Posted: Friday, May 29, 2009 12:00 am
GRANTS PASS (AP) - The Oregon House has approved establishment of Oregon's first two marine reserves, and funding to keep discussions going on creation of four others.
The unanimous vote Thursday was a far cry from the bitter battles from 2002 when then-Gov. John Kitzhaber first proposed establishment of a network of marine conservation areas to offset damages from overfishing.
Rep. Arnie Roblan, D-Coos Bay, said the fact that the two reserves are small, primarily for research, and can be dissolved if funding for research dries up, helped swing fishermen and coastal groups that had been afraid their livelihoods were threatened.
"When people get together, talk openly and hammer out difficult issues, better solutions tend to come about,'' he said.
The bill, which now goes to the Senate, taps $1 million from damages awarded over the New Carissa shipwreck to implement the recommendations of the Oregon Ocean Policy Advisory Council, which spent eight months developing consensus.
HB3013 creates one marine reserve, where no fishing or mining would be allowed, at Otter Rock off Depot Bay and another at Redfish Rocks off Port Orford. A larger marine protected area, where some fishing may be allowed, would be created at Redfish Rocks. It also provides for research and enforcement.
Scientists have increasingly advised that overfishing is dangerously depleting fish populations around the world, making it important to protect underwater habitats as breeding grounds and sanctuaries for fish as well as to maintain healthy ecosystems.
Oregon is the only state on the West Coast without any marine reserves, while pressures on the area within the state's three-mile limit have been increasing and potential conflicts growing between fishing and wave energy.
At one point Gov. Ted Kulongoski considered proposing the entire Oregon Coast out to the three-mile state territorial limit as marine reserve, but instead put the decision in the hands of the Oregon Ocean Policy Advisory Council.
Four areas still under discussion are at Cape Arago near Coos Bay, Cape Falcon near Manzanita, Cape Perpetua near Yachats, and Cascade Head near Lincoln City.
"You will still see a robust discussion moving forward on those four areas,'' said Susan Allen, director of the conservation group Our Ocean. "This bill provides a commonsense approach using the best available science. Ultimately it will better ensure our state's ocean health by preserving underwater areas where marine plants and animals can thrive.''
If the bill is ultimately signed into law, it could be a year before fishing is cut off in the marine reserves, said Dave Fox, marine resources assistant manger for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. Surveys of habitats, fish populations and commercial use of the reserves must be done to provide a baseline for future research.
Fishermen who took part in the process and even proposed the Redfish Rocks marine reserve recognize the value of protecting habitat and want to help shape their own future, said Leesa Cobb, who fishes with her husband out of Port Orford for Dungeness crab, tuna and black cod, and is director of the nonprofit Port Orford Ocean Resource Group.
"We probably know better than anyone where it should go, and we should step up and help this happen,'' she said. "It definitely was something the governor wanted to see happen and was moving forward.''
Cobb noted that they proposed Redfish Rocks over the more economically important Port Orford Reef, which is used by urchin divers and sport and commercial rock cod boats.