Proposed Bill To Limit Oregon Guides

There is an effort underway to limit the number of fishing guides in Oregon and raise guide license fees by 2010. The initiators of the bill feel limiting the number of guides and raising fees will restore credibility to the profession, weed out incompetent guides and reduce pressure on salmon and steelhead runs. There are many different aspects to the proposal, but here is the main framework:

· No new guides will be licensed for a period of 5 years, allowing the number of guides to drop from approximately 800 to 550. Of the 550, only 100 will be allowed from out of state.
· Resident guides would pay $250 for a guides’ license, and $50 for renewal annually. The current license is $50 per year.
· Oregon would be divided into 4 regions: South Coast, Mid Coast/Willamette Valley, Lower Columbia River and Eastern Oregon.
· Guides would pay an additional $250 endorsement fee for each zone fished ($125 renewal fee). For instance, if a guide wished to fish in all 4 zones, it would be $1000 the first year and $500 every year after. Non-resident guides’ endorsements would be double those listed above.
· After 2015, veteran guides would be able to sell their license, much like commercial fisherman currently do.
· Guides would be required to keep a log book on where and when they fish, along with what they catch.
· A Fishing Guide Review Board, made up of 7 licensed guides would be created to oversee industry regulation.
· Part of the funds generated would go to creating hatch-box programs on the coast that would boost fish numbers without creating new hatcheries.

What Brought This On?
Depending on who you talk to, changes to guide licensing is either long overdue or a way to divide sportfisherman for the benefit of a select group. Bill sponsors say that guide numbers are way too high and that guides crowd out other anglers and have too much of an impact on certain fisheries. Further, guide fees are too low compared with surrounding states. Changing the fee structure would push out unfit guides.

On the other hand, many believe this is an attempt by some commercial fishing interests to divide sportfisherman and retaliation for bills seeking to limit gillnet fisheries on the Columbia River. What is certain is that by dividing the state into regions, guides not fishing the Columbia will care less about sport and commercial allocations.

As a guide, I am wary of a bill that limits my opportunities. I am not opposed to a fee structure that is more in line with other states, even though the state license fees I pay as a guide are only the tip of the iceberg of my operating costs. There are different areas of the state that feel salmon and steelhead returning to a local river are “their fish” and will look for ways to limit out of towners. I am also not convinced that hatch box programs on our coastal rivers is where fees are best spent.

But hey, maybe my opinion is biased. As always, I welcome your comments on this and other issues.

See you on the water,
Action Jackson

(Please send comments or questions to Action Jackson at 268-6944 or www.actionjacksonfishing.com)