Petition to ban net fishing submitted

OLYMPIA -- Backers of a ban on net fishing submitted yesterday what they said were enough signatures to qualify the proposal for the November ballot, setting the stage for another rancorous fight between sport and commercial fishing interests.

Voters solidly rejected a similar proposal in 1995, but sports anglers are back, pointing to the sharpening crisis over dwindling wild salmon runs as reason to vote for Initiative 696.

Commercial fishing groups intend a strong effort to defeat the initiative, as they did last time, contending it unfairly discriminates against their industry and will not save salmon in any case.

The proposal would ban all nets with the exception of reef nets, crab and shrimp pots and herring dip-bag nets in Washington waters. It also would bar commercial trolling. The measure does not address tribal fishing. Violation would be a felony.

"Commercial nets should have been prohibited years ago. By overharvesting, net fishing has wreaked havoc," said the initiative's main spokesman, Tom Nelson of Renton.

He spoke on the Capital steps after submitting what he said were 230,000 signatures to Secretary of State Ralph Munro. To qualify for the ballot, the initiative must contain at least 179,248 signatures of registered voters. Munro's office is expected to certify the measure as qualified in a few weeks.

The campaign spent $20,000 hiring people to help gather signatures, but backers said 90 percent of the total were gathered by volunteers.

Ed Owens, executive director of the Coalition of Coastal Fisheries and chairman of the fledgling campaign against the initiative, called it a "hate initiative, pure and simple."

He said Nelson, a sport fishing activist and leader of the group Ban All Nets (BAN), has a reputation for opposing commercial fishermen.

Nelson said he isn't opposed to the fishermen but to their methods, which he contends have contributed to the decline in wild salmon.

But Owens said salmon fishermen are already on the ropes, and kicking them harder "won't save a single salmon.

"The industry in this state is down to 1,740 salmon licenses. Probably half of them don't get fished. So what is it they're after? They're not going to save any salmon with this initiative."

The Washington Environmental Council opposes it, as do some charter fishing groups. Several local Audubon Society chapters support it.

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