ODFW OKs fishing season plan for ocean salmon
Published 12:00 am Sunday, April 22, 2018
The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission on Friday adopted a 100-day ocean-fishing season for Southern Oregon that targets fall chinook salmon bound for the Rogue River.
One year after a crash in Klamath River salmon returns triggered a full-scale closure to sport and commercial fishing off Southern Oregon and Northern California, the Pacific Fishery Management Council adopted a framework that gives South Coast anglers an uninterrupted chinook season from May 19 through Aug. 26.
The season includes a two-chinook daily bag limit. However, the proposal calls for no coho salmon fishing south of Humbug Mountain near Port Orford this year.
The season framework, which includes Memorial Day weekend but not Labor Day weekend, was the most liberal on the table for the PFMC, whose framework must be formally approved by the federal Department of Commerce for federal waters.
The commission must approve the seasons for state-management ocean waters inside three miles from the coast.
The commission also adopted fall recreational and commercial “bubble” fisheries off the mouth of the Chetco River, as well as the mouths of the Elk and Sixes rivers.
The Chetco bubble fishery will run the first two full weekends in October, Oct. 6-7 and Oct. 13-14. The limit is proposed at one chinook per day.
The Elk bubble fishery will run its traditional Nov. 1-30 season, with a limit of two chinook per day, but only one of those can be wild.
The two fisheries together have a 28-inch minimum length for chinook and an aggregate limit of 10 salmon.