In February and
March 2008, the Washington and Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commissions
have worked with their respective staff and the facilitation team to
determine how best to move forward with efforts to engage stakeholders
on specific issues associated with lower Columbia
River salmon fishery management. Based on these efforts, the Commissions
have agreed that convening a stakeholder group virtually identical to
the one convened last year is appropriate; further, they have agreed
upon a more clearly defined purpose statement for the new group as
follows:
The purpose of this
stakeholder group is to develop recommendations regarding a lower Columbia
River spring and summer salmon fishery management plan including future
allocation of allowable harvests of salmon between the commercial and
recreational fisheries.
This purpose statement
was developed in response to the expressed interest for clear guidance
from the stakeholders involved in the prior process as well as a variety
of concerns raised by stakeholders before, during, and subsequent to
the recent allocation decisions.
