Fisheries and Conservation News from the Pacific
Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations and the Insititute
for Fisheries Resources
PLEASE REPOST TO YOUR NETWORKS
========================================================
Dear friends.....
We have heard strong indications that Ted Stevens and Bob Livingston
(Appropriations Chairmen of the Senate and House respectively) are planning a
Commerce Budget Appropriations rider to defund or severely limit Congressional
funding of the EFH process, and/or restrict it ONLY to marine environments.
This would make it impossible to protect Pacific salmon inland habitat or to
prevent losses to estuary dependent species due to upriver habitat
destruction.
This is very alarming, and to try to head it off we have drafted and are
circulating a letter from the commercial fishing industry blasting this idea.
If there are any commercial fishing organizations on this list that wish to
sign on, contact: Zeke Grader, PCFFA Southwest Office, (415)561-5080, Fax:
(415)561-5464 RIGHT AWAY. Markup starts June 17th or so, which means the
letter must be sent early next week to have impact.
If you email your organization's sign-on, please send it to:
<fish4ifr at aol.com> and Cc to: <fish1ifr at aol.com>
A copy of our draft letter follows. Feel free to craft your own letter
as well along similar lines -- the more response the better.
--- Glen Spain for PCFFA
==========================================================
Senator Ted Stevens, Chairman
Senate Appropriations Committee
Room S-128, U.S. Capitol Building
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
Representative Bob Livingston, Chairman
House Appropriations Committee
Room H-218, U.S. Capitol Building
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
"[O]ver the long term [nearshore ocean and estuary fishery
habitat] loss is probably the greatest threat to marine fishery
productivity throughout the United States.... Fisheries management
will be moot if habitat loss and degradation destroys the
productive potential and the qualify of our living marine
resources."
"The increasing loss of fish habitat, to pollution, unwise
development and other human activities, is the single largest
long-term threat to the future viability of the marine fisheries of the
United States Protection of habitat is the cheapest investment the
nation can make to sustain productive fisheries "
RE: Essential Fish Habitat provisions of the Sustainable Fisheries Act
Dear Sirs:
On behalf of PCFFA, as the largest organization of commercial fishermen
on the west coast, with member associations from San Diego to Alaska, and
as commercial fishing organizations whose members provide hundred of
thousands of American jobs and tens of billions of dollars to the U.S.
economy every years, we are opposed to any effort to defund, limit or
terminate the current Regional Fisheries Management Council programs
to designate essential fish habitat under the Sustainable Fisheries Act.
It is rumored that such a rider is being contemplated. This would be a
terrible mistake, a breach of faith with the hard working men and women of
the commercial fishing industry, and would lead to more American jobs
perhaps irrevocably lost as a result of continuing habitat loss in all the
nation's coastal watersheds, estuaries and near shore fish spawning
and nursery areas.
Three quarters of the nation's $152 billion/year fisheries depends
directly on the biological health of estuaries, marshes and other
fragile coastal habitats, including, for some species such as
Pacific salmon, impacts far up into coastal watersheds. If there
is to be a commercial fishing industry in the U.S., these fragile
habitats -- the nursery beds for so many economically valuable
resources -- must be protected. Weak as it is, the "essential
fish habitat" provisions of the Sustainable Fisheries Act are the
only tool currently available to fisheries managers to try to assure
that "essential fish habitat" is at least designated and that federal
agencies take that designation into account so that
fish continue to be produced at all. As it is, past habitat losses
have cost our industry an estimated 536,000 jobs and
cost the U.S. economy $27 billion/year. With proper attention,
these losses can be reversed and these jobs regained. The
"essential fish habitat" designation is one of the few
tools as yet available to help restore and protect this economic
wealth.
On behalf of the hard working men and women of this nation's
commercial fishing fleets, we urge your continued support for the
"essential fish habitat" provisions of the Sustainable Fisheries Act. The
nation's fishing economy and the economic fate of over two millions
American fishing-dependent jobs is too important to leave to chance. Habitat
protection consultation provisions such as that afforded by the "essential
fish habitat" provisions of the Sustainable Fisheries Act, although they are
exceedingly weak, are nevertheless a step in the right direction of protecting
the sources from which all marine wealth comes.
Sincerely
(The following organizations)
##################################################################
There should also be other letters, for instance from our sportfishing
industry allies and others. If you want our signup, contact me directly by
phone, fax or email as follows:
Glen Spain, Northwest Regional Director
Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations
PO Box 11170, Eugene, OR 97440-3370
(541)689-2000 FAX: (541)689-2500
E-mail <fish1ifr at aol.com>
I promise a quick turnaround on signup consents. --- Glen Spain for PCFFA
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------
ALSO ENCLOSED BELOW IS AN ACTION ALERT JUST RECEIVED FROM THE AMERICAN OCEANS
CAMPAIGN FROM WASHINGTON DC CONFIRMING OUR WORST FEARS. PLEASE TAKE ACTION ON
OUR LETTER OR CONTACT YOUR MEMBERS OF CONGRESS SEPARATELY BY 6/17/98. TIME IS
SHORT.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------
ACTION ALERT!!!
CALL YOUR SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES NOW AND URGE THEM NOT TO REPEAL,
WEAKEN, OR ELIMINATE FUNDING FOR THE MANDATE TO PROTECT FISH HABITAT!!
The future of fish habitat protection is in danger. A well-orchestrated
industry-led campaign is currently attacking the only existing mandate
devoted to the protection and restoration of fish habitat. These timber,
ranching, mining, construction, hydropower and other industry groups are
waging a war against our treasured public fishery resources in order to
advance their short-term economic gain. And they're getting attention in
Congress. We need to fight back!
We understand that members of Congress are planning to repeal, weaken or
eliminate funding for fish habitat protection provisions of the
Magnuson-Stevens Act during this year's annual funding process. They plan
to add these amendments to the Commerce, Justice, State appropriations bill.
Rumors are flying about the myriad of destructive amendments that may show
up. Congress may repeal the essential fish habitat protection provisions
altogether. The definition of fish habitat may be changed so that it
doesn't include near shore and coastal habitats such as sea grasses, mud
flats, tide pools and coral reefs within three miles of the coast. Review
of activities that affect habitat may be limited to only those activities
that are fishing related; or Congress may just refuse to give NMFS any money
to carry out this mandate.
Contact your Senators and Representatives NOW and urge them to fight against
any attempts to eliminate or weaken standards to protect habitat defined as
those areas needed by fish to spawn, feed, breed, and grow to maturity.
Anti-environmental riders on funding bills are a sneak attack on the
environment that must be stopped.
Background
Fisheries around the U.S. are trapped in a state of decline due to habitat
destruction, overfishing, and excessive waste (bycatch). Congress
overwhelmingly passed the essential fish habitat mandate as part of the 1996
reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management
Act because they recognized the critical link between healthy habitats and
the future of fisheries. Congress themselves call the continuing loss of
habitats, "one of the greatest long-term threats to the viability of
conmmercial and recreational fisheries." Providing effective habitat
protection for fish would increase populations of marine fish and shellfish
that would provide the basis for an estimated $27 billion increase in
economic activity and 536,000 jobs from improved commercial and recerational
fishing.
Call, fax, mail, visit, or e-mail your Members of Congress and urge them not
to go back on their word. Ask them if they'd like to continue to eat fish
in the future. If they answer "yes," tell them they must then use their
power to continue to protect fish habitats.
To find out how to contact your Members of Congress, contact the U.S.
Capitol switchboard at 202-224- 3121, or write to them at the following
addresses:
For U.S. Senators: For U.S. Representatives:
The Honorable (full name) The Honorable (full name)
United States Senate United States House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20510 Washington, DC 20515
For more information, contact Tanya Dobrzynski at 202-544-3526 or
aoctd at wizard.net.
***************************************************************************
This message was sent by Tanya Dobrzynski, Coordinator of AOC-FishLink.
AOC-FishLink is a communication network hosted by American Oceans Campaign.
****************************************************************************
#########################################################
To subscribe to FishLink News Service contact us at <fish1ifr at aol.com>
with your request for a free subscription. It is helpful if you also include
your name and state of location for purposes of our regional lists. All
subscribers receive monthly fisheries news summaries as well as periodic
alerts. If you are receiving this as a subscriber, please feel free to pass
this
on to your colleagues. Thanks! -- The Editor (Glen Spain)