Oregon’s Legislature appears poised to add three no-fishing marine reserves off the coast, designating what amounts to 38-square-miles of ocean wilderness despite continued concerns from fishing groups. ??
Coastal legislators from both parties have signed off on Senate Bill 1510, in part because they fear ocean conservation groups might otherwise push a statewide ballot measure to put much more of Oregon’s biologically rich territorial sea off limits. ??
“I believe this bill protects the coast from an economic Armageddon that could result from a ballot measure,” Sen. Betsy Johnson, D-Scappoose, told the Senate environment committee Thursday. ?
