Oregon Public Broadcasting

Environmental and fishing groups are proposing eight new marine reserves off the  Oregon coast Wednesday.

If adopted, those areas would be off limits to fishing and other commercial activity.  And those are just some of the suggestions coming in as part of Governor Ted Kulongoski's plan to improve the health of Oregon's coastal waters.

Controversy around marine reserves has ebbed and flowed in recent years. But as Rob Manning reports, the new round of proposals may create a high tide of debate.

It’s a picturesque fall day at Netarts Bay, near Tillamook. A few toddlers splash in the shallow water. Dogs are chasing off unsuspecting seagulls.

From the Cape Mears bluff, you don’t see a lot of fishing activity. Jim Carlson is a longtime North Coast resident. He’s worked with the group, Our Ocean, on a marine reserve proposal, for this area.

Jim Carlson: “There’s two large rocks, that are nesting sites for pretty much thousands of birds. That is right at the north end of the reserve. Then if we look to the left, or south, you can see Three Arch Rocks.”

Reserve borders tend to go three three miles out - to where federal jurisdiction takes over. Our Ocean is suggesting a network of eight sites from Brookings to Cannon Beach.

The largest is about fifty square miles off Cape Perpetua. State wildlife officials are expecting as many as 15 more nominations from other groups and individuals. Again, Jim Carlson.

Jim Carlson: “You know, the whole point here is to maintain a high quality of fish, plants, all the different species that live here. And that there will be a certain amount of spillover effect on the edges of reserves that would give fishermen an opportunity to catch.”

Carlson says marine reserves can boost and stabilize fish populations.

Carlson’s colleague, Bob Rees runs a charter fishing business out of Garibaldi.

Bob Rees: “It’s a pro-active measure to protect an entire ecosystem, so that ecosystem can function the way it has evolved over time.”

Rees faults Oregon for being too reactionary in managing fisheries.

Bob Rees: “When you throw in standard fishery management protocol, any time humans have had an action in trying to manipulate populations of fish, we have failed at it.”

Brad Pettinger: “Half the truth can be very compelling, but I believe Oregon’s fisheries are very well managed, very precautionary.”

Brad Pettinger chairs an advocacy group for Oregon’s fish trawlers. He has a 40-year history of fishing Oregon’s coast.

Brad Pettinger: “I think if the facts are out there, the concerns about the impending doom of our coast, kind of melts away.”

Pettinger says he’s afraid Oregon’s marine reserves won’t do much good. He says that's because they’d protect areas that aren’t being fished, or they’d needlessly hurt fishing families by forcing them off healthy areas.

There’s an advisory board that will process the marine reserve nominations before the governor gets them, later this fall. Pettinger is one of the members. 

Brad Pettinger: “The taxpayers of this state have to ask ‘what are we getting for this.’ We’re talking about a million dollars more a year, I believe, in Oregon State Police, to police them. The areas you’re talking about - is it going to do anything more for rock fish populations? Because we’re still going to harvest them in the numbers that are allowed.”

Back at the Cape Mears lighthouse, Jim Carlson, has an answer to the rock fish question. He says marine reserves would help them live to a ripe old age of 60, 70, even 80, and produce healthier offspring.

Jim Carlson: “As they mature and become older, fish biologists and scientists are telling us that their offspring are way more resilient, than say, an immature fish. So the rock fish that live in these areas will be given an opportunity to grow to their fullest maturity.”

Ultimately, the marine reserve debate will come before the 2009 Legislature. Governor Ted Kulongoski has said he'd like to see as many as nine new marine reserves.

Ted Kulongoski: “There will still be some opposition, but ultimately, I think most people on the coast recognize that this is good in the long-term for the coastal communities. It’s both good for the livability, it’s good for the economy, it’s good for the future of this state.”

Marine reserves may prove to be a prelude to an even bigger debate. For many fishing advocates, the bigger potential threat still lurking below the surface is wave energy, and the commercial development that it could bring to Oregon waters.