Oregon's 157,000 boat owners may see a substantial hike in their biennial registration fees if the state Marine Board's legislative wish list survives the next governor's budget review.
And the owners of non-registered craft longer than 10 feet may have an even larger hike as the Marine Board looks for ways to fund infrastructure for an exponential increase in their use of the state's waterways.
These are among the first-blush proposals from state agencies lining up their agendas for the 2019 Legislative session.
No fee increases are on tap for anglers and hunters, but the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife also has a long list of proposals, including one to make the Columbia River Endorsement fee permanent.
Owners of registered boats may be asked for a 33 percent increase in their fees, from $4.50 to $5.95 per foot.
And those with non-motorized, non-registered craft such as canoes, paddle boards, kayaks, etc. could be asked to replace the current $5 Aquatic Invasive Species permit with a new $17 Waterway Access permit. It would include the aquatic invasives fee, but would also fund new infrastructure for non-motorized craft.
As with current law, registered boat owners already pay into the aquatic invasives program and wouldn't be charged.
Larry Warren, Marine Board director, said while registered boat numbers are down from their peak of about 200,000 at the turn of the century, use of the waterways has significantly increased - matching a national trend.
"Boating use has changed," said Warren, a 42-year-old McMinnville native and avid angler who owns a 24-foot aluminum boat he uses for his family and fishes for everything from offshore tuna to high lakes kokanee. "Casual boaters have gone."
However, Warren added, watercraft use has skyrocketed in Oregon and the nation.
Paddle-boarding, canoeing, kayaking and floating have become major water sports.
He said a 2017 Oregon State Parks survey revealed nine million trips in motorized boats and six million in non-motorized craft.
Non-motorized craft aren't required to register with the Marine Board, but use the same ramps and parking areas as registered boat owners.
Money is needed to accommodate those needs, expand areas and relieve the pressures, Warren said.
"And if we need to defend fees or rules on ramps and facilities we paid for on their behalf as we do now for the power boats, we can and will," he said.
Shannon Hurn, deputy director of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, said no fee increases are under consideration for anglers and hunters.
The closest is a proposal to eliminate the sunset law on the Columbia River Endorsement fee, making it a permanent permit for those who fish for salmon, steelhead or sturgeon anywhere in the Columbia basin.
The proposal would also dedicate the fee to hatchery propagation and monitoring.
Also on the list is a proposal to allow the state to establish mandatory wildlife checkstations, where hunters - in-state or transiting - would stop to have their animals reviewed.
And the department is recommending elimination of the one-day shellfish license, which would then become part of the one-day fishing license.
Clackamas springer crash: Department biologists will huddle with managers on July 24 to cope with a sharp decline in returns of hatchery spring chinook to the Clackamas River.
Only 684 fin-clipped chinook returned to Clackamas Hatchery traps and the North Fork Dam in 2017 and Dan Straw, hatchery manager, said this year's return doesn't appear to be doing much better.
That figure was down from 5,364 in 2015 and 1,696 in 2016, the first year of returns from fish sent for rearing to the Bonneville Hatchery.
The numbers are in contrast to increasingly stronger numbers of wild fish being passed over PGE's new fish-sorting operation at North Fork Dam. PGE biologists say the wild run will be more than 150 percent of the 10-year average.
Sandy River spring chinook - hatchery and wild, appear to be in good shape.
Department biologists said in a fish-leaders' meeting in June they believe something went awry when juvenile Clackamas salmon were sent to Bonneville, although they don't know what or why. Juveniles are reared elsewhere until just before they imprint on the Clackamas, then are returned for release to the basin.
Straw said PGE's new water-diversion system from River Mill Dam will supply enough cold water to allow the hatchery to keep its juveniles there.
However, those systems won't be in place until next year and will still require testing.
Meanwhile, biologists have to come up with another temporary home for rearing Clackamas juveniles.
It will likely be a few more years before Clackamas hatchery returns improve.
Short casts: A sea lion bill has passed the House of Representatives and supporters now turn to a companion bill in the Senate. Letters and encouragement should go to Senators Merkley and Wyden....Razor clam season closes on Clatsop beaches Saturday evening and won't reopen until Oct. 1...An algae alert is in effect across all of Lake Billy Chinook; fishing is all right as long as fish are filleted and washed. Avoid swimming or ingesting the water...Coast fishing may be on hold for awhile as north winds stir up short, deep and white-capped swells...Albacore tuna made a brief appearance, but will be out of range and touch until the wind subsides.
- Bill Monroe