar value fish get thrown back, like bat
fish, so fishers can get the extra volume of higher
value fish. If we had the fishers retain what they
catch, they could still make money, spend less time
out there (and less on gas and other costs) and not
wreck species not now used as commercial catch.
Here's a way to make ecological sense at minimal
economic cost.

We need the environmentalists and the fishers to work
together for all our children's future. These are ways
to do so.

Sincerely,

Ed Johnston

ODFW Recreational Groundfish Management
Issues and Closure



http://www.dfw.state.or.us/public/NewsArc/2004news/sept/090104news.html


http://www.dfw.state.or.us/Comm/schedule.htm



We have seen the Oregon Department of Fish and
Wildlife make serious mistakes, if not worse, in the
past. The stunning Labor Day weekend closure of
ground fishing in 2004 ago when there was no
need for it in
terms of the condition of the protected ground fish
is certainly at the top of that list. ODFWs
destruction of hatchery salmon runs is another. The
imposition of protections not only for fish that
professional fishermen, sport and subsistence fishers
(like myself), scientists and regulators believe are
in
trouble, but also fish whose condition is in dispute -
and even on some species their own scientists say are
not in trouble, or (in one
amazing case) that
individual fishermen report having landed many more
tons than ODFW had stated were brought in by all
Oregon
fishermen, is another example.
Fishing for many people
on the Oregon Coast, and elsewhere, is not a past time
or hobby. It is a way of feeding our families, of
making ends meet. For us it is part of our
right to life (as in "life, liberty and happiness"
in the Declaration of Independence, and "life, liberty
or property" in the USA Constitution). It is also a
tradition that helps define our culture, our way of
life. And as a source of food, salmon and other marine
fish are among the best and most healthy around.

Yet due to the factors mentioned on the petition, we
in Oregon, and many other coastal states, could lose
our rights to fish, as well as our rights to enjoy
and use the ocean and the beaches.

Lets not forget that former Rep. Jeff Krop and other
members of the state legislature stated that the state
and federal regulators are not off the hook for the
damages that they caused to the taxpayer's, citizens
and residents of Oregon. Lets not forget the agency
LIED to all of us in 2004,For Federal Grants as I was
told at a ODFW meting in 2005.


As to ODFW's "Recreational"Ground fish Management,"
like so many other Oregonians, I want to know when we
lost the Rights to feed ourselves. Was it when the
agency attempted to take total control of Oregonians
food resource? Or when they made all these mistakes in
doing so? This
is not
"Recreational fishing." Without fish, we
humans do not
live right. This is the case for all classes of
fishers, and the fish are publicly owned and belong to
all of us. Also in my opinion, commercial BY-Catch
should be
deducted from the commercial industry only. Its true
ODFW has stated that only 4% of those fishing are
subsistence
fisher persons. In that case, we should not lose ANY
of our Constitutional rights to feed our selves. As
ODFW has stated
at meetings, it is federal MONEY that is more
important to them then Oregonians' Constitutional
Rights to feed themselves.DON'T WE, Have our elected
and pubic officials just sign away our Americana's
continual rights. We need to work with the Agency's
not any 501(c)(3) But let not forget, respect for every
Born Amirican one on this very important issue for our Family,
Friends,neighbors,Elected and Public employees.We have
to remember Oregonians all equally
share our Publicly
owned coast and resources.

This is My Opinion an many other Oriagonains.

Sincerly

Ed Johnston