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~~>FISHLINK SUBLEGALS 3/2/01<~~
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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 3, NO. 9 2 MARCH 2001
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3:09/01. STOCK REPORTS ISSUED FOR PACIFIC SALMON:
The Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) has announced the
availability of its ocean salmon documents, including "Review of 2000
Ocean Salmon Fisheries," "Salmon Data Synopsis for 2000 Ocean
Salmon Fisheries," and "Preseason Report 1 - Stock Abundance
Analysis for 2001 Ocean Salmon Fisheries." These reports were
released on the eve of the PFMC's March Portland meeting where
season options for the 2001 ocean salmon season will be selected. These
options will then go out for public review, and a final recommendation
package by the PFMC, for submission to the National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), will be made at the Council's April meeting in San
Francisco. For copies of the above reports, contact the PFMC, 2130 SW
Fifth Avenue, Suite 224, Portland, OR 97201, Tel: (503) 326-6352 or go
to its website at: www.pcouncil.org .
3:09/02. NEAR RECORD DRY YEAR IN OREGON PUTS
SALMON AT RISK: On 1 March, The Oregonian reported the below-
normal snowpack in Oregon may make 2001 a year to rival or exceed
the worst year on record of 1977. In the Columbia Basin the snowpack
was at only 59 percent of average as of mid-February. However, since
1980 the population of Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana has
grown from less than 8.5 million to more than 11.2 million, putting far
more strain on limited water resources there today than in 1977. This
comes at a time of fragile electrical energy supplies due to California's
failed deregulation attempts, prompting calls to sacrifice salmon (see
Sublegals 3:03/05, 3:04/16, 3:06/01, 3:07/14 and 3:08/10). Go to:
http://www.oregonlive.com/printer2.ssf?/news/oregonian/01/03/
nw_51snow01.frame.
Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber has asked the Bush Administration to
provide $500 million more funding to Northwest and California emergency
salmon restoration efforts, roughly doubling current funding which comes
mostly from the cash-strapped Bonneville Power Administration (BPA).
Eric Bloch, a Kitzhaber appointee to the Northwest Power Planning
Council, noted that the additional funds were necessary to implement the
federal Columbia River salmon recovery plan adopted by the Clinton
Administration as the alternative to breaching several Snake River dams.
The Tribes have criticized the Bush Administration for failing to provide
necessary funds for recovery measures within the President's proposed
budget, although budget details remain sketchy. Salmon spending may
also be impaired by the size of the Administration's proposed tax cut. See:
http://www.oregonlive.com/printer2.ssf?/news/oregonian/01/02/
wr_31kitz27.frame.
3:09/03. WARNING ON SALMON RESTORATION'S MIDDLE-
AGE MALAISE: In his keynote address tomorrow, 3 March, to the
Salmon Restoration Federation's annual conference (see Sublegals,
3:08/06), PCFFA Executive Director Zeke Grader is warning against
restoration activists becoming complacent as restoration dollars have
increased. He warns that California's water shortage during normal and
dry years, and the current energy "crisis," threaten to undo 45 years of hard
work in the state restoring habitat and rebuilding fish populations. A copy
of the speech, "Salmon and Steelhead Restoration at Mid-Life: Where's the
Passion?," is available on PCFFA's website at: www.pcffa.org .
3:09/04. CALIFORNIANS OVERCHARGED MORE THAN $500
MILLION FOR ENERGY SAYS REPORT: The California Independent
System Operator (Cal-ISO), the state agency which operates the California
electricity grid, has concluded in a report that power dealers overcharged
the state's utilities at least $562 million above 'reasonable prices' and
precipitated the recent power crisis by price gouging, reports the 2 March
Los Angeles Times (see:http://www.latimes.com/print/asection/
20010302/t000018492.html ).
The power crisis has caused many political leaders to call for rolling
back important environmental protections, a move that would put the
whole region's salmon runs at risk The crisis, according to the ISO report,
was in fact partially manufactured to boost wholesale prices. The Cal-ISO
web page is at: http://www.caiso.com and the ISO can be reached at: PO
Box 639014, Folsom, CA 95630-9014, (916)351-4400. The report was
released yesterday, 1 March.
3:09/05. PACIFIC KING SALMON FEATURED IN AAA
TRAVEL PUBLICATION: The March/April issue of VIA, the bi-
monthly magazine of the California Automobile Association (AAA),
contains a feature article on wild Pacific coast chinook, "Savoring the West
- Long Live the King" (pp.57-58) with quotes from both biologists and
chefs about the efforts to restore chinook populations as well as how to
prepare the west coast's prized salmon. The article is at:
http://www.viamagazine.com/top_stories/articles/salmon01.htm.
3:09/06. DRAFT TILLAMOOK WATER PLAN OUT FOR
COMMENTS: One of Oregon's most important salmon producing
estuaries, Tillamook Bay, is due for a comprehensive water management
plan, now out for public comments which are due 2 April. Hard copies or
a CD-ROM version are available upon request by contacting Eric Nigg at
(503)229-5325 or Diane Eaton at (503)229-6756, and can be obtained on
the web at: http://waterquality.deq.state.or.us/wq/TMDLs/TMDLs.htm.
Though greatly depleted, the Tillamook Bay watershed is still the home of
Oregon's strongest remaining coastal wild salmon runs as well as some
good steelhead runs, but was greatly stressed by decades of clearcut
logging causing extensive landslides and then the massive Tillamook Burn
fires of the 1930' and 40's, from which it is only now recovering. Most of
the watershed is now public lands managed by the Oregon Board of
Forestry primarily for timber production. The Water Quality Management
Plan also has with it proposed numerical limitations on various pollutants,
called "total maximum daily loads" or "TMDLs," required by the Clean
Water Act for impaired waterways. Oregon, Washington and California
are all under court order to develop TMDLs after years of inaction.
Oregon's efforts are overseen by its Department of Environmental Quality
(DEQ).
3:09/07. LOWER COLUMBIA STEELHEAD RECOVERY
BOARD MAY BE EXTENDED, NET BOATS MAY GET
OBSERVERS: Yesterday, 1 March, The Oregonian reported State
Representative John Pennington (R-Carrolls) has introduced a bill in the
Washington Legislature (HB 1035) to extend the life of the Lower
Columbia Fish Recovery Board until 2006. The Board is responsible for
implementing the state's steelhead recovery efforts for several
southwestern Washington counties, but without additional legislation the
Board's authority sunsets in 2002. During the past couple of years the
Board has overseen more than $14.8 million in steelhead restoration
projects and has gotten high marks from agencies and landowners for its
science-based efforts to balance competing interests. The Board is
composed of tribal, agency, landowner, hydro and other interest group
representatives. The bill passed the House 98-0 on 22 February. For more
information see: http://www.oregonlive.com/printer2.ssf?/news/
oregonian/01/03/nw_51fish01.frame .
Another bill in the Washington Legislature (SB 5021) would prohibit
any future commercial salmon net fisheries in that state until "a
statistically
valid number of catch observers" could be placed on boats to collect data
on interception rates with salmon stocks listed under the federal
Endangered Species Act (ESA). This measure is now in the Senate
Committee on Natural Resources, Parks & Shorelines. One problem is that
observer programs have not as yet been funded. There are also a number
of other measures affecting salmon restoration efforts in that state
according to the bill index. Bill information from the Washington
Legislature can be found at: http://www.leg.wa.gov.
3:09/08. NEW US OBSERVER PROGRAM WEBSITE: The
National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), often criticized for giving too
little attention to data collection programs and smarting from several recent
court-imposed closures due to poor data, has established a national
observer program website, located at: http://www.st.nmfs.gov/st1/nop.
Observer programs are a crucial link in better fisheries management as well
as the 'early warning system' to help prevent fisheries collapses, but have
been at best poorly funded by Congress and receiving poor support from the
agencies. PCFFA has posted an extensive resource page on professional
fisheries observer programs internationally at:
http://www.pond.net/~pcffa/obs.htm. The Association of Professional
Observers (APO) website is at: http://www.tc.umn.edu/~puk/apo.html.
3:09/09. REMINDER - WEST COAST'S LARGEST
COMMERCIAL FISHING SWAP MEET SET FOR SATURDAY, 10
MARCH: The annual fishing gear swap meet sponsored by the Small Boat
Commercial Salmon Fishermen's Association - the biggest gear swap meet
on the coast - will be held on 10 March, beginning at 0800 HRS at the
Longshoremen & Warehousemen's Union Hall on 99 Hegenberger Road
in Oakland, California (see Sublegals, 3:05/03). For more information, go
to the SBCSFA website at: www.sbcsfa.com .
3:09/10. AQUACULTURE CAUSING DEPLETION OF WILD
FISH STOCKS?: At the American Association for the Advancement of
Science's (AAAS) annual meeting, held this year in San Francisco (see
Sublegals, 3:07/01), a group of scientists presented findings that farmed
fish and shellfish pose unexpected risks to wild species, as well as the
environments in which they are raised. On 21 February, the Environment
News Service (ENS) reported on the evidence presented by Dr. Daniel
Pauly of the University of British Columbia Fisheries Centre and other
researchers on the unintended impacts of aquaculture and its threat to
oceans and wild fish populations. Pauly's study, "Farming Up Marine
Food Webs," found that major sectors of aquaculture are "literally feeding
on world fisheries." His research shows that the increasing trend toward
farming carnivorous fish means many types of aquaculture are contributing
to a worldwide collapse of wild fisheries, reported Cat Lazaroff, in her
article, "Aquaculture May Be Fishing For Trouble" for ENS.
Pauly discovered that traditional aquaculture - farming fish that eat
plants and bottom muck - is being replaced by modern intensive farming
of large, carnivorous fish. Even in Asia, the ancient home of aquaculture,
vegetarian fish like tilapia and carp are now being fed fishmeal and fish oil
for faster weight gain and marketability. Production of a single pound of
fish eating species such as shrimp, salmon, tuna or cod demands two to five
pounds of wild caught fish that is processed into meal and oil for feeds. To
view the ENS article, go to: http://ens.lycos.com/ens/feb2001/2001L-02-
21-06.html. More information on sustainable fisheries is available at:
http://www.fao.org/fi/default.asp .
3:09/11. SCOTTISH INQUIRY INTO IMPACTS OF FISH
FARMING: As the British are reeling from the impacts of mad cow and
hoof-and-mouth disease, now comes word that the island nation may have
problems with its other feedlot red meat. The 16 February issue of Fishing
News (p.5), the U.K. trade publication, reports that two Scottish
parliamentary committees have recommended the establishment of an
independent inquiry into the "adverse environmental impacts of sea cage
fish farming." The call is for an inquiry to investigate: nutrient enrichment
of sea and freshwater lochs, and sheltered coastal waters; escapes of farmed
fish; the risk of transfer of infectious salmon anaemia to wild fish; the
transfer of sea lice to wild fish; the use of chemicals to control pest and
diseases; the interaction of fish farms with predatory wildlife (seals and
fish eating birds); and the visual impact of fish farms. To view the FN
article, go to: www.fishingnews.co.uk .
3:09/12. WHAT U.S. AGENCY WILL REGULATE TRANSGENIC
FISH?: The March/April issue of Mother Jones (p.19) contains a report
"Fish or Foul? Coming Soon to a Dinner Table Near You: DNA Filet"
regarding the issue of what U.S. agency or agencies will regulate
genetically modified fish (see Sublegals, 3:05/15). Currently, only the U.S.
Food & Drug Administration (FDA) is reviewing applications on whether
to permit the cultivation of fish with altered DNA. To view the article, go
to: www.motherjones.com .
3:09/13. PEW OCEANS COMMISSION RELEASES REPORT ON
OCEAN POLLUTION: On 27 February the Pew Oceans Commission
released the first of several reports on the state of the US oceans,
concluding that in spite of some gains most coastal areas are still at serious
risk from various sources of pollution and toxic runoff coming from
sources far inland. The Pew Oceans Commission is a private oceans policy
commission funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts and charged with
developing ocean protection recommendations for Congress and other
policy makers. Former New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman,
now head of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), was its Co-
Chair with former California Congressman Leon Panetta (now sole Chair).
PCFFA President Pietro Parravano is a Commission member. The full
report, "Marine Pollution in the United States: Significant
Accomplishments, Future Challenges," is on the Commission website at:
http://www.pewoceans.org .
3:09/14. CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE TO HEAR ANOTHER
RIGS-TO-REEFS BILL, NEW JERSEY NIXES DUMPING STREET
CARS IN OCEAN WATERS: SB 1, by California State Senator Dede
Alpert (D-San Diego), allowing oil companies to get out from under their
current legal obligations to remove old oil platforms and clean up the
seabed by toppling the rigs and leaving their debris on the ocean floor as
"fish reefs" will be heard on 2 April by the California Legislature's Senate
Natural Resources & Wildlife Committee. The bill is sponsored by
Chevron USA and supported by United Anglers of Southern California. It
is opposed by PCFFA, the Environmental Defense Center, Southern
California Trawlers Association and the Center for Marine Conservation
(CMC), among others. Last year a similar measure died in the California
Legislature (see Sublegals, 2:09/16). To view the bill, go to:
www.senate.ca.gov/.
Meanwhile, the Asbury Park Press reported on 17 February that New
Jersey environmental officials have turned down an offer to use
decommissioned New York City subway cars as artificial fishing reefs.
New York's MTA could save about $17 million in scrapping costs by
getting New Jersey and neighboring states to dump 1300 of its subway cars
in the ocean. In a 2 February letter to federal and state officials, the
National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) called for a prohibition on
using subway cars until a new assessment of possible environmental effects
is prepared. The plan to dump the subway cars to create recreational fishing
reefs has been opposed by Clean Ocean Action, which has objected to what
seemed to cross the line from reef-building into ocean disposal. There is
also opposition from commercial fishing groups.
3:09/15. LATEST REVIEW OF GLOBAL FISHERIES
RELEASED BY FAO: The March issue of Ocean Update, published by
SeaWeb, reports the United Nations' Food & Agriculture Organization
(FAO) has released its latest "World Review of Fisheries & Aquaculture."
The latest report found that global production from fisheries and
aquaculture for 1999 (the latest year reported) was 125 million tons, up
from 117 million tons in 1988 and 122 million tons in 1997. For more
information, go to: www.seaweb.org or to view the report online go to:
http://www.fao.org/DOCREP/003/X8002E/X8002E00.htm .
3:09/16. NEW PUBLICATIONS - HELVARG LOOKS AT
OCEANS: Author David Helvarg (The War Against the Greens) has
released his newest book looking at the myriad of threats to the oceans.
Published by W.H. Freeman &Company, the book, BLUE FRONTIER -
Saving America's Living Seas, explores the impact of history, commerce,
and policy on marine life. It looks at ocean research and development
since World War II, depleted fish stocks, invasive species, oil spills and
a host of other ocean issues. It will be available for $24.95 from your
local
independent book seller, Amazon.com, or directly from the publisher (plus
postage and handling) at: specialsales at whfreeman.com .
3:09/17. NMFS ISSUES NATIONAL PLAN FOR REDUCING
SEABIRD BYCATCH: On 28 February, the National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), published in the Federal Register (Vol. 66, No.40,
pp.12764-12766), announced the availability of the National Plan of Action
for the Reduction of Incidental Catch of Seabirds in Longline Fisheries
(NPOA-S). The plan is the result of the leadership of the North Pacific
Longline Association. The Institute for Fisheries Resources also maintains
a website on seabird bycatch reduction which can be viewed at:
www.ifrfish.org . The final version of the NPOA-S is now in effect and
available on the NMFS web site: http://www.nmfs.gov . Hard copies of the
document are available upon request. Requests for hard copies of the
NPOA-S should be sent to Steve Leathery, NOAA-Fisheries/SF3, Room
14434, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910. For more
information, contact Steve Leathery at: (301) 713-2341.
3:09/18. PACIFIC GROUNDFISH PRE-ASSESSMENT
WORKSHOP: The annual pre-assessment workshop for Pacific coast
groundfish will be held this year on 21-22 March in Portland, Oregon. The
primary goal of the workshop is to obtain input and comments on data-
related assessment issues (use of logbooks and surveys, estimates of
discards, etc.).
The workshop, which will be held in NMFS Regional Office in
Portland, is intended to allow stock groundfish stock assessment teams to
consider all data-related comments before beginning formal stock analyses.
The Wednesday, 21 March session begins at 1000 HRS. For additional
information, contact Cyreis Schmitt at: cyreis.schmitt at noaa.gov or contact
the PFMC, 2130 SW Fifth Avenue, Suite 224, Portland, OR 97201, Tel:
(503) 326-6352 or go to its website at: www.pcouncil.org .
3:09/19. RUSSIAN FISHERMEN GO TO COURT TO BLOCK
AUCTION, BORDER GUARDS SINK TRAWLER SUSPECTED OF
POACHING: Interfax reported on 23 February that fishermen in the
Russian Far East plan to file suit in the Russian Supreme Court to block the
selling of fishing quotas (see Sublegals, 3:08/20; 3:07/20; 3:05/04). The
fishermen reportedly believe that foreigners purchased 99 percent of the
quotas by proxy at the first auction earlier this month, even though the
Russian government explicitly prohibited foreigners from taking part in the
auctions up to now.
In the meantime, Reuters reported on 22 February that Russian border
guards, alerted by a U.S. reconnaissance plane, shot at and sank a Russian
trawler suspected of poaching after a day-long chase in the Northern
Pacific. A Russian border guard ship had taken aboard all 28 crew
members from the trawler, identified as Albatros-101, which had refused
orders to stop for its papers to be checked. The Russian Coast Guard
aircraft had fired at the trawler during the pursuit, setting it ablaze and
wounding an unknown number of crewmen. The incident happened near
the island of Shiashkotan, in the northern part of the Kurile chain, nearly
1,000 km (625 miles) north of Japan. The border guard ship with the
trawler crew aboard went into the Russian far eastern port of
Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.
According to the Reuters report, Russian trawlers routinely fail to
obtain licences, ignore catch quotas and tax rules and sell their illegal
catch
from Russian territorial waters in Japan or South Korea, a business that
Russian media say is worth an estimated $1 billion a year. Poachers often
ignore patrol boats' orders to stop and head for international waters. See:
http://www.insideworld.com/html/news_sources.html
3:09/20: SEA GRANT MARINE POLICY FELLOWSHIPS
ANNOUNCED: The University of California Sea Grant College Program
has announced the availability of two fellowship programs that are now
accepting applications. The first is the federal Knauss Marine Policy
Fellowship that places qualified graduate students in legislative or
executive branches of government in Washington, DC; the length of
assignment is one year, beginning between 15 January and 1 February.
The second is the California Sea Grant State Fellowship program that
places qualified graduate students in California legislative and
administrative offices. This fellowship also begins in mid-January to mid-
February of each year. The deadline for applying for the Knauss
fellowship is 2 April 2001; the deadline for applying for the California Sea
Grant Fellowship is 1 November 2001. For more information, contact
Shauna Oh, Marine Program Specialist at: shaunaoh at ucsd.edu/ .
3:09/21. NMFS ANNOUNCES AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS FOR
HABITAT RESTORATION PROJECTS: Today, 2 March, the National
Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) published in the Federal Register (Vol.
66, No. 42, pp.13043-13048) the availability of "Financial Assistance for
Community-based Habitat Restoration Projects." The intent of the notice
is to invite the public (including fishing groups) to submit proposals for
available funding to implement grass-roots habitat restoration projects that
will benefit living marine resources, including anadromous fish, under the
National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Community-
Based Restoration Program (CRP Program). This notice describes the
conditions under which applications (project proposals) will be accepted
under the CRP, and describes criteria under which applications will be
evaluated for funding consideration. Projects funded through the CRP will
be expected to have strong on-the-ground habitat restoration components
that provide educational and social benefits for people and their
communities in addition to long-term ecological habitat improvements for
NOAA trust resources. Proposals selected for funding through this
solicitation will be implemented through a project grant, cooperative
agreement, or interagency transfer.
Applications for funding under the CRP will be accepted upon
publication of the notice in the Federal Register and must be received by
or postmarked by 1 May 2001. No facsimile or electronic mail
applications will be accepted. Send applications to James P. Burgess,
Director, NOAA Restoration Center, National Marine Fisheries Service,
1315 East West Highway (F/HC3), Silver Spring, MD 20910-3282; ATTN:
CRP Project Applications. For more information, contact: Christopher D.
Doley or Robin J. Bruckner at: (301) 713-0174, or by e-mail at
Chris.Doley at noaa.gov or Robin.Bruckner at noaa.gov.
3:09/22. REMINDER - CALIFORNIA FISHERIES LEGISLATIVE
FORUM: The 29th Annual California Legislative Fisheries Forum will be
held Wednesday, 14 March, at the State Capitol in Sacramento (see
Sublegals, 3:08/01). This year's Forum will also mark the 25th
Anniversary of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations,
which was established at the 1976 Forum. For more information on the
Forum, contact Mary Morgan at: (916) 319-3823.
The PCFFA and IFR Boards will also be meeting in Sacramento around
the Forum. The PCFFA Board will meet aboard the Delta King on
Tuesday, 13 March. The IFR Board will meet on the morning of 14 March
at the State Legislative Office Building. For more information, contact
PCFFA at: (4154) 561-5080, or IFR at: (415) 561-3474.
NEWS, COMMENTS, CORRECTIONS: Submit your news items,
comments or any corrections to Natasha Benjamin, 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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