Gill-net ban back in spotlight

State senator backs proposal, which could end up on ballot

By Lauren Dake / The Bulletin

SALEM — The use of gill nets to catch Columbia River salmon has long been the subject of controversy. The battle is heating up once again thanks to a new attempt, backed by a state lawmaker, to ban the devices.

Depending on whom you ask, the controversy arises either from environmental concerns or from a disagreement about which group — commercial fishermen or sport fishermen — should be able to harvest the most salmon.

Gill nets, often used by commercial fishermen, catch fish by their gills. In doing so, critics say, they injure fish and minimize the number that can be thrown back into the river alive. Those who’d like to ban gill nets on the Columbia would like to expand the use of seine nets, which have a smaller and, presumably, less punishing mesh.

The Endangered Species Act protects certain types of salmon and steelhead in the Columbia River, thus limiting the number that can be caught.

“There are definitely two sides to the issue,” said Steve Williams, an assistant administrator with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. “From the sport-fishing industry side, they look at it as a situation where if they weren’t having to share the fish with the commercial industry, there would be more fish available for them. From the commercial fish side of it, they look at it as a long-standing historical business that’s been in this state for many years. It’s really an issue of, we have a limited number of fish and a lot of people fishing, and people on both sides have opinions about who should have those fish.”

Sen. Fred Girod, R-Stayton, is among those pushing to ban gill nets on the river. The Legislature has declined to support such a ban in the past, so Girod and others are taking a two-pronged approach this year. They are planning to push a ban both on the ballot and through legislation that will be discussed during the February session.

Assisting in the effort to ban gill nets is the nonprofit Coastal Conservation Association, which has introduced several initiatives that could end up before voters.

Girod said he believes switching nets would keep more wild fish in the river and give sport fisherman a shot at catching more salmon. A commercial fisherman using a gill net can kill the quota of salmon for a season in a short time, he said.

“It’s important to get the wild fish numbers up, and this is one of the best ways to do it,” he said.

But Jim Markee, a lobbyist who represents commercial fishermen’s group Salmon for All, said it’s not about conservation. If the commercial fishermen don’t catch the quota, he said, the sports fishermen will.

“The people I represent, the commercial fishermen on the lower Columbia, care about this resource as much as anybody,” he said. “They are invested in this resource. They make their living on this resource ... (The sports fishermen) are going to kill the fish we don’t kill.”

To put the initiative on the Nov. 6 ballot, proponents need to collect 87,213 signatures. They have until July 6 to do so.

— Reporter: 541-419-8074,

ldake@bendbulletin.com