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~~>FISHLINK SUBLEGALS 9/29/00 (PART 2 of 2)<~~
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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 2, NO.13 29 SEPTEMBER 2000
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(THIS IS PART 2, CONTINUED FROM SUBLEGALS PART 1)
2:13/15. GORTON SALMON RIDER DEAD 'FOR NOW:' On 28
September, the Interior Appropriations Committee staff confirmed that the
infamous "salmon rider" offered by Senator Slade Gorton was dead, at least
for now, and has been pulled out of the Interior Appropriations funding bill
as a result of a widespread outcry from many Northwest representatives,
including Senator Patty Murray, Washington Representatives Dicks, Smith
and McDermott, and Oregon Representatives Wu, Blumenauer, Hooley and
DeFazio, who all roundly denounced the rider as dangerous and
counterproductive, calling it political posturing by Gorton. The Gorton rider
would have prohibited all federal agencies from even discussing or studying
the potential impacts of removal of the four lower Snake River dams,
including prohibiting them from studying possible mitigation measures or
alternatives to the current highly subsidized river transportation system (see
Sublegals 2:11/08). The Administration and many members of Congress
feared that Gorton's efforts to muzzle the agencies would have undercut the
Columbia River salmon recovery Biological Opinion before it was even
adopted, leaving chaos and eventual court supervision of the federal
hydropower system the only alternative. Gore campaign aides confirmed this
possibility, according to The Oregonian (28 September):
http://www.oregonlive.com/outdoors/index.ssf?/news/oregonian/
00/09/lc_51mcgin28.frame
2:13/16. NORTHWEST SALMONID RECOVERY WORKSHOPS:
An intensive 4-day workshop on the nuts and bolts of Northwest salmon
recovery is being put on by the Northwest Environmental Training Center on
October 24 - 27, 2000, 8 A.M. to 5 P.M. at the Mountaineers Conference
Center, 300 Third Avenue West, Seattle, WA 98119. Day long sessions will
cover habitat monitoring and restoration, and a field trip to nearby stream
restoration sites. For more information or to register go to:
http://www.nwetc.org/salmonid.htm or call NETC at: (206)352-1510.
The National Marine Fisheries Service, Northwest Region, is also
conducting 22 workshops in 12 cities in Oregon and Washington from
September through November, 2000. These workshops are designed to
educate Federal, state, regional, and local governments, watershed councils,
community groups and private citizens about the implementation of the
recent "4(d) Rules" at the local level. For more on these workshops and a
schedule and other workshop material, see:
http://www.nwr.noaa.gov/1salmon/salmesa/4ddocs/4dwsmain.html
2:13/17. COASTAL ZONE MANAGEMENT ACT BILL PASSES
SENATE: On 28 September, the US Senate approved a bill (S.1534) to
reauthorize the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA) which includes
crucial designated funding to control polluted runoff. As the 106th Congress
counts down its last few days, coastal states and citizens are calling on
House
lawmakers to pass identical legislation. Congressman Jim Saxton (R-NJ), a
House champion of efforts to control polluted runoff, said in a statement
following the Senate passage, "I hope the House will fast-track the Senate
bill in order to get it through this year. It's an improvement over current
law.
I encourage the House leadership to expedite the bill and get it to the
President's desk." The bi-partisan Senate Bill co-sponsored by Senators John
Kerry (D-MA), and Olympia Snowe (R-ME) passed by unanimous consent.
However, similar House legislation is mired in anti-environmental
amendments earlier this year which were inserted at the request of private
property rights and agribiz groups fighting non-point source pollution
controls and TMDLs. The Coastal Zone Management Act is the primary
federal law managing coastal areas around the United States. CZMA
controls nonpoint source pollution through the Coastal Nonpoint Pollution
Control Program, which provides critically needed funding to states which
have enforceable policies to control runoff as part of their CZMA coastal
management plans. For bill status see the Library of Congress THOMAS
website at: http://thomas.loc.gov.
2:13/18. INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON WOOD IN
WORLD RIVERS (23 OCTOBER, 2000): Hundreds of participants and
speakers from Europe, Asia, Africa and North America will be attending the
First International Conference on the Ecology and Management of Large
Wood in World Rivers, 23 October, 2000, in Corvallis, Oregon. The
conference will explore the links between the physical and ecological
dynamics of large wood in rivers, resource management systems, and the
communities and cultures in which they are applied. The conference website
is at: http://riverwood.orst.edu/schedule.html.
2:13/19. COMMENTS ON REVISED PUGET SOUND WATER
QUALITY MANAGEMENT PLAN DUE SOON: The Puget Sound Water
Quality Action Team is seeking comments through 6 November, 2000 on its
draft 2000 Puget Sound Water Quality Management Plan. The plan sets new
state strategies for protecting, restoring and enhancing Puget Sound waters.
The Plan is available at http://www.wa.gov/puget_sound where you can
comment online. If you need a printed copy, or a copy in an alternative
format, contact the Action Team at (800)547-6863. Written comments can be
submitted to: Puget Sound Water Quality Action Team, Attn: Steve Tilley,
Planning Manger, P.O. Box 40900 Olympia, WA 98504-0900, before 6
November.
2:13/20. PACIFIC GROUNDFISH MANAGEMENT TEAM
MEETING WEEK OF OCTOBER 3-6 TO SET QUOTAS FOR 2001:
The Pacific Fishery Management Council's Groundfish Management Team
(GMT) will be holding a working meeting, open to the public, from 3
October (beginning 8 AM) through 6 October, 2000, at the Council
Conference Room, 2130 SW fifth Avenue, Suite 224, Portland, OR. The
Council has been struggling with widespread groundfish declines and
draconian cutbacks in the west coast's overcapitalized groundfish fleet, and
is expected to come up with its final recommendations for the 2001 season
at this meeting. For more information go to the Council's web site at:
http://www.pcouncil.org or call them at: (503)326-6352.
2:13/21. PROPOSED GROUNDFISH OBSERVER PROGRAM
RULES OUT FOR COMMENT: NMFS proposes to amend the
regulations implementing the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management
Plan (FMP) to provide for an at-sea observation program on all limited entry
and open access catcher vessels. This proposed rule would require vessels in
the groundfish fishery to carry observers when notified by NMFS or its
designated agent; establish notification requirements for vessels that may be
required to carry observers, and establish responsibilities and define
prohibited actions for vessels that are required to carry observers. Send
comments to Donna Darm., Acting Administrator, Northwest Region,
NMFS, 7600 Sand Point Way N.E., BIN C15700, Bldg. 1, Seattle, WA
98115-0070. Comments also may be sent via facsimile (fax) to
206-526-6736. Comments will not be accepted if submitted via e-mail or
Internet. Comments on this proposed rule must be received by October 16,
2000. For further information contact: William L. Robinson, Northwest
Region, NMFS, 206-526-6140; fax: 206-526-6736 and e-mail:
bill.robinson at noaa.gov or Svein Fougner, Southwest Region, NMFS,
562-980-4000; fax: 562-980-4047 and e-mail: svein.fougner at noaa.gov .
This proposed rule also is accessible via the Internet at the Office of the
Federal Register's website at:
http://www.access.gpo.gov/su--docs/aces/aces140.html as Federal Register
for September 15, 2000 (Volume 65, Number 180), pages 55926-55927
[DOCID:fr15se00-15]. For information on the importance of observer
programs to fisheries management generally, see:
http://www.pond.net/~pcffa/obs.htm.
2:13/22. SCIENTISTS AT A LOSS AS TO WHY RED TIDE
DANGER INCREASING: The 13 September issue of The Oregonian
reports that in recent years, devastating outbreaks or "red tide" blooms of
algae have become longer, more intense and widespread. For instance, red
tides, so called because the algae blooms can tint the water red, were once
restricted to warm summer months in northern Puget Sound, but are now
causing beach closures in other areas, often through the winter, causing
paralytic poisoning in humans eating exposed shellfish which can be fatal.
Toxic algae that causes shellfish poisoning has been spreading so rapidly, the
federal government recently launched a $40 million project to study the
single-celled plants, mostly on the East Coast and Gulf of Mexico.
Washington state received $300,000 as part of the project. Scientists are
unable to explain why red tide and other marine toxins are increasing in the
Northwest and around the nation. The algae blooms are devastating to local
coastal economies. Nationwide, the economic loss due to toxic algae is
nearly $50 million, said Don Anderson, a Woods Hole Oceanographic
Institution researcher who is leading the federal project. Climate shifts may
play a role, but scientists aren't sure how. Some experts suspect that
increased ocean traffic may also be spreading algae all around the globe. For
more information see:
http://www.oregonlive.com/outdoors/index.ssf?/news/oregonian/
00/09/nw_41tide13.frame.
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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