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Fisheries and Conservation News
from the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations
and the Insititute for Fisheries Resources
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IN THIS ISSUE:
CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE SUMMARY OF SALMON
NEWS FOR APRIL AND MAY
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BUT FIRST -- QUOTABLE QUOTES:
"The environment is Man's first right. Without a safe environment,
Man cannot exist to claim other rights, be they political, social or
economic."
-- Written statement by African environmental activist
Ken Saro-Wigu (1995) smuggled out of prison shortly
before his execution by a corrupt Nigerian government for
protests against major oil company exploitation of his people.
"You can buy salmon in any grocery store - fresh, frozen or
canned ... it does seem strange to me that we have Chinook
and Sockeye salmon on the endangered specie [sic] list."
--Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT), floor speech on the Reid
Amendment, March 12, 1996.
"I always cheer up immensely if an attack is particularly
wounding because I think, well, if they attack one personally,
it means they have not a single political argument left."
--Margaret Thatcher, _London Daily Telegraph_ (1986).
"Whenever there is a conflict between human rights and property
rights, human rights must prevail."
--Abraham Lincoln, (Quoted in Congressional Record,
May 12, 1944)
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CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE SUMMARY OF SALMON
NEWS FOR APRIL AND MAY
>From the Editor: The Congressional Research Service provides members of
Congress with summaries of all significant news stories or news items about
fishing and marine resources. These excellent summaries are produced by
Gene Buck weekly and then compiled into monthly summaries. Here are the
summaries for the months of April and May. These monthly summaries will
be carried as a regular feature of this newsletter. We regret any cross
postings.
Archived copies of the longer monthly summaries for
February 1994 through the present are now available at
"http://www.lsu.edu/guests/sglegal/public_html/" . Comments or
corrections should be addressed to:
Gene Buck, Senior Analyst
Congressional Research Service
e-mail: <gbuck at crs.loc.gov>
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APRIL SUMMARY OF SALMON NEWS
.
Canadian Aboriginal Fisheries Lawsuit. In early April 1996, three
fishermen filed a lawsuit against the Canadian government on behalf of all
British Columbia salmon and herring commercial fishermen, charging
mismanagement of salmon stocks and seeking to declare current aboriginal
fishing policy unconstitutional and to recover damages. [Assoc Press]
.
Oregon Irrigation Lawsuit. On Apr. 10, 1996, WaterWatch, Oregon
Trout, and the Northwest Environmental Defense Center filed a lawsuit in
Marion County Circuit Court charging that the State of Oregon' Dept. of Water
Resources granted one-year extensions of nine permits allowing Boeing
Agri-Industrial irrigators to draw excessive water from the McNary Dam
reservoir on the Columbia River, potentially threatening salmon restoration.
[Assoc Press]
.
Alaska Sport Fishing Initiative. On Apr. 5, 1996, Alaska Superior
Court Judge Larry Weeks rejected a bid by commercial fishermen to remove a
sport fishing initiative from the November 1996 election ballot for violating
the
Alaska State Constitution by appropriating public assets via the ballot box.
The initiative would require that as much as 5% of the State's projected
salmon catch be reserved each year for sport anglers. [Assoc Press]
.
Low SE Alaska Winter Chinook Catch. By early April 1996, the
winter chinook salmon catch in SE Alaska was reported by Alaska Dept. of
Fish and Game managers to be falling short of its 45,000 fish cap. Only
7,200
fish have been taken, possibly due to severe winter weather and low fish
prices, with the season closing Apr. 14. [Assoc Press]
.
Columbia Salmon Downstream Migration. In early April 1996,
NMFS managers announced that high water conditions in the Columbia and
Snake River basins indicate a 50-50 split between downstream barging and
natural migration will be adopted for juvenile salmon this spring. In 1995,
between 70% and 78% of downstream migrating juvenile salmon were barged.
A total of about 250,000 wild sockeye, spring-summer chinook, and fall
chinook juveniles are anticipated to migrate downstream this year compared
to about 1 million juveniles last year. [Assoc Press]
.
WA Salmon Habitat Initiative. In late March 1996, a Marine Waters
and Salmon Habitat Protection initiative petition was filed with the
Washington
Secretary of State. If approved, petitioners would have to obtain 181,667
signatures of registered voters by the end of 1996 to put the proposal before
the 1997 State legislature. The initiative proposes an independent citizen
board to monitor Puget Sound water quality; double current funding for Puget
Sound water quality management activities; increase protection for Gray's
Harbor, Willapa Bay and the Lower Columbia River estuary; increase oil spill
prevention funding; reduce property taxes of landowners who protect and
restore salmon habitat; and ban offshore oil and gas exploration. [Assoc
Press]
.
Clinton FY1997 Budget. On Mar. 19, 1996, the Administration's
FY1997 budget was released, proposing $107 million for the Corps of
Engineers to construct and improve juvenile fish bypass facilities at eight
Corps dams on the Columbia and Snake Rivers. This is a $28 million
increase over FY1996 expenditures, and includes $4.7 million to build 3 new
fish transportation barges and $13.2 million for installing spillway
deflection
devices to dissipate dissolved gases at the base of dam spillways. No funds
are proposed for continuing to study reservoir drawdown. A three-year Corps
initiative proposes $111 million to remove two dams and restore Washington's
Elwha River. Proposed Bonneville Power Administration funding for fish and
wildlife programs during FY1997 totals about $419 million. [FY1997 Budget,
Seattle Post-Intelligencer and Portland Oregonian via Greenwire, Corps of
Engineers press release, NPPC press release]
MAY SUMMARY OF SALMON NEWS
.
{Whitewater Rafting Restrictions. On May 1, 1996, U.S. Forest
Service officials in the Sawtooth National Forest announced new restrictions
for rafters and private boaters on the upper Salmon River, ID, beginning in
August 1996. Rafters and boaters will be required to carry their craft
around
selected salmon spawning areas. In 1995, three dozen salmon were reported
to have spawned in the stretch of river used by 11,000 floaters. Camping
along the river will also be restricted to designated sites.} [Assoc Press]
.
{Alaska Joins Columbia River Lawsuit. On Apr. 26, 1996, Alaska
officials announced that they had filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the
March
1996 lawsuit brought by Pacific Northwest fishing and environmental groups
charging that the NMFS, Army Corps of Engineers, and Bureau of
Reclamation are violating the Endangered Species Act by failing to operate
Columbia and lower Snake River dams in a manner that will assure salmon
survival.} [Assoc Press]
.
{USDA Salmon Purchases. On Apr. 25, 1996, both the House and
Senate approved the conference report on H.R. 3019, the 1996 Balanced
Budget Downpayment Act, containing an amendment removing a requirement
that canned salmon purchased by USDA must be packed under a voluntary
inspection program.} [Congr. Record, Assoc Press]
.
{Sacramento Delta Pumping Reduction. In mid-April 1996, the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service ordered water pumped from the Sacramento-San
Joaquin Delta to be reduced from 10,000 cubic-feet-per-second (cfs) to 1,500
cfs after pumping was determined to have exceeded the allowable kill of
migrating endangered juvenile winter-run chinook salmon.} [Assoc Press]
.
NPPC Salmon Report. On Apr. 24, 1996, a nine-member Independent
Scientific Group delivered a 300+-page preliminary report to the Northwest
Power Planning Council (NPPC) entitled "The Normative River: An Ecological
Vision for the Recovery of Columbia River Salmon." The report concluded that
habitat restoration is of crucial concern; the river needs to be operated as
close to natural conditions as is possible with some reservoir drawdowns and
periodic flood scouring. Hatcheries should be de-emphasized, and if
recommendations are followed, barging of juvenile fish should not be
necessary. The final report is to be delivered to the NPPC in June 1996, and
then offered for peer review. [Assoc Press, NPPC press release]
.
Yukon River Salmon Agreement. On Apr. 16-18, 1996, the Yukon
River Panel met for the first time to begin work on restoration and
rebuilding of
Canadian salmon for the benefit of Alaskan and Yukon fishers. The Panel was
created by the February 1995 Interim Yukon River Salmon Agreement,
negotiated under the U.S.-Canada Pacific Salmon Treaty. The Panel agreed
to the first six years of a rebuilding plan for Canadian chinook salmon.
[Dept.
of Fisheries and Oceans press release]
.
Gas Bubble Trauma. On Apr. 16, 1996, about 32% of juvenile salmon
checked downstream of Lower Granite Dam in Washington State were
reported to show signs of gas bubble trauma. 7% were reported to show
severe trauma. Critics blamed problems on delay of an $11.5 million
experimental surface collector fish bypass system at the dam, which was due
to be installed by Apr. 1, 1996. With three of six turbines at Lower Granite
Dam shut down for installation, dissolved nitrogen levels soared as high as
139% saturated, far above safe levels during the uncontrolled spill of water.
In
addition, the high volume of spring runoff was reported to have created an
eddy
below the day which prevented juvenile salmon from easily escaping
gas-supersaturated waters. Spills at Lower Granite Dam were reduced from
100,000 cubic-feet-per-second (cfs) to 40,000 cfs on Apr. 17 when outflow at
Brownlee Dam upstream was reduced. The bypass installation at Lower
Granite dam was to have been completed by Apr. 22. On Apr. 19, 1996,
approximately 70% of juvenile salmon observed at Little Goose Dam
(downstream from Lower Granite Dam) showed signs of gas bubble trauma.
{Installation of the collector was completed Apr. 23, 1996, with the first
phase
of preliminary testing to be completed Apr. 27 and dam operation to be
modified beginning Apr. 28. On Apr. 25, 1996, flows of 180,000 cfs were
measured at Lower Granite Dam, with nitrogen saturation levels of 140%
reached at Ice Harbor Dam.} [Assoc Press]
.
Salmon Market Glut. On Apr. 17, 1996, Alaska Governor Tony
Knowles' Salmon Industry Response Cabinet met to consider a draft plan to
assist commercial salmon fishers and processors in the face of a worldwide
salmon market glut and low salmon prices, stimulated by increasing supply of
farmed salmon. On Apr. 21, 1996, the North Pacific Fishery Management
Council delayed the start of the pollock "B" season in the Bering Sea and
Aleutian Islands from Aug. 15 to Sept. 1 to make more processing capacity
available for salmon. Advocates of this change also contend that larger
pollock caught in the later season will increase the value of the pollock
fishery
and decrease discards. Critics fear dangerous weather conditions in the
later
pollock season. [Assoc Press]
.
Kenai River Habitat Protection. On Apr. 16, 1996, the Kenai
Peninsula Borough Assembly voted 5-4 to approve a habitat-protection plan for
the Kenai River, prohibiting development and certain other activities on
private
land within 50 feet of the River. However, approval is to be reconsidered on
Apr. 22, 1996. On Apr. 19-21, 1996, the Nature Conservancy sponsored a
forum on Kenai River habitat protection concerns held in Kenai, AK. On Apr.
22, 1996, the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly voted 6-3, upon
reconsideration, to approve a habitat-protection for the Kenai River. {In
early
May 1996, state and federal managers announced that 15 areas of about 16
miles of river bank, most on public lands, would be closed to fishing from
July
1 through Sept. 15 this summer.} [Assoc Press]
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This newsletter is intended to be a summary of information related to
the conservation and restoration of the Pacific west coast fishery. Its aim
is to become an environmental and conservation alert newsletter for the
commercial and sportfishing industry as well as allied "fish folk" in various
conservation organizations, agencies and Tribal governments active on
salmon and other fisheries protection issues.
As fishermen we are the stewards of the fisheries -- it is up to us to
take the lead in protecting our irreplaceable biological resources. If we
don't speak for the fish, who will?
This on-line newsletter is free. In addition to "FishLink News" we also
publish a regular hardcopy newsletter designed for fish-activists, called
"THE FRIDAY," which comes out by first class mail every two weeks. If
you would like to subscribe to THE FRIDAY as well, please feel free to do
so for $35/year, sent to PCFFA Northwest, PO Box 11170, Eugene, OR
97440-3370.
If you are receiving this as a complementary copy by reposting, and you
want to receive it regularly you may subscribe personally by sending your
e-mail subscription request to: fish1ifr at aol.com . It also helps to
tell us a little bit about your self and what state you live in, so that in
the
future we can divide lists by region.
If you have news items or articles for this newsletter related to west
coast salmon or other fish/environmental issues, we welcome them.
However, space and time are limited so all submissions are subject to
editing.
They should be e-mailed to us (at fish1ifr at aol.com) in ASCII(Dos) format --
the universal format for e-mail. Please include your name and e-mail address
so that readers can contact you for more information.
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For futher information about our programs visit our Web sites:
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PCFFA: http://www.pond.net/~pcffa
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--- Your Editor (Glen Spain)
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END OF THIS ISSUE
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