Wow... 66% of Oregon's population voted against it? I figured it would fail, but not by that margin. Hell; that's a regular supermajority! Makes one wonder how much difference it would have made if the backers had held their ground. My guess is that it wouldn't have been enough. I guess folks just love gillnets.

Thanks for the link, eugene1.

JFC!

That's more depressing than the Obummer win.

Hey guys, there was very little organization for this measure down here. With groups changing their position on it and the governor messing around with a different plan. Most people will vote against ballot measures if they don't really know much about it. They figure why not "keep things the same" if it's unknown.

The odder thing is that the OR pot legalization measure didn't pass either!!

Best,

I don't think it so much that folks down here love gillnets, as it is that more people buy 'fresh columbia spring chinook' than those who go catch them. The fear is that banning gillnets may affect availability of their salmon...


Imagine the success of a ballot measure that 'bans' retail diesel pumps, because some people prefer to make it themselves.

Of course, you're right, Twitch. My remark was tongue-in-cheek.

66% of the popular vote is probably pretty close to the percentage that don't sport fish but love to eat fish. Of course, to claim that they wouldn't have fish to eat without non-tribal commercial nets in the Columbia is more than a small stretch, but it's a very effective message. Folks also don't like hearing that a vote to ban gillnets will put people out of work, which realistically is only a mild stretch.

As I said, even if the sport lobbyists hadn't jumped ship, I doubt the measure would have passed. Kitzhaber's letter acknowledged the far greater economic impact of sport fishing vs. commercial, and I think that message resonated with a lot of politicians in both states. That may be the only progress that gets made in this deal, but it's encouraging.

Personally, I don't want to put the cowboys out of work. I would, however, like to see them change the way they do a few things, and I'd also like to see them pitching in on projects that net them more fish. There have been grass roots efforts to pick up slack doing things that WA Region 6 either can't afford or refuses to do ( Hump hatchery clipping and Grays Harbor ghost net projects, for example), and the cowboys are the only stakeholders who have refused to get involved, yet they still get to reap the benefits. That thar ain't right. Realistically, the gillnetters themselves probably aren't the ones putting up the money to run pro-gillnet campaigns (processors are probably providing the financial muscle on that side), but it would do a lot for my opinion of them if they would step up and get involved in projects that aim to ensure their own future.

Could be, Twitch, but not many people buy that expensive meat.

I think things would have been different with a coordinated attack in favor of the ban; but there was none that I saw. I did sees ads against the measure that showed a gillnetter talking to his boy about how the family's way of life would change if they couldn't fish, I didn't see any ads that favored the ban because it was non-selective in nature. At least the ball is in play and there is interest in moving forward with some alternatives. It's only a matter of time.

Here's more history to it all:

http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2012/10/measure_81_prompts_gillnetting.html

In following various threads on PP, there are references to Region 6 and what it does or doesn't do on the lower Columbia. Only Pacific County, at the mouth of the river is in Region 6. Region 5 starts at the Pacific/ Wahkiakum County (Grays River area) and is the responsible region for all activities upstream from there.


http://wdfw.wa.gov/about/regions/

Understood, bushbear. I live in Region 6, and that's why I bitch about it. Not sure why I thought a thread about the Columbia was the right place for it, but complaining about Region 6 is often just too hard to resist.

I, too, live in Region 6.

The WDFW Commission meeting today is being webcast on TVW.

http://www.tvw.org/