GARDINER, Ore. — The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is proposing closing salmon season along the Umpqua River - a move that could significantly impact the local economy.

One business owner in Winchester Bay, who operates a bait and tackle shop and a café, says 80% of his sales come during salmon season, which lasts from early July to late November.

Scott Worsley is a fishing guide in Roseburg.

He says there are longstanding communication issues between fishers and the ODFW.

“They just haven’t been transparent, and it's not just fall salmon - it's the summer steelhead run that they wiped out and they don't do anymore, it's the Coho run that they don't do anymore, it's the fish kills that they've had over the last 15 years. There's just no transparency,” Worsley says.

David Guschauski volunteers with the Gardiner Reedsport Winchester Bay STEP program, which produces harvestable hatchery salmon.

He says this could affect tourists who visit Oregon during salmon season.

"There's people who have got their plans already to be here for the fishing season,” Guschauski explains. “They've bought airline tickets and reserved motels and got this all set up and they do it every and now all of a sudden they're not going to be able to and it's going to affect it a lot."

ODFW says it's considering the season-long restrictions due to worries over the long-term health of the local salmon population, saying, in part:

"While fall chinook fishing is expected to be good in most coastal rivers this fall, the Umpqua River is an exception.

Proposing such a restricted fishery is not something we take lightly. The need for restrictions is based on recent low returns and high potential for overharvest under a status quo fishery."

A meeting is scheduled for Friday in Pendleton where officials plan to make a final decision on the issue.