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~~>FISHLINK SUBLEGALS 5/26/00<~~
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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. 21 26 May 2000
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PEW CHARITABLE TRUSTS ESTABLISHES OCEAN
COMMISSION, PANETTA AND WHITMAN NAMED TO LEAD,
PARRAVANO NAMED FISHING REPRESENTATIVE ON PANEL:
On Wednesday, 24 May, The Pew Charitable Trusts, one of the nation's
largest charitable foundations, announced the creation of the first
blue-ribbon oceans commission in the U.S. since the Stratton Commission
of the late 1960's. It was on the basis of one of the recommendations of
the Stratton Commission, a government appointed panel, that the National
Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) was established as a
"wet NASA, combining many ocean activities, including the old Bureau
of Commercial Fisheries and the marine side of recreational fisheries, and
the U.S. Weather Service into a type of "super agency." NOAA was
originally headed for the Department of Interior before President Nixon
wrangled with his Interior Secretary Walter Hickel and the agency ended
up in Commerce.
Apparently tired of waiting for Congress to establish a new oceans
commission, the foundation took it upon itself to establish its Pew Oceans
Commission. It will be headed by New Jersey Governor Christine Todd
Whitman and former California Congressman and White House Chief of
Staff, Leon Panetta. PCFFA President Pietro Parravano was named as one
of two fishing industry representatives on the new commission, along with
Pat White of the Maine Lobsterman's Association. Other west coast
members named to the Commission include: Dr. Jane Lubchenco,
Professor of Marine Biology at Oregon State and former president of the
American Association for the Advancement of Science, Governor Tony
Knowles of Alaska, Ms. Julie Packard of the Monterey Bay Aquarium,
and Dr. Charles Kennel of Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
The Commission is intended as a two-year initiative to assess status,
gauge potential economic impacts, and identify solutions to sustain
biodiversity in America's ocean waters. It will hold regional hearings and
issue several reports, before delivering a final set of recommendations to
Congress in early 2002. For more information visit the Pew website at:
http://www.pewoceans.org.
BILLS ATTACK DAM RELICENSING ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTIONS: The Subcommittee on Water and Power of the Senate
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources held a hearing 23 May on
S. 740 in Washington, DC. The bill, authored by Senator Larry Craig and
touted as a "regulatory simplification bill," would in fact strip the National
Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), the United States Fish and Wildlife
Service (USFWS) and other federal environmental agencies of their power
to precondition dam licenses on fish and wildlife protections. David
Hayes, Deputy Secretary of the Interior, testified that any streamlining
that needs to be done can and is being done administratively, and that
"rather than contributing to these efforts to improve hydropower
relicensing, we believe that S. 740, as written, would interfere with the
Department's responsibilities under the Federal Power Act, add multiple
delays to the relicensing process, and make the Department's involvement
in Federal Power Act licensing procedures unworkable." Columbia River
Inter-Tribal Fish Commission Secretary Randy Settler called it "nothing
more than a natural resource bill disguised as an energy bill." A similar
bill in the House (H.R. 2335) is moving rapidly, has been reported to the
full Commerce Committee and has 36 co-sponsors. For an analysis of
these two bills, see: http://www.amrivers.org/craig2-action.html.
5 JUNE 2000 DECLARED UMBERGAON DAY IN PROTEST: The
fishing village Umbergaon is a natural harbor on the coast of India. It has
been a sustainable fishery for about 100,000 fishing men and women for
centuries, but now this area is under consideration by two big Power
Companies, UNOCAL and BSES, as the site of a new port. In recent
years plans to build a port not far from Umbergaon were canceled based
on a comprehensive assessment of present levels of port traffic, as well as
estimates for the future, which indicated that a new port would not be
needed in the area for years to come. Furthermore, in a recent judgement
of the Supreme Court of India "the apex court had, in a series of
judgements, widened the scope of right to life under the Constitution.
Any disturbance to the air, water, and soil come under right to life."
Unfortunately, the lure of development has lead to some very
undemocratic behavior on the part of the local government-run police
force of Gujarat. The police used force to survey the area for the
developers, arresting community leaders, beating up 47 people and
terminally injuring one man. The people of Umbergaon protested the
police brutality, but as of yet the Government of Gujarat has taken no
actions against the police. For more information contact Thomas
Kocherry, the coordinator for the World Forum of Fish-harvesters and
fishworkers at nff at vsnl.com.
PCFFA TESTIFIES ON SALMON FUNDING BILL: On 18 May
PCFFA's Glen Spain testified to the Subcommittee on Fisheries
Conservation, Wildlife and Oceans of the House Resources Committee on
the pressing need not only for federal funding for salmon habitat
restoration but also for accountability standards to make sure those funds
are well spent. Rep. Thompson has introduced H.R. 2798, which would
formally authorize $100 million/year for two years to be dedicated to
salmon habitat restoration funding in California, Oregon, Washington and
Alaska. Currently these funds are included in the Administration's budget,
but their fate is uncertain in the Congressional appropriations process. The
bill was introduced to bring more policy certainty to the annual process of
obtaining these funds, and is supported by PCFFA in principle but with
suggested changes. Currently the bill has 58 co-sponsors. Particularly of
concern to PCFFA is the lack of any comprehensive salmon recovery plan
in California, and also the push by Sonoma County for these funds to be
turned directly over to the counties as block grants without any assurance
that these funds will be used to fund projects making biological sense for
salmon. PCFFA also believes that any authorizing bill should be for a
longer term (10 years) and that there must be clear guidelines in the bill
language to assure the funds are well spent. PCFFA's testimony can be
obtained from the PCFFA website at http://www.pond.net/~pcffa.
BOARD OF FORESTRY HOLDS PUBLIC HEARING ON NEW
RULES FOR FOREST MANAGEMENT: Two months ago, Governor
Davis' Board of Forestry adopted a package of logging rules that lack
adequate habitat protections. The California Board of Forestry, the
regulatory body responsible for managing state and private forestlands,
will meet in Sacramento on 5, 6 and 7 June to discuss changes to existing
logging rules. Proposed language changes to date do little more than
perpetuate the status quo, which so far has been bad for habitat and bad
for fish. The meeting will be held in the Auditorium of the Resources
Building, Sacramento, CA. An Interim Committee meeting will be held
on 5 June 8:00 A.M. and a Public Comment session to the full Board on 7
June 8:00 A.M. For more information, please call Alex Rate at the Sierra
Club, (510)622-0290 x230.
MARINE PROTECTED AREA PLAN UNVEILED IN
WASHINGTON D.C. TODAY: President Bill Clinton announced his plan
to create permanent Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) for critical habitat
such as coral reefs today. These areas would be comparable to Wilderness
Areas on land, in that they would be protected from all commercial
activities. The plan also mandates the Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) to impose stricter water quality standards on waters within 200
miles of the U.S. shores. The plan would give Commerce and Interior
departments 3 months in which to develop a plan to protect the reefs
surrounding the northwest Hawaiian Islands. For more information go to
the L.A. Times' website at: http://www.latimes.com/news/science/
environ/20000526/t000049828.html .
INTERNATIONAL OCEAN SCIENCE DAY, OCEAN POLICY
DEVELOPMENT DAY SET FOR MID-JULY IN MONTEREY: The
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in
conjunction with the IUCN and the Curtis & Edith Munson Foundation
will host the International Ocean Science Day on 17 July in Monterey,
California. The purpose of the science day is to compile and evaluate
information to help develop legislation on three topics: 1) fisheries, 2)
pollution and health, and 3) gas hydrates - implications for energy, climate
and ecosystems. The following day, on the 18th, the U.S. House of
Representatives' Ocean Caucus will host Ocean Policy Development Day.
Caucus members will hear presentations on marine protected areas,
non-point source pollution, ocean security, and ocean governance. An
Oceans Fair will follow the Caucus hearings.
SHIPPING LANE CHANGE OUT OF GOLDEN GATE
THREATENS FARALLON ISLANDS, WATERS OF GULF OF
FARALLONES NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARY: A change in
vessel shipping lanes running in and out of the Golden Gate and San
Francisco Bay will place outgoing ships on a southerly and westerly
course in a direct collusion course with the Farallon Islands, some thirty
miles west of San Francisco Bay. The change in shipping lanes intended
to move marine traffic further offshore the central California coast was
negotiated by the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary and some
environmental organizations, despite protests from the fishing industry
and Gulf of the Farallones authorities. These groups supported a change
but had asked that the lanes be moved slightly to the south to avoid a
direct line with the islands. The change in shipping lanes was approved
this week in London by the International Maritime Organization (IMO)
and the Monterey Sanctuary is intending a "rollout" within the next two
weeks celebrating the change. For more information, e-mail the IMO at:
info at imo.org.
THIRD WORLD FISHERIES CONGRESS SET FOR THE FALL IN
BEIJING: The third World Fisheries Congress will be held this year, from
31 October to 3 November, in Beijing. This years sessions will include:
fish farming, aquafood, information technology, coastal zone
management, social and economic dimensions of fisheries, technology on
impacts of fisheries production, biodiversity and fisheries production, and
paradigm shifts in fisheries management, assessment and policy. For
more information or a registration form, contact the China Society of
Fisheries/Congress at: http://www.fisheries.moa.gov.cn.
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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