June 20, 2017 — A fund that was supposed to provide commercial fishermen $1.5 million to adjust to new regulations curtailing gillnetting in the Columbia River has never been tapped.
The Columbia River Fisheries Transition Fund, a 2013 creation of the Legislature, was supposed to set aside $500,000 every two years to provide financial assistance to commercial gillnetters through 2019.
The money was intended to help fishermen buy replacement gear and offset economic harms due to the expected phasing out of non-tribal gillnetting in the lower main stem of the Columbia.
The money’s not been used yet, and after some of it was reverted back to the general fund due to an accounting error at the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Legislature is now poised to do away with the last $500,000 installment.
That leaves $500,000, a third of the amount initially intended, and it’s not immediately apparent whether commercial gillnetters will end up applying for or receiving the money.
Gillnets are hung vertically and catch fish by the gills. Their use is a source of a longstanding dispute between commercial fishermen and sports anglers.
But the issue has come to a head in recent years. These days, sportsmen have rights to most — 70 to 80 percent — of the catches in the main stem of the Columbia, depending on the season. That’s a fact most commercial gillnetters resent.
Gillnets were, back in 2013, likely to be phased out of legal usage on the lower main stem of the Columbia by entities other than tribes. The bill followed an agreement with Washington brokered by former Gov. John Kitzhaber.