The Pacific Fishery Management Council rarely gets much attention from Idaho because most of its decisions have little impact here. Idaho has two representatives on the council, Jerry Mallet, the former Idaho Fish and Game director, is the Fish and Game representative and Dave Ortmann of Coeur d'Alene is the Idaho representative appointed by Gov. Butch Otter. they are usually the only Idahoans who knows what the council does.

Idaho's salmon turn north when they leave the Columbia River so they are not long in the fishing grounds managed by this council, which is one of eight nationally.

But this year the council, which manages fisheries off the coast of California, Oregon and Washington, all but shut down salmon fishing off the coasts of California and southern Oregon. That will have a billion dollar plus impact on the economies of California and Oregon. Suddenly people are paying attention.

Otter has gotten involved in council politics and commercial fishermen and environmentalists are scratching their heads why.

The coalition of fishermen and environmentalists were seeking to get a salmon fisherman they liked on the council, Jeff Feldner, who now works for Oregon SeaGrant. For that to happen in a Republican administration, they needed Democratic Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski to not renominate Rod Moore, a former staffer of Alaska Republican Rep. Don Young. Moore who now represents the West Coast Seafood Processors whose biggest member is Pacific Seafoods, which is owned by a large contributor to Republicans.

The fishermen thought they succeeded when they convinced Kulongoski to leave Moore, an Oregonian, off the list that went to the Secretary of Commerce, who makes the final appointment from a list of 3 submitted by the governor.

Moore finds out he’s not getting renominated, the fishermen speculate, and calls Otter asking him to submit his own list with his name on it. Otter could do this since the seat is an at large position, not officially an Oregon seat.

The fishermen say Idaho has never tried to influence this seat before. But Otter's office said Idaho has offered nominations for at large seats on the council before.

The National Marine Fisheries Service in January officially requested nominations from Otter, said Jon Hanian, Otter's press secretary. They nominated Moore and two other Oregon choices, recommending Moore March 14. that's the day before the deadline and the day after Moore learned he would not be renominated, fishermen said.

Otter’s intervention on behalf of Moore surprised and angered the fishermen, whose own efforts to oust Moore were foiled.

Now the commercial fishermen are suggesting Moore’s candidacy should be ruled ineligible because they say Otter did not consult with Idaho fishing interests as required by the Magnuson-Stevens Act, before he nominated Moore. The reappointment is not yet finalized.

The stakes may be high for coastal commercial fishermen but for Idaho this interesting political dust up has little impact. But it shows how Otter is willing to jump into a fray even when Idaho's ox is not gored.

Several changes have been made for accuracy from earlier posts.