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LINCOLN CITY (AP) — An advisory panel is meeting in Lincoln City this week to consider proposals to set aside stretches along the Oregon coast as state marine reserves.
The issue has caused alarm in coastal communities because the reserves would restrict fishing. Conservationists hoped for what they called a network of reserves.
The Ocean Policy Advisory Commission has 20 proposals to study Monday and today. Many involved in the debate say it’s likely to recommend just two for further study.
Gov. Ted Kulongoski asked the commission to recommend as many as nine.
The hope is to find out whether setting aside the reserves will allow depleted stocks of some species to replenish.
Since the work got under way earlier this year, a new problem has emerged: the possibility that the Legislature won’t have enough money for research and enforcing reserve restrictions.
Commission members and others say two proposals fully discussed by the fishing communities are likely to be recommended for further study, although others could be tagged as potential future sites.
Gus Gates, Oregon field policy coordinator with the Surfrider Foundation said the two strongest proposals are off Port Orford and near Otter Rock. “It would be doing the state a disservice to only move two forward in the process,” said Susan Allan, director of Our Ocean, which submitted proposals for nine different sites. “If you keep the range larger now, you’ve got more opportunity for a better process.”
Kulongoski promised to enact reserves only if they minimize significant economic harm to the fishing fleets, but he also said he wanted the areas to be large enough to have an impact on the environment. As the proposals rolled in, it became clear that they all affect someone.
Salmon troller Paul Merz said he isn’t opposed to the two sites at Port Orford and at Otter Rock because both had support from the community and said that money would be the big obstacle.
“Realistically, the state is looking at as much as a $2 billion shortfall in its budget for the next biennium,” he said. “How are you going to fund anything?”
The issue has caused alarm in coastal communities because the reserves would restrict fishing. Conservationists hoped for what they called a network of reserves.
The Ocean Policy Advisory Commission has 20 proposals to study Monday and today. Many involved in the debate say it’s likely to recommend just two for further study.
Gov. Ted Kulongoski asked the commission to recommend as many as nine.
The hope is to find out whether setting aside the reserves will allow depleted stocks of some species to replenish.
Since the work got under way earlier this year, a new problem has emerged: the possibility that the Legislature won’t have enough money for research and enforcing reserve restrictions.
Commission members and others say two proposals fully discussed by the fishing communities are likely to be recommended for further study, although others could be tagged as potential future sites.
Gus Gates, Oregon field policy coordinator with the Surfrider Foundation said the two strongest proposals are off Port Orford and near Otter Rock. “It would be doing the state a disservice to only move two forward in the process,” said Susan Allan, director of Our Ocean, which submitted proposals for nine different sites. “If you keep the range larger now, you’ve got more opportunity for a better process.”
Kulongoski promised to enact reserves only if they minimize significant economic harm to the fishing fleets, but he also said he wanted the areas to be large enough to have an impact on the environment. As the proposals rolled in, it became clear that they all affect someone.
Salmon troller Paul Merz said he isn’t opposed to the two sites at Port Orford and at Otter Rock because both had support from the community and said that money would be the big obstacle.
“Realistically, the state is looking at as much as a $2 billion shortfall in its budget for the next biennium,” he said. “How are you going to fund anything?”
