Fleet braces for restricted salmon take.

Byline: Winston Ross The Register-Guard

SACRAMENTO - Oregon's salmon fleet got some good news and bad news Thursday night about the fate of its 2006 fishing season.

Mostly, it was bad news.

Assuming that the federal government approves, recreational fishermen won't see any complete closures. But commercial salmon trollers will fish only 56 days between June and October, about half the days allotted last year. They'll only fish north of Florence, and they'll only be allowed to keep 75 fish per trip in June and August; 50 in September and October.

"This will avoid the complete closure they were afraid they were going to have early on," said John Coon, deputy director of the Pacific Fishery Management Council. "But this is definitely a draconian season."

In fact, it would make for the most severely restricted salmon season on record, said Mark Newell, chairman of the Oregon Salmon Commission. The complete closure on the south coast and Northern California, could cripple the fish business in towns such as Charleston, Port Orford, Bandon and Brookings and crowd the waters to the north with boats braving bad weather. Consumers can expect to pay higher prices for wild Oregon chinook salmon this year, and have a hard time finding it.

"It's better than no season, but barely," Newell said. "It'll be devastating. We'll lose ice plants, fish markets, buying stations, fuel docks. Plus, we'll lose the market share we've made gains on in the last few years. They'll go back to farmed fish, or find somebody that can get it out of Alaska."

The Pacific Fishery Management Council made the closure recommendations Thursday in Sacramento. As the potential for a coastwide closure loomed thanks to three years of poor returns of spawners to Northern California's Klamath River, hundreds of trollers have been attending the weeklong meeting, hoping to persuade council members to vote for a season.

The council's role is advisory. The final decision on whether trollers can fish this year lies with the National Marine Fisheries Service. Last week, the agency's regional administrator made it clear in a letter to the council that it wouldn't support a season that wasn't severely cut back.

That pressure tied the council's hands, Newell said.

"NMFS basically ran this show and railroaded the council, saying this is what you're going to have to do before we're going to allow it," Newell said.

It's the trip limits that hit especially hard, Newell said. Last year, trollers fished 94 days. In 2004, 208 days were open. But there were no restrictions on how many fish a boat could haul in. If a troller catches 75 fish on every trip available, Newell figures, he could gross $30,000, not counting expenses such as fuel and bait.

"For the little guys, the small boats, their expenses are low, they'll be all right," Newell said. "But for boats my size, it's not going to be worth it."

Other fishermen were glad that there's at least something of a season, even if it means some have to travel farther.

"I've always contended my boat has a prop and a rudder, and I can make it go where it needs to," said Kevin Bastien, a Newport troller. "But a lot of guys with smaller boats want a fishery in front of their home. It'll be a little more expensive in fuel costs to get there, but a guy's got to do what he's got to do."

OREGON SALMON SEASON

Pacific Fishery Management Council recommends commercial salmon season restrictions:

Total fishing days allowed: 56

Trip limits: 75 fish in June and August; 50 fish in September and October

Days fished in 2005 (no trip limits): 94

Days fished in 2004 (no trip limits): 208

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