State Fish and Wildlife fisheries meeting set

VANCOUVER – The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission will meet in Vancouver from Thursday through Saturday to discuss the management of Columbia River fisheries, including a one-day, information-sharing workshop with its Oregon counterpart.

The commission, a citizen panel appointed by the governor to set policy for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, will convene in the Howard Marshall Room at the Heathman Lodge, 7801 N.E. Greenwood Drive. The meeting will begin at 8:30 a.m. Thursday, and at 9 a.m. Friday and Saturday.

An agenda is available online at https://wdfw.wa.gov/commission/meetings.html.

Commissioners will hold a public workshop Thursday with members of the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission to review a 5-year-old policy that changed salmon fisheries on the Columbia River.

The Coastal Conservation Association is urging its members and others to show up at the meeting to ask the commissioners to not allow gill-netting on the main stem of the Columbia River. The nonprofit organization plans to hold a rally at 12:30 p.m. Thursday outside the meeting location.

Commissioners from both states will also receive an update on seal and sea lion predation of salmon and other fish in the Columbia River, as well as efforts to recover southern resident killer whales.

On Friday, the Washington commission will discuss and take public comment on the North of Falcon salmon-setting policy for January 2019 through December 2020 and on the salmon management policy for Willapa Bay.