Measure 81 is cleverly titled "Protect Our Salmon Act." Here are just a few reasons why this ostensibly environmentalist measure really isn't and actually doesn't do much in the way of protecting anything except the sport fishing industry.
There would be no comparable gillnet ban for Washington fishers on the Columbia.
Oregonians would be prohibited from purchasing locally caught salmon.
The native fish that are not taken by one group will simply be taken by another user group. The number of native fish allowed to be killed will not change.
But don't take my word for it. This measure is a stinker from start to finish.
Measure 81 is sponsored by the Oregon chapter of the Coastal Conservation Association, or CCA.
The national Coastal Conservation Association had its beginings as the Gulf Coast Conservation Association, founded in 1977 by wealthy Texas oilmen. Its first chairman was Walter Fondren III, the heir to the Humble Oil fortune, and an Exxon executive. Fondren remained the chairman of the national CCA for many years. Those who are interested in the subject are encouraged to read Wetland Riders by Robert Fritchey (New Moon Press, Golden Meadow, Louisiana, 1993).
The regional Native American Tribes that have fishing rights are
opposed to it, with the Yakama, Umatilla, Warm Springs or Nez Perce tribes all voting against it.
The tribes' resolution describes the gillnet ban as a power grab by sport fishermen—and a diversion tactic from salmon restoration projects.
"Measure 81... is based on an allegation that gillnets and gillnet fisheries are causing salmon declines, a divisive claim that does not stand up to the scientific scrutiny of tribal and other scientists from state and federal government," the resolution reads. "[I]its purpose is to shift salmon allocations from Oregon’s non-tribal commercial fisheries to sports fisheries... [I]t distracts the public from the real cause of salmon decline, habitat decline and degradation, that are being addressed by the Warm Springs Tribe and its governmental and local partners."
And just as I was about to type "this measure is, like, what would happen if Bill Sizemore cared about fishing," I go do one more search and find
this. Surprise, surprise, surprise!
Loren Parks, the conservative millionaire who financed many anti-tax campaigns and for years paid the bills for initiative activist Bill Sizemore. Parks put $20,000 of seed money into the initiative petition. Another wealthy sport fisherman, Norman L. Brenden of Olympia, Wash., has become Oregon’s biggest political donor, pouring $505,000 into the campaign war chest.
That it is in any way associated with Bill Sizemore is all anyone needs to know about this bill. Please share this info with all the Oregonians you know!