The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission will decide Friday whether to adopt proposed boundaries that would close off the mouth of Youngs Bay to recreational fishing during the height of the Buoy 10 season.

The so-called “Youngs Bay Control Zone” would be closed to recreational anglers and guide boats to allow more fall chinook and coho returning to the bay to be caught by commercial gillnetters between Aug. 1 and Sept. 15.

The Commission meeting Friday begins at 8 a.m. at the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife headquarters building in Salem. Public testimony will be received in the morning following an expenditure report.

The exclusion zone was included in Senate Bill 830, which was passed by the Oregon Legislature last year and backed a package of reforms for Columbia River fisheries. The changes included phasing out commercial gillnetting on the main stem of the river by 2017.

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