VOL 4, NO. 5 3 AUGUST 2001
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IN THIS ISSUE......
UPPER KLAMATH BIOP TO GET SCIENTIFIC REVIEW. 4:04/01.
CHILEAN FARMED SALMON EXPORTS SOAR. 4:05/03.
PEW COMMISSION RELEASES AQUACULTURE
REPORT. 4:05/04.
SYMPOSIUM ON COSTS AND BENEFITS OF FISHERIES
LITIGATION. 4:05/10.
LOUISIANA CRAWFISH FISHERMEN CLASS ACTION
CERTIFIED AGAINST PESTICIDE MANUFACTURER. 4:05/12.
AND MORE...
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4:04/01. UPPER KLAMATH BIOP TO GET SCIENTIFIC
REVIEW, MEDIATION EFFORTS INTENSIFY: On 2 August, the
Oregonian reported that Interior Secretary Gale Norton intends to ask
the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to review the biological
rationale behind federal decisions to reserve water in Upper Klamath
Lake for protected lake fish and to cut back allocations to farmers in the
drought-stricken Klamath Basin this summer. The NAS often has
scientific questions referred to it by Congress and federal agencies for an
independent scientific review, which can take as long as two years.
Norton will announce the details of the Academy's review soon, said
Stephanie Hanna, an Interior Department spokeswoman. As yet there
are no announced plans to subject the Biological Opinion (BiOp) for the
downriver coho salmon to a similar review.
The referral comes a week after Norton overruled federal biologists
by releasing an additional 75,000 acre-feet of unexpectedly 'surplus' lake
water to farmers (see Sublegals 4:04/11). The scientists had earlier
required in a formal BiOp that any excess water above the minimum
required lake levels should go as first priority to the Upper Klamath
Basin's parched national wildlife refuges. The Bureau of Reclamation
(BOR) has cut the wildlife refuges off from any water this year, as it has
done in the past, by giving irrigation a higher water priority than the
refuges. The violated BiOp, under the law and by its own terms
'nondiscretionary,' required that the basin's national wildlife refuge
system, home to the largest population of wintering and Endangered
Species Act (ESA)-listed bald eagles in the lower 48 states, should
receive at least 32,255 acre-feet of water this year. So far, it has received
virtually none of that, depending entirely on stop-gap water purchased
from neighboring farms to keep its most critical wetlands from drying
up entirely. Releasing more water to the refuges would also increase the
downriver flow for ESA-listed coho salmon. To view the full 2 August
Oregonian article on Secretary Norton's decision, go to:
http://www.oregonlive.com/printer/printer.ssf?/xml/story.ssf/
html_standard.xsl?/base/front_page/9967554568188208.xml
The decision by Norton to divert refuge water to farmers was
immediately challenged by bird and conservation organizations who had
already filed a 60-day notice of intent to sue the federal government
over refuge dewatering. Intensive mediation efforts to head off yet
another lawsuit have been ongoing since 30 July, with so far roughly
1000 acre-feet pledged for the refuges but further water deliveries
problematical. The ongoing mediation process, originally ordered by
the court in the Kandra v. US case (US Federal District Court of Oregon,
Case No. 6-01-6124-AA), has been building up momentum and now has
full support of the Bush Administration and both Oregon and California
state agencies, but only lukewarm support from basin agricultural
interests. The refuge dewatering underscores the fact that water in the
Upper Klamath Basin has been badly over-appropriated, according to
the plaintiffs, which include the Oregon Natural Resources Council
(ONRC), the Golden Gate Audubon Society, Waterwatch of Oregon and
the Northwest Environmental Center. For more information on the
wildlife refuge problem see: www.onrc.org.
In a related action, Klamath Project irrigators have hired the national
lobbying firm of Kahl/Pownall Associates to represent them in an effort
to weaken provisions of the Endangered Species Act. Kahl/Pownall's
clients include a number of organizations hostile to the ESA, including
the Western States Petroleum Association, Westlands Water District,
Northern California Water Association, Dow Agrosciences, and the
Forest Resources Council. Some ESA critics are hoping to make
Klamath farmers into their "poster-child" for amendments to weaken the
federal ESA. The PCFFA Executive Director, meanwhile, was in
Whistler, British Columbia, on 27 August, speaking before the Western
Water Policy Committee of the Council of State Governments,
explaining the Klamath issue and the impacts on the fishing industry
from declining fish resources in the Klamath Basin.
4:05/02. INTERVENTION PLANNED TO SAVE RUSSIAN
RIVER COHO: Efforts are expected to begin soon in tributaries of the
Russian River to collect Endangered Species Act (ESA)-listed coho
salmon for broodstock in an aggressive move by the Russian River Coho
Recovery Work Group to utilize the existing U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers Don Clausen Hatchery at Dry Creek (a Russian River
tributary), stocked with native fish, to prevent extinction and jump-start
recovery aimed at reestablishing abundant self-sustaining coho
populations in that seriously degraded Northern California river system.
The Work Group, chaired by PCFFA, includes the National Marine
Fisheries Service (NMFS), the California Department of Fish & Game
(CDFG), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Sonoma County Water
Agency, the University of California Bodega Marine Laboratory, the
Institute for Fisheries Resources, Trout Unlimited and several other
NGO's. Collection efforts will begin by CDFG as soon as the permit is
approved by NMFS. For more information, contact Allison Vogt at:
av_ifr at pacbell.net.
4:05/03. CHILEAN FARMED SALMON EXPORTS SOAR:
WorldCatch News Network reported on 1 August that the Chilean
salmon industry had a nine percent sales increase for the first six months
of 2001. Chile's Association of Salmon & Trout Producers said salmon
exports generated more than US$585 million in the first half of this year,
compared to the US$536 million in sales realized during the first six
months of 2000. According to the WorldCatch report, the 57 percent
growth in volume of Chilean salmon exports is a result of increased
demand for Atlantic salmon and coho salmon. Of the two species, Chile
produces 57 percent of Atlantics and 49 percent coho. Chile is the
second largest producer of salmon in the world after Norway, and the
U.S. accounts for 32 percent of Chile's production, which has pushed
prices down for U.S. and Canadian west coast produced wild salmon.
For more information, go to: www.worldcatch.com.
4:05/04. PEW COMMISSION RELEASES AQUACULTURE
REPORT: The Pew Oceans Commission has released its latest report on
U.S. marine policy, entitled "Marine Aquaculture in the United States:
Environmental Impacts and Policy Options," authored by Dr. Rebecca
Goldburg, Matthew Elliott and Dr. Rosamond Naylor. The report is
intended to examine the role of aquaculture in meeting the nation's
demand for seafood and its current and potential impacts on the marine
environment. The report recommends steps to ensure that domestic
aquaculture grows in a sustainable fashion, and calls upon the U.S. to
take a global leadership role in adopting best management practices.
The authors recommend immediate action concerning several
problem areas surrounding aquaculture production, including the
elimination or drastic reduction in the accidental release of farmed fish
into the wild. The accidental release of farmed fish may harm wild fish
populations through interbreeding and competition for habitat and food.
In addition, escaped fish may spread diseases and parasites throughout
an ecosystem. For example, escaped farmed Atlantic salmon may
threaten endangered wild Atlantic salmon off the Maine coast and wild
Pacific salmon in the Northwest. Supporting federal activities under the
Endangered Species Act to protect wild salmon populations is a key
element of protecting native fish.
The authors also call for reducing the use of wild fish for fish feed.
Some types of aquaculture, particularly salmon farming, use large
quantities of wild-caught fish as feed ingredients. Increased catches of
small fish for use in feed would reduce the amount of food available for
wild predators such as large fish, marine mammals, and seabirds. The
authors call for greater federal research to identify alternatives to the use
of wild fish for fish feeds, and the cultivation and promotion of
non-carnivorous aquaculture species. Copies of the report are available
online at www.pewoceans.org. To receive a PDF version via email,
contact Justin Kenney at kenneyj at pewoceans.org.
4:05/05. MONKFISH SPAWNED IN CAPTIVITY: The Garden
State Seafood Association (GSSA) reported on 22 July that the
Monkfish, Lophius americanus, also known as goosefish- one of the
most commercially important finfish on the eastern seaboard of the U.S,
was spawned in captivity for the first time at Howard Marine Science
Laboratory in Sandy Hook, New Jersey. The study, co-sponsored by the
National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and the Garden State
Seafood Association (GSSA), will provide key data that will allow
documentation of larval and juvenile development as well as establish
methods for age determination of young monkfish in nature. This further
understanding of goosefish population processes will enable managers
to determine the aquaculture and stock enhancement potential along
with mechanisms to ensure a sustainable fishery for the species. The
program has relied on collaboration with commercial fishermen since its
inception. Collection by fishermen of wild-spawned egg veils and adult
monkfish has furthered the research abilities of the scientists working on
the project. For more information visit
http://www.fishingnj.org/gssa/gssahome.htm.
4:05/06. THAILAND DEFERS ACTION ON SHRIMP
FARMING BAN: On 2 August, WorldCatch News Network, reported
the Government of Thailand has deferred action on lifting that nation's
ban on shrimp farming in the Central Plains and asked for more
information on the environmental impact of such a move, including that
on rice production. The country is trying to decide whether to risk the
loss of more fertile rice fields to the production of black tiger shrimps to
export to first world consumers. For more information, go to:
www.worldcatch.com
4:05/07. SUPPORT FOR GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOODS
DECREASING ACCORDING TO POLLS: Greensheets reports that
American unease about genetically modified foods (GMOs) is on the
increase. An ABCNews.com poll in June found that 52 percent
believed such foods are "not safe to eat," with 35 percent expressing
confidence, in contrast to a Gallup poll a year earlier, when 51 percent
believed there was no health hazard. Genetically modified salmon are
currently awaiting approval by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration
(FDA) for use in salmon aquaculture operations (see Sublegals,
3:19/03). However, the U.S. House of Representatives, despite the poll,
still turned down an amendment to prevent the approval of GMO salmon
at this time (see Sublegals, 4:02/06). For more information, go to:
http://www.greensheets.com/publications/newsroom/index.html.
4:05/08. SAN FRANCISCO FISH PROCESSOR SENTENCED FOR
CONVICTION OF UNDERREPORTING AND FALSELY
REPORTING GROUNDFISH LANDINGS: On 26 July, the U.S.
Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California announced the
sentencing of Serge Joseph "Joe" Cincotta to five months in prison and
an additional five months of home confinement for falsely reporting
groundfish landings made to his processing firm. In his plea agreement,
Cincotta admitted that from early 1995 through the middle of 1996, F.
Alioto Fish Company (he was general manager of this Fisherman's
Wharf seafood wholesaler at the time) falsely reported the number of
groundfish, subject to federal trip limits, landed at his facility on
required state landing receipts. He also failed to report some fish
catches altogether in order to mask trip limit violations. Co-defendants
F. Alioto and Francesco "Frank" Licata, the captain of a fishing vessel
falsely reporting the fish, were earlier convicted and sentenced on
related charges of conspiring to violate the federal Lacey Act (the fish
were either exported or entered into interstate commerce).
According to the plea agreement, on one occasion in October 1995,
Cincotta submitted a fish landing receipt stating that one fishing boat
supplying F. Alioto had caught over 15,000 pounds of fish. In fact, the
vessel identified on the report was in dry dock. Cincotta admitted that
he identified the wrong boat because the vessel that actually harvested
the fish was over its monthly trip limit. During the "conspiracy,"
Cincotta failed to report to the California Department of Fish & Game
over 100,000 pounds of channel rockfish alone. For more information,
contact Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Jacobs at: (415) 436-7181; or
to view key court documents filed in the case, go to the U.S. Attorney's
Office's website at: www.usaondca.com
4:05/09. NMFS SEEKS COMMENTS ON NORTH PACIFIC
BLACKCOD/HALIBUT IFQ AMENDMENT: In the 24 July Federal
Register (Vol. 66, No. 142, pp.38412-38413), the National Marine
Fisheries Service (NMFS) published its request for comments on the
North Pacific Fishery Management Council's (NPFMC) Amendment 54
to its Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska
and Amendment 54 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Groundfish
Fishery of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Area (FMPs). These
amendments would make three changes to the Individual Fishing Quota
(IFQ) Program for fixed gear Pacific halibut and blackcod (sablefish)
fisheries off Alaska. According to NMFS, the amendments are
necessary to improve the effectiveness of the IFQ Program and
"intended to promote the objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation & Management Act (MSFCMA) with respect to the IFQ
fisheries." Comments on Amendments 54/54 must be submitted by 24
September and should be submitted to Sue Salveson, Assistant Regional
Administrator for Sustainable Fisheries, Alaska Region, NMFS, P.O.
Box 21668, Juneau, AK 99802, Attn: Lori Gravel, or delivered to the
Federal Building, 709 West 9th Street, Juneau, AK. Copies of
Amendments 54/54 and the Regulatory Impact Review/Initial
Regulatory Flexibility Analysis prepared for the proposed amendments
are available from the NPFMC, 605 West 4th Ave., Suite 306,
Anchorage, AK 99501-2252; Tel: (907) 271-2809.
4:05/10. AFS SYMPOSIUM ON COSTS AND BENEFITS OF
LITIGATION IN FISHERIES MANAGEMENT: The National
Fisheries Conservation Center (NFCC) has announced it will host a
symposium on the Costs and Benefits of Litigation in Fishery
Management as part of the program for the 131st Annual Meeting of the
American Fisheries Society (AFS) in Phoenix, Arizona on 22 August.
Leading fishery anthropologists, resource economists, journalists, and
attorneys will provide views on why fishery stakeholders are
increasingly turning to the courts to resolve their disputes, and on how
litigation affects stakeholder relationships, communities, fishery
management authority and accountability, and, ultimately, fishery
conservation. The symposium will conclude with a panel discussion,
during which speakers will discuss alternatives to litigation and similar
adversarial processes, including alternative dispute resolution,
negotiation and mediation. For more information on the symposium, go
to: www.nfcc-fisheries.org/afs_land.html.
4:05/11. EPA ORDERS HUDSON RIVER DREDGING TO
CLEAN-UP GENERAL ELECTRIC'S PCB POLLUTION; HOPE FOR
SHAD FISHERY? The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
this past week ordered the dredging of New York's upper Hudson River
to clean up PCB (poly-chlorinated biphenyls) contamination from
General Electric's operations along that waterway, making it the largest
environmental cleanup in U.S. history. The Hudson once supported a
major commercial shad fishery, but that was closed when the fish
became contaminated with PCBs. General Electric had mounted a
major public relations campaign aimed at stopping EPA from taking
action against the corporation for its pollution of the Hudson (the issue
was the subject of a major New Yorker article earlier this year). In
ordering the clean-up, EPA Administrator Christie Todd-Whitman
agreed to go forward with a Clinton Administration plan requiring GE to
spend more than a half billion dollars to dredge PCB contamination
from the Hudson River. However, in a change from the Clinton plan, the
draft order would create a staged cleanup process, with performance
examined at each stage. A major issue examined would be
"resuspension," repollution of the river -- which GE has claimed is
cleaner now than it has been in generations -- by stirring up PCBs on the
river bottom. For more information, go to the Hudson Riverkeeper
website at: http://www.riverkeeper.org.
4:05/12. LOUISIANA CRAWFISH FISHERMEN WIN CLASS
ACTION CERTIFICATION IN LAWSUIT AGAINST PESTICIDE
MANUFACTURER: WorldCatch News Network reported 1 August that
St. Landry Parish District Court Judge James Genovese has granted
certification for a class action lawsuit by hundreds of Louisiana crawfish
farmers against Aventis, the manufacturer of the pesticide ICON. In
their filing, the plaintiff fishermen claim crawfish harvests have been
damaged by ICON contamination. Judge Genovese's 30 July ruling
allows anyone claiming financial losses and damages as a result of their
crawfish crop's exposure to ICON beginning in January 1999 to join the
lawsuit if he/she: purchased ICON-treated seed for rice operations in
Louisiana; or farmed crawfish in Louisiana; or participated in a
sharecropping arrangement for the farming of crawfish in Louisiana.
ICON, the product name for the chemical fipronil, is blamed for
devastating Louisiana's 2000 and 2001 crawfish crops since its
introduction as a pesticide in 1999. In 2000, Louisiana's crawfish
production dropped a dramatic 40 percent. Although its purpose is to kill
the water weevils attacking rice plants, ICON, according to the trial
testimony of farmers and experts, also kills crawfish.
During four days of trial, 36 witnesses appeared, mainly crawfish
farmers and experts. More than a dozen farmers testified that once their
crawfish crop was contaminated by ICON the crawfish crop died. They
become contaminated either because the crawfish were harvested in
ICON-treated rice fields or because tailwater containing ICON or its
metabolites flooded the crawfish crop. Any crawfish farmer seeking
more information or wishing to join the class action lawsuit should
contact attorneys Hunter Lundy at (800) 259-1005 or Pat Morrow at
(800) 356-6776. To see the WorldCatch report, go to:
www.worldcatch.com.
4:05/13: WASHINGTON STATE, FEDS DEVELOP AQUATIC
HABITAT GUIDELINES: The Washington State Departments of Fish
& Wildlife (WDFW), Ecology, and Transportation, together with the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE), have announced the development
of an "integrated approach to aquatic and riparian habitat protection and
restoration" through a program of Aquatic Habitat Guidelines (AHG).
According to the AHG, the Washington Salmon Recovery Strategy
recommends the development of comprehensive and integrated
guidelines for aquatic and riparian habitat restoration and mitigation
projects. The AHG program addresses the scientific and technical need
for design and analysis criteria for this work, and for other types of
activities which may affect the state's aquatic and riparian habitats
including transportation infrastructure, docks and marinas, irrigation
diversions, mining and dredging. The AHG program is a technical
assistance program and not a regulatory program.
To date, seven AHG white papers have been completed: Marine
Overwater Structures, Freshwater Overwater Structures, Treated Wood
Issues, Channel Design, Ecological Issues in Flood Plain & Riparian
Corridors, Marine & Estuarine Shoreline Modification Issues, and
Marine Dredging. A website has also been established at:
http://www.wa.gov/wdfw/hab/ahg.
4:05/14. NMFS SEEKS FISHERMEN PROPOSALS FOR
RESEARCH ON SUMMER FLOUNDER, SCUP, BLACK SEA BASS
AND OTHER FISH: The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)
has announced it is seeking proposals for a new research set-aside
program that integrates expertise from the fishing industry with
scientific research to improve fisheries management. The program ,
which targets species managed by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery
Management Council, allows for the set-aside of up to three percent of a
species' annual quota for research purposes. The species eligible for a
set-aside include summer flounder, scup, black sea bass, Loligo squid,
Illex squid, Atlantic mackerel, butterfish, bluefish and tilefish. A
primary objective of this cooperative research program is to assure that
all new data collected by the industry will receive peer review and
analysis by agency scientists. NMFS says it will communicate the
results of the research to the fishing industry. Applicants must submit
proposals to NMFS Northeast Regional Office on or before 24 August.
To receive more information regarding the research program, e-mail:
David.Gouveia at noaa.gov
4:05/15: PARRAVANO TO ADDRESS EUROPEAN
MEETING ON FISHERMEN INVOLVEMENT IN SCIENTIFIC
RESEARCH: The Fourth Open Science Meeting of the European
Land-Ocean Interaction Studies (ELOISE) will be held 5-7 September at
the University of Calabria in Rende, Italy. PCFFA President Pietro
Parravano will be one of the presenters, giving a paper on collaboration
between fishermen and scientists conducting fishery research and stock
assessments. Parravano's presentation falls on the heels of a similar
presentation that will be made by IFR's Natasha Benjamin, PCFFA's
Zeke Grader and the University of California Bodega Marine
Laboratory's Paul Siri at the end of August at the University of British
Columbia. PCFFA and IFR have been actively promoting more
collaboration between fishermen and scientists in everything from
California's Marine Life Protection Act (dealing with marine protected
areas) to the recently introduced Fisheries Recovery Act (H.R. 2570) in
the U.S. Congress (see Sublegals, 4:03/01). The ELOISE conference is
sponsored by the European Commission, the University of Calabria, and
CNR (Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche) Institute for Atmospheric
Pollution. For information, go to:
http://www.iia-cnr.unical.it/eloise4.htm.
4:05/16: EXPERIMENTAL PERMIT SOUGHT TO TEST
SELECTIVITY OF HOOK-AND-LINE GEAR IN PACIFIC
GROUNDFISH FISHERY: The National Marine Fisheries Service
(NMFS) announced in today's, 2 August, Federal Register (Vol. 66, No.
149, p.40188), receipt of an application for an Experimental Fishery
Permit (EFP) from the Pacific Marine Conservation Council (PMCC),
the California Department of Fish & Game (CDFG), and Kenyon
Hensel. The primary purpose of the EFP is to collect quantitative
information to assess the selectivity of open access vertical
hook-and-line and rod-and-reel gear used in the open access fishery off
California. If awarded, the EFP would allow a small number of vessels
to land groundfish species in excess of cumulative trip limits and to sell
a portion of the yellowtail rockfish for profit, providing the vessel
carries a state sponsored observer. According to NMFS, this EFP
proposal is intended to promote the objectives of the Pacific Coast
Groundfish Fishery Management Plan (FMP) by providing data on gear
selectivity and supporting a cooperative partnership to collect data to
enhance management of the groundfish fishery. Comments must be
received by 4 September. Copies of the EFP application are available
from Becky Renko, Northwest Region, NMFS, 7600 Sand PointWay
N.E.,Bldg.1, Seattle,WA98115-0070. For more information, call (206)
526-6140.
NEWS, COMMENTS, CORRECTIONS: Submit your news items,
coments or any corrections to Natasha Benjamin, Editor, at:
ifrfish at pacbell.net or call the IFR office at either (415) 561_FISH
(Southwest Office) or (541) 689_2000 (Northwest Office).
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dean Staff Kanata On. Canada
dean at staff.ca
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