The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission accepted a petition to list the Southern Resident killer whale (SRKW) Distinct Population Segment (DPS) as Endangered under the Oregon Endangered Species Act. Acceptance of the petition initiates the rule-making process that will include an assessment of the biological status of SRKW in Oregon by ODFW and consultation with affected agencies, tribes, organizations, and the public. An actual decision on listing SRKW will not be made until a future Commission meeting.
The petition was made by the Center for Biological Diversity, Defenders of Wildlife, and Whale and Dolphin Conservation. SRKW use coastal waters off Oregon, Washington and California and currently number just 73 individuals in three pods. Some key factors behind SRKW’s decline are scarcity of prey (primarily Chinook), high levels of contaminants from pollution, disturbance from vessels/sound and inbreeding. This population is already listed on the federal ESA.
On Friday morning April 21st during the Director’s Report, ODFW staff presented the 2022 Annual Report and discussed a planned review of the Oregon Wolf Conservation and Management Plan. (The Plan needs to be reviewed every five years; it was last reviewed in 2019.) Staff will initiate the review in May 2023 and plan to bring any necessary rule changes to the Commission by June 2024. A public workshop with the Commission and other opportunities for public input are planned. Interested members of the public can sign up for Wolf Updates to keep up with the Wolf Plan review process.
Marbled murrelet: Approved Endangered Species Management Plans for ODFW and nine other designated land-owning or land-managing state agencies that can play a role in marbled murrelet conservation. They also directed to staff to continue collaboration with these nine landowner agencies for conservation of the marbled murrelet.
Pacific halibut seasons: The International Pacific Halibut Commission set this year's fishery catch limit at 1.52 million pounds for Area 2A (Oregon, Washington and Northern California) which is 30,000 pounds higher than last year. For a look at the recreational season visit this map
