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A WEEKLY QUOTA OF FISHERY SHORTS CAUGHT AND
LANDED BY THE INSTITUTE FOR FISHERIES RESOURCES
AND THE PACIFIC COAST FEDERATION OF FISHERMEN'S
ASSOCIATIONS
VOL 1, NO. 24 16 JUNE 2000
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STEELHEAD AND SALMON 4(d) RULES OUT NEXT WEEK: In
compliance with court deadlines imposed for failure to meet past deadlines,
on 20 June NMFS will finally issue 4(d) protective rules for 14 distinct
groups of salmon and steelhead from central California to the Puget Sound.
Under NMFS rules, ESA protections for threatened species do not have
legal force until 4(d) rules are published, so past NMFS delays have made
it impossible to enforce ESA protections. The new rules will cover
steelhead from south-central California to the Snake River, chinook in the
Columbia and Puget Sound, coho on the Oregon coast, and small
populations of chum and sockeye in the northwest that were previously
unprotected. A NMFS briefing on the new rules is scheduled for 20 June
from 1100-1230 HRS in the NMFS Offices at the Pacific Conference
Room, 5th Floor, 525 NE Oregon Street, Portland. Parties wishing to
participate by conference call can dial in at (877)475-9228 and then use
participant code 548752, though call-in ports are limited. Briefing
materials will be available beginning 1030 HRS on 20 June at:
http://www.nwr.noaa.gov. For more information from NMFS contact Rob
Jones at (503)230-5429 or Rosemary Furfey at (503)231-2149.
TUNA IN A PACK: Food giant H.J. Heinz Co., packers of Starkist
tuna, announced on 15 June, it will begin in late September marketing tuna
in vacuum-sealed seven-ounce foil bags. The Pittsburgh-based company
said the packing will take place at its plants in Thailand and Ecuador.
According to an Associated Press report, Heinz claims the foil packages
provide a firmer texture than canned tuna and do not require draining.
KLAMATH WATER FLOWS SUIT FILED: A coalition of
organizations spearheaded by PCFFA filed suit against the Bureau of
Reclamation last week in efforts to secure more water coming out of the
Klamath Irrigation Project for lower river instream fish and wildlife needs.
The Klamath Project controls an estimated 40% of all the basin's water, and
both Iron Gate Hatchery and lower river wild salmon and steelhead depend
on adequate flows being released by the Bureau below Iron Gate Hatchery.
The Bureau's "Year 2000 Operations Plan" provides for only about 45% of
what the Bureau's own flow studies say are necessary for downriver fish,
and the California Department of Fish & Game has complained bitterly that
the low planned flows will jeopardize lower river fish recovery efforts and
constitute a "take" in violation of the Endangered Species Act. Yet even
though this is a dry year, the Bureau's plan still calls for supplying 100% of
all irrigation demands on the Project, at the expense of downriver flows for
fish and wildlife.
Both coho salmon and, more recently, steelhead have been listed as
threatened under the federal ESA in the lower river portions of the Klamath
Basin. The initial suit was based on failure to follow environmental
assessment requirements as well as damage to lower river wild and scenic
areas, rather than on the stronger ESA claims, because the Plaintiff's
60-day Notice required under the ESA has not yet run (Sublegals, 21
April). Plaintiffs emergency hearing to obtain a preliminary injunction on
the procedural claims failed on 15 June. However, they anticipate
amending the complaint to include the ESA claims at the end of June when
their 60-day notice period runs. The action was filed in US District Court
for Northern California. For further information contact Jan Hasselman,
Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund (206)343-7340, which is representing
the groups or Glen Spain of PCFFA at (541)689-2000.
APPLICANTS SOUGHT FOR MARINE SANCTUARY ADVISORY
POSITIONS: Two west coast national marine sanctuaries - Olympic Coast
National Marine Sanctuary and Channel Islands National Marine
Sanctuary - have announced they are seeking applicants for positions on
their sanctuary advisory councils.
The Olympic Coast Sanctuary is seeking applicants for the education
seat on its Sanctuary Advisory Council. Applicants who are chosen as
members should expect to serve a three-year term, pursuant to the
Council's Charter. Applications are due by 15 July. For more information,
contact: Nancy Beres, SAC Coordinator, Olympic Coast National Marine
Sanctuary, at: nancy.beres at noaa.gov.
The Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary is seeking applicants
for the following vacant alternate slots for its Sanctuary Advisory Council
(Council): Recreation Alternate and Pubic At-Large Alternate.
Applications are due by 10 July. For more information, contact: Michael
Murray at: michael.murray at noaa.gov, or visit the CINMS web site at:
http://www.cinms.nos.noaa.gov.
"CENSUS OF MARINE LIFE" BEGINS WITH EIGHT RESEARCH
GRANTS: The 2 June issue of Science Magazine (pp. 1575-1576) reports
that the project initiated by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to count ocean
life has gotten started "when eight research groups were awarded $3.7
million to develop model Internet atlases that display everything from the
distribution of squids to the DNA sequences of tiny zooplankton. The
projects, administered by the Washington, D.C.-based national
Oceanographic Partnership Program, kick off what could become a
10-year, billion-dollar effort to use everything from dip nets to airborne
lasers to enumerate and map marine life." The "Census of Marine Life"
was announced the same week The Pew Charitable Trusts confirmed the
establishment of its Ocean Commission (see Sublegals, 26 May 2000);
a full-page ad also ran in the 9 June issue of the New York Times
announcing the new 17-member commission that includes PCFFA
President Pietro Parravano.
According to the Science article, the census aims to reduce uncertainty
about what is living in the ocean "by making existing data more accessible
and useful to researchers, and by creating computerized libraries that can
accommodate a flood of new numbers from studies of selected ocean
patches. By applying new technologies for identifying marine species from
afar, census planners also hope to give conservationists and regulators
better tools to estimate marine populations, and provide the public with a
global snapshot of marine diversity." For more information, go to Science
magazine's website at:http/l:www.sciencemag.org.
HOUSE VOTES TO BAN SHARK FINNING: On 6 June the U.S.
House of Representatives passed H.R. 3535 to ban the practice of shark
finning in all U.S. waters by a vote of 390-1. Last year the House passed
House Con. Res. 189 condemning the practice, but this bill would make a
ban binding in all U.S. territorial waters. The bill has now gone over to the
Senate and awaits hearings in the Senate Commerce Committee. The
practice occurs in the Hawaiian longline fisheries to feed a growing Asian
market for shark fin soup, but has become highly controversial in recent
years as the number of blue sharks caught specifically for their fins
increeased from 2,289 in 1991 to 60,857 in 1998. The Asian shark fin
trade is lucrative, however, and shark finning now accounts for about 10%
of the revenues of the Hawaiian longline fleet. Blue sharks are caught
as bycatch in the tuna fishery, but other than for their fins blue sharks have
little commercial value and their carcases are discarded after finning.
NMFS has argued that the practice should be stopped. The Western
Pacific Fishery Management Council has disagreed, but recently set an
annual quota at 50,000 for the Hawaiian longline fleet and stringently
capped bycatch of other shark species. The Hawaii State Legislature
passed a bill on 3 May (HB 1947) banning shark fin landings in that state
which is now awaiting the Governor's signature. Shark finning has been
banned by in the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico since 1993, is not practiced
on the US west coast, and now occurs only in the Western Pacific
including Hawaii.
ORVIS STOPS SALE OF SMOKED ATLANTIC SALMON,
LAWSUIT ON LISTING SUSPENDED: Orvis Company, the upscale
sporting goods manufacturer, has announced it will discontinue the sale of
smoked, farm-raised Atlantic salmon in its catalogs. The action by the
Vermont company was taken in response to growing evidence that farmed
salmon operations threaten wild Atlantic salmon stocks that are in danger
of extinction. Atlantic salmon, escaped from net pens on the west coast,
pose a threat to many Pacific salmon populations as well (see Sublegals, 9
June 2000).
Meanwhile, earlier this month, the Associated Press reported a U.S.
District Court judge has approved an agreement between conservation
groups, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and the U.S. Fish
& Wildlife Service (USFWS) suspending the lawsuit filed by the
environmental NGOs challenging approval of a controversial plan by the
State of Maine plan for wild salmon protection and barring the two federal
agencies from requesting an extension of the 17 November deadline for
announcing a determination on whether to list Atlantic salmon in seven of
the state's rivers as an endangered species under the ESA.
To the north in Canada, the Atlantic Salmon Federation says the
Canadian government is not living up to its responsibilities for conserving
wild Atlantic salmon with federal funding for conservation and
enforcement declining 40% over the past five years. For more information,
visit the Federation's website at: http://www.asf.ca/Actions/govcrisis/.
In Scotland, the Daily Telegraph reported on 5 June that a record
395,000 Atlantic salmon escaped in ten different incidents during the first
five month of 2000. The number of escapees were said to exceed the wild
catch by a four to one ratio. In 1999, there were a total of 15 reported
incidents resulting in the escape of 225,000 of the aquaculture fish into the
wild.
ALASKA'S COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT QUOTAS ON VIDEO:
"Sharing the Sea: Alaska's CDQ Program" is the title of a 58 minute video
that has been produced by the Alaska Sea Grant College Program. It tells
the story of how the Community Development Quotas (CDQs) for fisheries
were initiated and developed. The Alaska CDQ program is intended to give
economic opportunities to residents of the Bering Sea coast allowing them
to support themselves and have a chance to control their futures. Currently
these residents work on factory trawlers, in shoreside processing plants,
and in other seafood businesses. The video (Publication #MAPV-40) is
available for $15.00 and can be ordered from the University of Alaska Sea
Grant by e-mail at: FYPUBS at uaf.edu.
PACIFIC WHITING CLOSURES: On 8 June the National Marine
Fisheries Service (NMFS) closed the primary season for Pacific Whiting
south of 42øN. Lat. On 8 June and reopened it again on 15 June. The action
was intended to keep the harvest within the 2000 allocation levels. The
following day, 9 June, NMFS closed the Mothership fishery for whiting in
this area which was estimated to have approached its allocation for 2000.
Comments on the first action will be accepted through 28 June; comments
on the second action (closing the Mothership fishery) will be accepted
through the 29th. For more information, contact either Katherine King at
(206) 526-6145 or Becky Renko at (206) 526-6110.
INDIAN FISHERMEN WIN CONCESSIONS FROM
GOVERNMENT, CALL-OFF PROTEST ON DELHI - AT LEAST FOR
NOW: India's National Fisherworkers Forum (NFF) on 13 June called off
its proposed "Fishers Storm Delhi" after receiving assurances from the
Prime Minister that fishermen and fishworker grievances would be dealt
with. Those grievances included withdrawal of the Aquaculture Authority
Bill, curbs on fish imports, halt discrimination against women in the
fisheries, fully investigate the murder of a fishery activists and stop the
beatings of fishermen and fishworkers. If the grievances are not
adequately addressed the second phase of Fishers Storm Delhi will take
place with greater strength, according to NFF.
The delegation meeting with the Prime Minister consisted of Shri.
Harekrishna Debnath, (Chairperson, NFF), Shri. R.K.Patil (General
Secretary, NFF), Thomas Kocherry (Co-ordinator, WFF and member of the
Executive Committee, NFF) Ashok (Umbergaon), Susheela (Maharashtra),
K. Alaya (Orrissa), Premji bhai (Gujerat) , T.Peter (Kerala), VIncent
Jain(Tamil Nadu) and N.D. Koli (Maharashtra). Father Kocherry, is also
one of the leaders of the World Forum of Fish-Harvesters & Fish Workers
(WFF). Prof. Banwarilal Sharma, one of the founder members of National
Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM), Shrivastava, Vimal, (Convener,
NAPM) and others. addressed the gathering outside the Parliament house.
Earlier different parties, trade unions and peoples movements had visited
the Dharna Pandal to express their solidarity and support.
INTERNATIONAL MARINE DEBRIS CONFERENCE IN AUGUST:
The International Marine Debris Conference on derelict fishing gear and
the ocean environment will be held 6-11 August 2000 at the Hawaii
Convention Center in Honolulu, HI. The conference will address the
Pacific-wide problem of discarded fishing gear and its impacts on protected
and endangered species, coral reefs and the marine environment.
Senior officials from Pacific island and Pacific-rim nations, industry
representatives, scientists and non-governmental organizations attending
will be asked to make action recommendations on how to address the
problem. Though fishing gear is a very small part of overall marine debris,
the impact of "ghost nets" and other abandoned gear can be significant, and
commercial fishermen are participating in several programs to clean up
these problems. Fishing industry representatives particularly are
encouraged to attend. For further information see:
http://www.hihwnms.nos.noaa.gov or contact conference organizers at
(808)875-2317 or info at mauipacific.org.
MORE ON SNOWE BILL TO REAUTHORIZE THE MAGNUSON-
STEVENS ACT: In the last issue of Sublegals was a short response from
PCFFA's Zeke Grader to the Snowe bill introduced at the behest of the
National Fisheries Institute (NFI) and others to reauthorize the
Magnuson-Stevens Act. A house bill was introduced earlier in the year, the
Gilchrest-Farr Fisheries Recovery Act which is sponsored by a coalition of
sport and commercial fishermen's and conservation organizations aimed at
toughening the nation's main fisheries law (See Sublegals, 10 March 2000).
IFR has received, since last week two other responses to the introduction of
the Snowe bill. The first is from Rod Moore, the Executive Director of the
Portand-based Pacific Processors Association; the second is from Lee
Crockett, Executive Director of the Marine FishConservation Network.
"The most recent edition of Sublegals contained a long statement by
Zeke Grader under an insulting heading which mis-characterizes a
legislative proposal prepared by the Seafood Coalition, a large group of
individuals and associations in the seafood industry, representing all gear
types, big boats and small boats, recreational fishermen and processors,"
said Moore. "In regard to EFH [Essential Fish Habitat] in particular,
the Seafood Coalition does not do away with existing EFH determinations
or definitions, nor does it change the requirements in the law in regard to
salmon and other anadromous species. It does change the focus of EFH to
concentrate on those areas truly important to fish which should be
protected - which was the original intent of Congress until the federal
bureaucrats redefined EFH so that it includes the entire ocean. Even
NMFS has recognized that they screwed up and is now telling the Councils
to determine Habitat Areas of Particular Concern - exactly what the
Seafood Coalition bill does."
Lee Crockett in his remarks to Sublegals, stated, "Senator Olympia
Snowe (R-ME) is circulating draft legislation to reauthorize and amend the
Magnuson-Stevens Act. The draft bill contains many of the proposals
advocated by the seafood processing industry designed to rollback the
conservation provisions added to the Act by the Sustainable Fisheries Act
in 1996. These anti-conservation provisions are disguised in seemingly
benign terms, e.g., "best available science," "peer review," and "cumulative
impacts." While these provisions may seem benign, they will have
profound negative impacts on efforts to protect and restore our fisheries.
For example, everyone agrees that good science produces the best fisheries
management, but the Snowe proposal creates science standards that are
unreachable and requires the establishment of unnecessary committees and
duplicative reviews. Rather than improving management, it will just create
more opportunities for litigation. With regard to habitat protection, the
Snowe proposal requires the protection of only small subsets of what is
essential and then only for fish species that are overfished! Haven't we
learned anything from the sorry history of salmon on the west coast? The
time to protect fish habitat is before they get in trouble. These are just a
few of the anti-conservation measures in the Snowe proposal. Given the
fact that many of the nation's fisheries are getting worse rather than better,
now is not the time to weaken the conservation requirements of the
Magnuson-Stevens Act. Conservation minded fishermen like those in
the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations and the Cape Cod
Commercial Hook Fishermen's Association understand that the best way to
save fishermen is to save fish. When will the processors get it?"
CALL TO PROTECT AUSTRALIA'S SEAGRASS: In its April issue
of "R&D News," Australia's Fisheries Research & Development
Corporation has called for more research on links between finfish and
seagrass and understanding of the link between near-shore seagrass beds
and commercially-important fish species in other habitats. Australia's
seagrasses are the biggest and most diverse resource of their kind in the
world and are believed to play a critical role in fish productivity. A copy
of the report, "Seagrass in Australia: Strategic Review and Development of
an R&D Plan" can be viewed at: http://www:publish.csiro.au/seagrass.
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE PASSES OUT
MEASURE CALLING FOR REPORT ON POTENTIAL IMPACTS OF
GMO-SALMON IN THE WILD: On 13 June, the California Legislature's
Water, Parks & Wildlife Committee approved SCR 71 by Senator Tom
Hayden to require the State's Department of Fish & Game to do an
assessment and report to the Legislature on the potential impacts of
genetically-modified salmon on wild Pacific salmon stocks found in
California waters. The measure was supported by the Sierra Club and
PCFFA.
The legislation was sparked both by the news that genetically-modified
Atlantic salmon broodstock will be for sale to salmon farms this summer
(see Sublegals, 19 May 2000) and the announcement by the U.S. Food &
Drug Administration (FDA) last month to continue allowing the creation,
production, sale and consumption of genetically modified foods without
requiring any labeling.
PROPOSED TIDAL POWER DEVELOPMENT THREATENS
NORTH WALES DOVER SOLE SPAWNING GROUNDS: The 26 May
issue of the U.K. publication, Fishing News, reports that plans by a
Connecticut company, Tidal Electric, Inc., could threaten one of the largest
dover sole nursery areas in the Irish Sea. The proposed operation would
cover a significant part of the sole nursery on Rhyl Flats. For more
information from the company, go to: http://www.tidalelectric.com; to
review the article in Fishing News (p.5) visit the publication's website at:
http://www.fishingnews.co.uk.
CHANGE IN NATIONAL SEAFOOD MONTH: On 13 June,
Fishmonger.com reported that proposals are afoot to change the 40-year
old National Seafood Month from October to June. The June date is
currently used by the California Salmon Council as Salmon Month and has
proven successful, according to the Council in promoting outdoor grilling
of salmon, as well as other types of seafood. For a copy of the 13 June
report, go to: http://www.fishmonger.com/FMWeb.nsf/.
EXTENSION ON COMMENTS ON PROPOSED NET CLOSURES
OFFSHORE CALIFORNIA: The Southwest Region of the National
Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has announced a 45-day extension on
comments on its proposed rule to close the Huntington Flats area off San
Pedro in federal waters to drift gillnet operations. Comments were
originally called for by 19 June (see Sublegals, 19 May 2000). NMFS
proposal effectively only hits the Huntington Flats area, that supports about
35 fishing vessels out of San Pedro; the other areas proposed have been
closed by the State of California since the mid-1980's. The proposal to
close Huntington Flats has drawn a lot of ire since the net fishery in that
area is regarded as clean and the take of groundfish in gillnets is
insignificant, particularly when compared to the trawl harvest. For more
information, contact Svein Fougner at (202) 980-4040.
CANADIAN SALMON FARMS KILLING THOUSANDS OF SEA
LIONS: In an Associated Press story today, 16 June, the wire service
reports that salmon farmers in British Columbia have killed more than
5,000 sea lions and seals over the past 10 years in order to protect their sea
net pens. Among the dead, were an estimated 500 California sea lions and
300 endangered Steller sea lions. The killings reached a high point
earlier this year when 16 dead sea lions were discovered in a pit in the
Tofino area of the Clayoquot Biosphere Reserve. Some had been shot and
others had drowned after becoming caught in the fish-pen nets. According
to the reports 700 sea lions and seals were killed alone last year by British
Columbia salmon farmers. For more information see the Fishmonger.com
website at: http://www.fishmonger.com/FMWeb.nsf/.
GOT NEWS?: Submit news items to Molly Thomas, editor at:
ifrfish at aol.com or call the IFR office with the news and a source at either:
(415) 561-FISH (Southwest Office) or (541) 689-2000 (Northwest Office).
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