The Commission adopted Pacific halibut and ocean salmon regulations at a meeting today in St Helens.

Catch limits set by the International Pacific Halibut Commission are 25 percent higher this year. Under 2019 regulations, the Columbia River Subarea all-depth fishery will change from every Thursday, Friday and Sunday to specific dates. The Central Coast Subarea spring all-depth fishery will have fixed open and backup dates beginning May 9. See the Pacific Halibut page for more details.

Ocean salmon seasons, which are set with the Pacific Fishery Management Council, were also adopted today. 2019 recreational seasons for Chinook salmon will be the same as last year. Columbia River coho salmon forecasts are up from 2018 and will allow for improved recreational coho salmon fishing along the entire Oregon coast beginning in late June with some retention of wild fish allowed in September from Cape Falcon south to Humbug Mountain. See the ODFW ocean salmon management page for season regulations and time/area map for details.

Commissioners also:

Adopted 2019-20 Oregon Game Bird Regulations: Boundaries and tag numbers for eastern Oregon controlled fall turkey seasons were changed (incl. 400 more tags) and a there is a decrease in the daily bag limit for pintail to one a day.

Appointed several people to the Commercial Fishery Board. William Gunderson, Kenneth Ulbricht, Joseph Watkins, Timothy Foley, Mark Gmeiner, and Wilson Thompson were appointed to the Commercial Fishery Board. This board reviews contested cases when an applicant is denied a commercial fishing permit.

Adopted a Fish Passage Prioritization List: The list provides focus for efforts in restoring passage and meeting the critical needs of Oregon’s native migratory fish.

Updated Public Records Requests policy: ODFW’s policy was updated to bring it in line with the Oregon Department of Administrative Services model policy.

To see the schedule of future Commission meetings, visit https://www.dfw.state.or.us/agency/commission/minutes/

Contact: Michelle Dennehy, (503) 947-6022, Michelle.N.Dennehy@state.or.us