From FISH1IFR@aol.com Thu Nov 15 17:58:28 2001 Received: from imo-d09.mx.aol.com (imo-d09.mx.aol.com [205.188.157.41]) by straylight.primelogic.com (8.11.6/8.11.1) with ESMTP id fAG1wR068944 for ; Thu, 15 Nov 2001 17:58:28 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from FISH1IFR@aol.com) Received: from FISH1IFR@aol.com by imo-d09.mx.aol.com (mail_out_v31_r1.9.) id e.ac.1ddf63dd (4362) for ; Thu, 15 Nov 2001 20:54:02 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: Date: Thu, 15 Nov 2001 20:54:02 EST To: fishlink@straylight.primelogic.com MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="part1_ac.1ddf63dd.2925cbba_boundary" X-Mailer: AOL 6.0 for Windows US sub 10536 From: fishlink-admin@straylight.primelogic.com Subject: [Fishlink] ~~>FISHLINK SUBLEGALS 11/9/01<~~ Sender: fishlink-admin@straylight.primelogic.com Errors-To: fishlink-admin@straylight.primelogic.com X-BeenThere: fishlink@straylight.primelogic.com X-Mailman-Version: 2.0.6 Precedence: bulk Reply-To: bit-bucket@straylight.primelogic.com X-Reply-To: fishlink@straylight.primelogic.com List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Fishlink is a joint fisheries information news service of Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations (PCFFA) and the Institute for Fisheries Resources (IFR). List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: --part1_ac.1ddf63dd.2925cbba_boundary Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ########################################################## ~~>FISHLINK SUBLEGALS 11/9/01<~~ ########################################################## 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. 4, NO. 19 9 NOVEMBER 2001 ########################################################## IN THIS ISSUE....... CENTRAL CALIFORNIA DUNGENESS CRAB SEASON SET TO OPEN THE 15TH. 4:19/01. RESOURCES COMMITTEE PASSES CALVERT CALFED BILL. 4:19/03. NMFS REFUSES TO APPEAL OREGON COHO SALMON DELISTING. 4:19/05. NEW KLAMATH STUDY BREAKS NEW GROUND. 4:19/06 CONGRESS GIVES STATES $110 MILLION TOWARD PACIFIC SALMON RECOVERY. 4:19/08. AND MORE....... ######################################################### 4:19/01. CENTRAL CALIFORNIA DUNGENESS CRAB SEASON SET TO OPEN THE 15TH, QUALITY TEST POSITIVE FOR NORTH COAST: California's central coast (Sonoma County south) Dungeness Crab fishery is set to open 15 November, providing market orders for an ex-vessel price are signed and the weather cooperates. San Francisco's Crab Boat Owners Association had made an initial offer to processors for $2.50 per pound, and other marketing associations were expected to make similar offers. Although a small fishery in terms of total production to the rest of the coast, it is the first Dungeness opening along the Pacific and supplies the Thanksgiving holiday market for the San Francisco Bay Area and surrounding region. The quality testing of Dungeness for the state's north coast was conducted earlier this month by the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission (PSMFC) to determine the condition of the crab and whether the season should begin 1 December or be delayed to give them further time to fill out (see Sublegals, 4:17/02). The test was done pursuant to an agreement between the PSMFC and the Humboldt Fishermen's Marketing Association with six locations selected from Pelican Bay in the north to the Eel River canyon in the south. The traps were soaked approximately 23 hours (1-2 November) and the crabs were processed after landing on the 2nd. Before the quality test, six crabs were removed from each sample for testing for domoic acid by the California Department of Health Services. A total of 387 crabs were used for the sample with a recovery percentage of 27.3 percent. For more information, contact Al Didier at: al_Didier@psmfc.org. In other related crab news, the voters of San Francisco approved a ballot initiative (Measure D) on 6 November requiring voter approval for any project that would add fill in excess of 100 acres in San Francisco Bay. This was seen as a victory for the crab fishery since San Francisco Bay historically was the largest nursery area for Dungeness crab along the Pacific Coast, and bay fill, along with pollution and the loss of fresh water inflows, has been identified as a major factor in the decline of crab in this area since the mid-1950's. For more information on the election, go to: http://www.cp-dr.com. On the same day San Francisco voters went to the polls, however, the U.S. House of Representatives' Resources Committee approved H.R. 3208, a bill that would further diminish fresh water inflows into the Bay, critical to the maintenance of a healthy estuary (see 4:19/03 below). 4:19/02. COAST GUARD SEARCH AND RESCUE OPERATIONS IMPAIRED BY TERROR THREAT: The U.S. Coast Guard is asking the fishing fleet to take extra care this winter in their fishing operations. The reason is the agency is spread extremely thin right now patrolling the coast and U.S. waterways as part of the heightened security following the 11 September terrorist attacks. Much of the Coast Guard's personnel and equipment have been diverted to the "homeland security" efforts, leaving fewer people and vessels/aircraft for fishery enforcement and search and rescue operations. The Coast Guard has also said there will be increased surveillance of vessels, including fishing boats, and it is calling on the fishing fleet to help act as "eyes and ears" on the water. Specifically it is asking fishermen to report any suspicious vessels or activities by calling 911 on cell phones or notifying the Coast Guard itself on VHF Channel 16. 4:19/03: RESOURCES COMMITTEE PASSES CALVERT CALFED BILL ALLOWING MASSIVE FRESH WATER DIVERSIONS FROM CALIFORNIA RIVERS, SAN FRANCISCO BAY: On 7 November, the U.S. House of Representatives Resources Committee approved on a 24-18 vote a measure by California Congressman Ken Calvert (R-Riverside) to fund several major new California water storage projects at an estimated cost of at least $3 billion over seven years. Calvert's bill, called the Western Water Enhancement Security Act (HR 3208), would reauthorize the federal-state CALFED program, originally created to restore the Bay-Delta ecosystem and better manage the water flowing through this system that supplies much of the state's irrigated agriculture and some 15 million residents. H.R. 3208 is a substitute bill for an earlier one by a Southern California representative, HR. 1905 (see Sublegals, 4:15/05; 4:12/08; 4:11/05). A chief concern of the environmental, fishing and taxpayers coalition opposing the Calvert bill is it's extreme deviance from the CALFED Record of Decision, or ROD, approved by many state and federal agencies over a year ago. The Record of Decision was opposed by PCFFA because it would have increased diversions, severely impacting salmon as well as herring, oyster and crab resources. Calvert's bill, however, goes even further than the ROD, essentially guaranteeing water for certain corporate agribusiness operations at the expense of fish resources, the environment and even some sectors of the farming community. Specific concerns with the Calvert bill include: * Creation of a highly unusual fast-track authorization process for water development projects in 17 western states. While vaguely worded, the bill eliminates Congressional oversight for any water development project for which funds were ever appropriated for any type of construction or land, easement or rights-of-way acquisition before FY 2003. Thus, changes or expansions or even entirely new projects throughout the west may entirely avoid review if federal funds have been previously appropriated, even if the project itself has never been authorized or reviewed. This provision potentially establishes a massive new pork barrel reclamation program reaching far beyond CALFED. * Elimination of CALFED's requirement that water project beneficiaries pay for the economic benefits they receive from new water development. This will continue the discredited policy of providing massive federal water subsidies that encourage inefficient uses of water and environmental damage. * Establishment of numerous barriers to the ecological restoration program such as limitations on spending for land acquisition (even though the CALFED plan already limits purchases to those from willing sellers only), redirection of water intended for fisheries recovery to instead maximize water supply benefits, and revision of the ecosystem program to address "local social and economic" goals. The water supply program is under no similar requirement to meet such goals. * Addition of a new requirement, not contained in the Endangered Species Act (ESA), that agency Biological Opinions (BiOps) must be subject to independent "peer review" before taking effect. This will substantially delay and impair the ability of fisheries agencies to protect species on the brink of extinction. H.R. 3208 contains no similar "peer review" requirement for the Bureau of Reclamation's (BOR) decisions regarding water development projects. * Establishment of unprecedented water delivery guarantees to San Joaquin Valley agribusinesses that would trump the needs of other, more senior, water rights holders as well as the environment. The University of California has testified that this provision would establish subsidies in the Westlands Water District alone of between $1 and $2 million per farmer. * Establishment of a massive new, but undefined, agency, the "Water Security Board," with sweeping decision-making authority. The agency would be empowered to alter aspects of the CALFED plan and would have considerable authority over the mandates of existing agencies. H.R. 3208 is expected to be taken up by the full House of Representatives sometime before the December Congressional break. For more information, go to: http://briefcase.yahoo.com/ewcpacket. 4:19/04. CORRECTION ON CALFED FUNDING: The article appearing in the last issue of Sublegals (4:18/01) was incorrect in that it said the $30 million in federal funding that had been approved by Congress was for CALFED. In fact, the appropriations was for various units of the federal Central Valley Project (CVP), including implementation of the Central Valley Project Improvement Act (CVPIA), not for CALFED. Some of the CVP actions funded for water supply were found by Congress to be "activities that support the goals of the California Bay Delta Ecosystem Restoration Program." The law is clear on this. The money appropriated didn't go to CALFED; there is no Congressional authorization for CALFED. 4:19/05. NMFS REFUSES TO APPEAL OREGON COHO SALMON DELISTING, INTERVENTION MOTION STILL PENDING: On 9 November, the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) announced that it will not appeal U.S. Federal District Judge Michael Hogan's decision in Alsea Valley Alliance v. NMFS that stripped Oregon coastal coho of protections under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA). Hogan's ruling called NMFS's failure to also list certain hatchery stocks, once it included those in its designated genetic conservation unit ('evolutionarily significant unit' or 'ESU'), arbitrary and capricious. Under NMFS current policy, hatchery fish can be included in the ESU when they are genetically similar to wild fish, but can then be excluded from full ESA listing protection (see Sublegals 4:11/02). Instead of appealing Judge Hogan's decision, however, and faced with landowner petitions for the delisting of nearly every listed salmonid on the west coast based on that ruling, NMFS decided to undertake a complete review of its policy with regard to ESA classification of hatchery fish under the ESA. Planned hearings will begin in February of 2002 running for a period of 60 days, with a projected decision date in September 2002. NMFS then plans a status review of all listings that might be affected by any changes in the policy. At that time NMFS may then propose relisting of the Central Oregon coho at least two years down the road, leaving them unprotected in the interim. For more information on the policy review and decision not to appeal see: http://www.nwr.noaa.gov/occd/occd.html. During the interim period during which no ESA protection for Oregon central coast coho exists, however, a number of federal actions, including many timber sales already identified by NMFS as seriously damaging to coho salmon, will now likely proceed. Thus lack of ESA protection may mean that federal actions may undo the coho conservation measures now being implemented under the Oregon Plan by private landowners and the State of Oregon. A group of fishing and conservation organizations concerned about this problem (including PCFFA) has petitioned the Court for permission to intervene in the coho delisting case for purposes of a separate appeal and stay pending appeal. Their initial request for a stay was rejected 30 October by Judge Hogan (see Sublegals 4:18/02), but he delayed ruling on their request for intervention to see whether NMFS would appeal, with a ruling on intervention now expected around 15 November. In the meantime, the interveners have lodged an appeal that would be retroactively activated by a favorable ruling. For more information on the intervention action, contact Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund, Patti Goldman, (206) 343-7340. 4:19/06. NEW KLAMATH STUDY BREAKS NEW GROUND, OUTLINES SOLUTIONS: The 9 November issue of the Eureka Times-Standard carries a story on a new independent economics study of the Upper Klamath Basin by ECONorthwest, the Northwest's oldest and largest group of natural resource economists. The study, "Coping with Competition for Water: Irrigation, Economic Growth, and the Ecosystem in the Upper Klamath Basin," demonstrates that even well prior to the 2001 drought (and resulting water crisis in the Klamath Irrigation Project), commercial farming in the Klamath Basin had largely become unprofitable due to 20 years of pressure from global market forces and the widespread use of extremely wasteful water practices, such as flood irrigation. In 1997, for instance (a good water year), for all Klamath County farms that exceeded more than $10,000 in agricultural sales, the report found that more than one-third experienced an overall economic loss, and that total farm income averaged only $34/acre (see Table 3 of the report). This is in comparison to drought disaster relief payments (from the $20 million already allocated by Congress), which are expected to average between $125 -130/acre depending on total enrollment in the program. Some of the recommendations on how to achieve a more sustainable distribution of water in the Klamath Basin include: considerably better water conservation; harnessing market forces to promote conversion away from the basin's current reliance on high water use, low valued crops to low water use, high valued crops, and; reducing inefficient and wasteful water distribution practices throughout the Upper Klamath Basin. The report was initiated by the Klamath Basin Ecosystem Foundation, a nonprofit organization, spun- off from the Klamath Upper Basin Working Group, through outside grant funding. The Times-Standard article is at: http://www.times-standard.com in the archives (search word 'Klamath'). The full report is available in PDF format on the Internet at: http://www.salmonandeconomy.org/pdf/KlamathWater.pdf. 4:09/07. SALMON 'EQUITABLE TREATMENT' SUIT FILED IN COLUMBIA RIVER: On 5 November, a coalition of fishing and conservation groups sued the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) and the U.S. Department of Energy, seeking to enforce the requirement of 'equitable treatment' of salmon compared to other purposes of the Columbia River hydropower system, as required in the Northwest Power Act at 16 U.S.C. 839b(h)(11)A(i). In Northwest Environmental Defense Center v. BPA, 117 F.3d 1520, 1532 (9th Cir. 1997), the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that this provision is a substantive "equitable treatment" mandate which requires BPA to "place fish and wildlife concerns on an equal footing with power production." This summer, however, BPA repeatedly sacrificed salmon production in the Columbia River to meet its financial commitments, ignoring many alternatives by which it could achieve both (see Sublegals, 4:15/04). As a result, BPA caused record juvenile salmon losses throughout the Columbia Basin, which means that adult returns of ESA listed fish in 3 to 4 years may hit record lows. In particular, the suit challenges the current Biological Opinion (BiOp) which allows BPA to ignore salmon protections whenever it declares, in its sole discretion, an undefined 'power emergency,' a loophole it used throughout the summer of 2001 not so much to produce more power as much as to meet its financial projections. For more information on the action contact: Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund, Steve Mashuda, (206) 343-7340. 4:19/08. CONGRESS GIVES STATES $110 MILLION TOWARD PACIFIC SALMON RECOVERY: The U.S. Congress has appropriated a total of $115 million within Title II of the Commerce, Justice, State, Judiciary and Related Agencies appropriations bill (H.R. 2500) to go toward state salmon recovery efforts pursuant to the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Initiative, originally proposed by the Governor's of Alaska, Washington, Oregon and California. The division reported is: Alaska - $27 million; Washington - $34 million; Oregon - $17 million, and California - $17 million. Another $15 million is earmarked for the region's many Indian Tribes, split between inland and coastal Tribes. Each state has its own approach for spending salmon restoration money to best effect, with the Oregon Plan for Salmon & Watersheds in Oregon, a developing salmon recovery effort in Washington State, and a Memorandum of Agreement in California among various agencies on how to best spend the money but no organized California plan. Congressman Mike Thompson's (D-CA) Pacific Salmon Recovery Act (H.R. 1157), passing the House 13 June by 418-6, calls for $200 million/year for similar purposes, and includes Idaho (which has problems with Columbia Basin salmon listings) as well as the four coastal states. H.R. 1157 is now in the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation, but no action on this bill is expected until next year. In addition, the Congressional Conference Committee for the Commerce Department appropriations bill reportedly signed off on a $45.42 million appropriation to fund Pacific Salmon Treaty obligations, including $20 million each for the Northern and Southern Panels, and an additional $5.42 million to continue the process of buying out excess Washington State salmon vessel permits. More than half of Washington state's salmon gillnet permits have already been retired, and more retirements are designated under the Treaty to take fishing pressure off weak stocks. The funded amount is more than provided last year, and consistent with U.S. Pacific Salmon Treaty obligations and commitments. For more information on the bills, go to: http://thomas.loc.gov. 4:19/09. PANETTA TO ADDRESS FISH EXPO ON FRIDAY, THE 16TH: Former California Congressman, Director of the Office of Management & Budget, White House Chief of Staff, and now chair of the Pew Oceans Commission, Leon Panetta, will give the keynote address for this year's FISH EXPO in Seattle (see Sublegals, 4:16/02). FISH EXPO, being held at the Seattle State Convention & Trade Center, is North America's largest commercial fishing exposition - a combination of trade show and seminars. Panetta's speech will be Friday at 1130 HRS in Rooms 602-604 of the Trade Center. For more information, go to: www.pewoceans.org. Also on hand at FISH EXPO will be PCFFA President Pietro Parravano, a member of the Pew Oceans Commission. The PCFFA/IFR Booth number is 2405. 4:19/10. YELLOWFIN TUNA QUOTA REACHED: On 6 November, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) published notice in the Federal Register (Vol. 66, No. 215, pp. 56038-56039) to announce that the 2001 yellowfin tuna quota had been reached. A 15-percent incidental catch limit is now in effect for yellowfin tuna taken in the U.S. purse seine fishery in the Commission's Yellowfin Regulatory Area (CYRA) of the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) through the remainder of 2001. This action is taken in accordance with a resolution adopted by the IATTC and approved by the Department of State (DOS). The action is effective 12:01 a.m., October 28, 2001, through 11:59 p.m., December 31, 2001. Comments will be accepted through November 21, 2001. Submit comments to Rodney R. McInnis, Acting Regional Administrator, Southwest Region (Regional Administrator), NMFS, 501 W. Ocean Boulevard, Suite 4200, Long Beach, CA 90802-4213. For further information contact: Svein Fougner at 562-980-4040. 4:19/11. SOCIO-ECONOMIC REPORT ON CALIFORNIA SQUID FISHERY: An initial report on the California squid fishery, sponsored by the California Sea Grant, has come out and is titled, "Socio-Economic Organization of the California Market Squid Fishery: Assessment for Optimal Resource Management." The research for this report, authored by Caroline Pomeroy and Margaret FitzSimmons, began in 1996 with the squid fishery ranked first among California fisheries in tons and value landed. The 1997-98 El Nino events and the passage of the squid fishery management bill, SB 364 (Sher 1997) focused research efforts on the social and economic organization of the fishery. For more information please contact Carrie Pomeroy at cpomeroy@cats.ucsc.edu. 4:19/12. MARINE FISHERIES ACTIVIST JOB ANNOUNCEMENT: The Cape Cod Commercial Hook Fishermen's Association (CCCHFA) is a grassroots non-profit organization comprised of commercial fishermen and concerned coastal residents whose rich cultural heritage and traditional economies depend on the productivity and health of the marine ecosystems around them. The CCCHFA seeks an enthusiastic, independent and ambitious candidate to fill the full-time position of Marine Fisheries Activist. Responsibilities will include developing and implementing campaign strategies that will empower local people to influence marine policy, in addition to operating the community action center campaign base. A good candidate will demonstrate excellent verbal and written skills. This job will be located in Chatham, Massachusetts. Deadline is 15 December 2001. Salary negotiable and benefits included. Send resume and cover letter with salary expectation to Executive Director, Cape Cod Commercial Hook Fishermen's Association, 210 Orleans Road, North Chatham MA 02650. For more information contact (508) 945-2432 or pparker@ccchfa.org. NEWS, COMMENTS, CORRECTIONS: Submit your news items, comments or any corrections to Natasha Benjamin, Editor at: ifrfish@pacbell.net or call the IFR office with the news and a source at either: (415) 561-FISH (Southwest Office) or (541) 689-2000 (Northwest Office). ########################################################## "Sublegals" are a weekly fisheries news bulletin service of Fishlink. To find out more about Fishlink, list information can be viewed and you can subscribe yourself automatically at: http://straylight.primelogic.com/mailman/listinfo/fishlink . If you have any trouble subscribing, contact PCFFA/IFR directly at: . ########################################################## "Fishlink" is a registered trademark of the Institute for Fisheries Resources. All rights to the use of this trademark are reserved to IFR. This publication, however, may be freely reproduced and circulated without copyright restriction. If you are receiving this as a subscriber, please feel free to pass this on to your colleagues. Subscribers who wish to post or circulate hard copy of Sublegals or have no access to the Internet may receive fax subscriptions by faxing their request, with their fax number to: (415) 561-5464. Thanks! ########################################################## NOTICE In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107 this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving it for research and educational purposes. The Institute for Fisheries Resources, a nonprofit organization, provides the Fishlink News Service free of charge even though it costs the organization considerable time and money to produce it. We would like to continue to provide this service free. You could help by making a tax-deductible contribution (anything you can afford, whether $5.00 or $500.00) to keep this effort going and growing. Please send your tax-deductible contribution to: Institute for Fisheries Resources, PO Box 29370, San Francisco, CA 94129-0370. Please do not send credit card information via E-mail. For further information about making tax-deductible contributions to IFR please phone us at: (541) 689-2000, or fax us at: (541)689-2500. -- Your Dedicated Editors ########################################################## --part1_ac.1ddf63dd.2925cbba_boundary Content-Type: text/html; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
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                 ~~>FISHLINK SUBLEGALS 11/9/01<~~
##########################################################
    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. 4, NO. 19                                           9 NOVEMBER 2001
##########################################################

IN THIS ISSUE.......

CENTRAL CALIFORNIA DUNGENESS CRAB SEASON
SET TO OPEN THE 15TH. 4:19/01.

RESOURCES COMMITTEE PASSES CALVERT
CALFED BILL. 4:19/03.

NMFS REFUSES TO APPEAL OREGON COHO SALMON
DELISTING. 4:19/05.

NEW KLAMATH STUDY BREAKS NEW GROUND. 4:19/06

CONGRESS GIVES STATES $110 MILLION TOWARD PACIFIC       
SALMON RECOVERY. 4:19/08.

AND MORE.......
#########################################################
4:19/01. CENTRAL CALIFORNIA DUNGENESS CRAB SEASON
SET TO OPEN THE 15TH, QUALITY TEST POSITIVE FOR NORTH
COAST:  California's central coast (Sonoma County south) Dungeness
Crab fishery is set to open 15 November, providing market orders for an
ex-vessel price are signed and the weather cooperates.  San Francisco's
Crab Boat Owners Association had made an initial offer to processors
for $2.50 per pound, and other marketing associations were expected to
make similar offers. Although a small fishery in terms of total
production to the rest of the coast, it is the first Dungeness opening
along the Pacific and supplies the Thanksgiving holiday market for the
San Francisco Bay Area and surrounding region.

The quality testing of Dungeness for the state's north coast was
conducted earlier this month by the Pacific States Marine Fisheries
Commission (PSMFC) to determine the condition of the crab and
whether the season should begin 1 December or be delayed to give them
further time to fill out (see Sublegals, 4:17/02).  The test was done
pursuant to an agreement between the PSMFC and the Humboldt
Fishermen's Marketing Association with six locations selected from
Pelican Bay in the north to the Eel River canyon in the south.  The traps
were soaked approximately 23 hours (1-2 November) and the crabs were
processed after landing on the 2nd.  Before the quality test, six crabs
were removed from each sample for testing for domoic acid by the
California Department of Health Services.  A total of 387 crabs were
used for the sample with a recovery percentage of 27.3 percent.  For
more information, contact Al Didier at: al_Didier@psmfc.org.

In other related crab news, the voters of San Francisco approved a
ballot initiative (Measure D) on 6 November requiring voter approval
for any project that would add fill in excess of 100 acres in San
Francisco Bay.  This was seen as a victory for the crab fishery since San
Francisco Bay historically was the largest nursery area for Dungeness
crab along the Pacific Coast, and bay fill, along with pollution and the
loss of fresh water inflows, has been identified as a major factor in the
decline of crab in this area since the mid-1950's.  For more information
on the election, go to: http://www.cp-dr.com.  On the same day San
Francisco voters went to the polls, however, the U.S. House of
Representatives' Resources Committee approved H.R. 3208, a bill that
would further diminish fresh water inflows into the Bay, critical to the
maintenance of a healthy estuary (see 4:19/03 below).

4:19/02. COAST GUARD SEARCH AND RESCUE OPERATIONS
IMPAIRED BY TERROR THREAT: The U.S. Coast Guard is asking
the fishing fleet to take extra care this winter in their fishing operations.
The reason is the agency is spread extremely thin right now patrolling
the coast and U.S. waterways as part of the heightened security
following the 11 September terrorist attacks.  Much of the Coast Guard's
personnel and equipment have been diverted to the "homeland security"
efforts, leaving fewer people and vessels/aircraft for fishery enforcement
and search and rescue operations.  The Coast Guard has also said there
will be increased surveillance of vessels, including fishing boats, and it
is calling on the fishing fleet to help act as "eyes and ears" on the water.
Specifically it is asking fishermen to report any suspicious vessels or
activities by calling 911 on cell phones or notifying the Coast Guard
itself on VHF Channel 16.                                                                           

4:19/03: RESOURCES COMMITTEE PASSES CALVERT
CALFED BILL ALLOWING MASSIVE FRESH WATER
DIVERSIONS FROM CALIFORNIA RIVERS, SAN FRANCISCO
BAY:  On 7 November, the U.S. House of Representatives Resources
Committee approved on a 24-18 vote a measure by California
Congressman Ken Calvert (R-Riverside) to fund several major new
California water storage projects at an estimated cost of at least $3
billion over seven years.  Calvert's bill, called the Western Water
Enhancement Security Act (HR 3208), would reauthorize the
federal-state CALFED program, originally created to restore the
Bay-Delta ecosystem and better manage the water flowing through this
system that supplies much of the state's irrigated agriculture and some
15 million residents.  

H.R. 3208 is a substitute bill for an earlier one by a Southern California
representative, HR. 1905 (see Sublegals, 4:15/05; 4:12/08; 4:11/05). A
chief concern of the environmental, fishing and taxpayers coalition
opposing the Calvert bill is it's extreme deviance from the CALFED
Record of Decision, or ROD, approved by many state and federal
agencies over a year ago.  The Record of Decision was opposed by
PCFFA because it would have increased diversions, severely impacting
salmon as well as herring, oyster and crab resources. Calvert's bill,
however, goes even further than the ROD, essentially guaranteeing
water for certain corporate agribusiness operations at the expense of fish
resources, the environment and even some sectors of the farming
community. Specific concerns with the Calvert bill include:

* Creation of a highly unusual fast-track authorization process for water
development projects in 17 western states.  While vaguely worded, the
bill eliminates Congressional oversight for any water development
project for which funds were ever appropriated for any type of
construction or land, easement or rights-of-way acquisition before FY
2003.  Thus, changes or expansions or even entirely new projects
throughout the west may entirely avoid review if federal funds have
been previously appropriated, even if the project itself has never been
authorized or reviewed.  This provision potentially establishes a massive
new pork barrel reclamation program reaching far beyond CALFED.

* Elimination of CALFED's requirement that water project beneficiaries
pay for the economic benefits they receive from new water
development.  This will continue the discredited policy of providing
massive federal water subsidies that encourage inefficient uses of water
and environmental damage.

* Establishment of numerous barriers to the ecological restoration
program such as limitations on spending for land acquisition (even
though the CALFED plan already limits purchases to those from willing
sellers only), redirection of water intended for fisheries recovery to
instead maximize water supply benefits, and revision of the ecosystem
program to address "local social and economic" goals.  The water supply
program is under no similar requirement to meet such goals.

* Addition of a new requirement, not contained in the Endangered
Species Act (ESA), that agency Biological Opinions (BiOps) must be
subject to independent "peer review" before taking effect. This will
substantially delay and impair the ability of fisheries agencies to protect
species on the brink of extinction. H.R. 3208 contains no similar "peer
review" requirement for the Bureau of Reclamation's (BOR) decisions
regarding water development projects.

* Establishment of unprecedented water delivery guarantees to San
Joaquin Valley agribusinesses that would trump the needs of other, more
senior, water rights holders as well as the environment.  The University
of California has testified that this provision would establish subsidies in
the Westlands Water District alone of between $1 and $2 million per
farmer.

* Establishment of a massive new, but undefined, agency, the "Water
Security Board," with sweeping decision-making authority.  The agency
would be empowered to alter aspects of the CALFED plan and would
have considerable authority over the mandates of existing agencies.

H.R. 3208 is expected to be taken up by the full House of
Representatives sometime before the December Congressional break.
For more information, go to: http://briefcase.yahoo.com/ewcpacket.

4:19/04. CORRECTION ON CALFED FUNDING: The article
appearing in the last issue of Sublegals (4:18/01) was incorrect in that it
said the $30 million in federal funding that had been approved by
Congress was for CALFED.  In fact, the appropriations was for various
units of the federal Central Valley Project (CVP), including
implementation of the Central Valley Project Improvement Act
(CVPIA), not for CALFED. Some of the CVP actions funded for water
supply were found by Congress to be "activities that support the goals of
the California Bay Delta Ecosystem Restoration Program." The law is
clear on this. The money appropriated didn't go to CALFED; there is no
Congressional authorization for CALFED.

4:19/05. NMFS REFUSES TO APPEAL OREGON COHO
SALMON DELISTING, INTERVENTION MOTION STILL
PENDING:  On 9 November, the U.S. National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS) announced that it will not appeal U.S. Federal District
Judge Michael Hogan's decision in Alsea Valley Alliance v. NMFS that
stripped Oregon coastal coho of protections under the federal
Endangered Species Act (ESA).  Hogan's ruling called NMFS's failure
to also list certain hatchery stocks, once it included those in its
designated genetic conservation unit ('evolutionarily significant unit' or
'ESU'), arbitrary and capricious.  Under NMFS current policy, hatchery
fish can be included in the ESU when they are genetically similar to
wild fish, but can then be excluded from full ESA listing protection (see
Sublegals 4:11/02).  Instead of appealing Judge Hogan's decision,
however, and faced with landowner petitions for the delisting of nearly
every listed salmonid on the west coast based on that ruling, NMFS
decided to undertake a complete review of its policy with regard to ESA
classification of hatchery fish under the ESA.  Planned hearings will
begin in February of 2002 running for a period of 60 days, with a
projected decision date in September 2002.  NMFS then plans a status
review of all listings that might be affected by any changes in the policy.
At that time NMFS may then propose relisting of the Central Oregon
coho at least two years down the road, leaving them unprotected in the
interim.  For more information on the policy review and decision not to
appeal see: http://www.nwr.noaa.gov/occd/occd.html.

During the interim period during which no ESA protection for
Oregon central coast coho exists, however, a number of federal actions,
including many timber sales already identified by NMFS as seriously
damaging to coho salmon, will now likely proceed.  Thus lack of ESA
protection may mean that federal actions may undo the coho
conservation measures now being implemented under the Oregon Plan
by private landowners and the State of Oregon.  A group of fishing and
conservation organizations concerned about this problem (including
PCFFA) has petitioned the Court for permission to intervene in the coho
delisting case for purposes of a separate appeal and stay pending appeal.
Their initial request for a stay was rejected 30 October by Judge Hogan
(see Sublegals 4:18/02), but he delayed ruling on their request for
intervention to see whether NMFS would appeal, with a ruling on
intervention now expected around 15 November.  In the meantime, the
interveners have lodged an appeal that would be retroactively activated
by a favorable ruling.  For more information on the intervention action,
contact Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund, Patti Goldman, (206)
343-7340.

4:19/06. NEW KLAMATH STUDY BREAKS NEW GROUND,
OUTLINES SOLUTIONS:  The 9 November issue of the Eureka
Times-Standard carries a story on a new independent economics study
of the Upper Klamath Basin by ECONorthwest, the Northwest's oldest
and largest group of natural resource economists.  The study, "Coping
with Competition for Water: Irrigation, Economic Growth, and the
Ecosystem in the Upper Klamath Basin," demonstrates that even well
prior to the 2001 drought (and resulting water crisis in the Klamath
Irrigation Project), commercial farming in the Klamath Basin had
largely become unprofitable due to 20 years of pressure from global
market forces and the widespread use of extremely wasteful water
practices, such as flood irrigation.  In 1997, for instance (a good water
year), for all Klamath County farms that exceeded more than $10,000 in
agricultural sales, the report found that more than one-third experienced
an overall economic loss, and that total farm income averaged only
$34/acre (see Table 3 of the report).  This is in comparison to drought
disaster relief payments (from the $20 million already allocated by
Congress), which are expected to average between $125 -130/acre
depending on total enrollment in the program.  

Some of the recommendations on how to achieve a more sustainable
distribution of water in the Klamath Basin include: considerably better
water conservation; harnessing market forces to promote conversion
away from the basin's current reliance on high water use, low valued
crops to low water use, high valued crops, and; reducing inefficient and
wasteful water distribution practices throughout the Upper Klamath
Basin.                                                                                                           

The report was initiated by the Klamath Basin Ecosystem
Foundation, a nonprofit organization, spun- off from the Klamath Upper
Basin Working Group, through outside grant funding.  The
Times-Standard article is at: http://www.times-standard.com in the
archives (search word 'Klamath').  The full report is available in PDF
format on the Internet at:
http://www.salmonandeconomy.org/pdf/KlamathWater.pdf.  

4:09/07. SALMON 'EQUITABLE TREATMENT' SUIT FILED IN
COLUMBIA RIVER: On 5 November, a coalition of fishing and
conservation groups sued the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA)
and the U.S. Department of Energy, seeking to enforce the requirement
of 'equitable treatment' of salmon compared to other purposes of the
Columbia River hydropower system, as required in the Northwest Power
Act at 16 U.S.C. 839b(h)(11)A(i).  In Northwest Environmental Defense
Center v. BPA, 117 F.3d 1520, 1532 (9th Cir. 1997), the U.S. Ninth
Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that this provision is a substantive
"equitable treatment" mandate which requires BPA to "place fish and
wildlife concerns on an equal footing with power production."  This
summer, however, BPA repeatedly sacrificed salmon production in the
Columbia River to meet its financial commitments, ignoring many
alternatives by which it could achieve both (see Sublegals, 4:15/04).  As
a result, BPA caused record juvenile salmon losses throughout the
Columbia Basin, which means that adult returns of ESA listed fish in 3
to 4 years may hit record lows.  In particular, the suit challenges the
current Biological Opinion (BiOp) which allows BPA to ignore salmon
protections whenever it declares, in its sole discretion, an undefined
'power emergency,' a loophole it used throughout the summer of 2001
not so much to produce more power as much as to meet its financial
projections.  For more information on the action contact: Earthjustice
Legal Defense Fund, Steve Mashuda, (206) 343-7340.

4:19/08. CONGRESS GIVES STATES $110 MILLION TOWARD
PACIFIC SALMON RECOVERY:  The U.S. Congress has appropriated
a total of $115 million within Title II of the Commerce, Justice, State,
Judiciary and Related Agencies appropriations bill (H.R. 2500) to go
toward state salmon recovery efforts pursuant to the Pacific Coastal
Salmon Recovery Initiative, originally proposed by the Governor's of
Alaska, Washington, Oregon and California.  The division reported is:
Alaska - $27 million; Washington - $34 million; Oregon - $17 million,
and California - $17 million.  Another $15 million is earmarked for the
region's many Indian Tribes, split between inland and coastal Tribes.
Each state has its own approach for spending salmon restoration money
to best effect, with the Oregon Plan for Salmon & Watersheds in
Oregon, a developing salmon recovery effort in Washington State, and a
Memorandum of Agreement in California among various agencies on
how to best spend the money but no organized California plan.
Congressman Mike Thompson's (D-CA) Pacific Salmon Recovery Act
(H.R. 1157), passing the House 13 June by 418-6, calls for $200
million/year for similar purposes, and includes Idaho (which has
problems with Columbia Basin salmon listings) as well as the four
coastal states.  H.R. 1157 is now in the Senate Committee on
Commerce, Science & Transportation, but no action on this bill is
expected until next year.  

In addition, the Congressional Conference Committee for the
Commerce Department appropriations bill reportedly signed off on a
$45.42 million appropriation to fund Pacific Salmon Treaty obligations,
including $20 million each for the Northern and Southern Panels, and an
additional $5.42 million to continue the process of buying out excess
Washington State salmon vessel permits.  More than half of Washington
state's salmon gillnet permits have already been retired, and more
retirements are designated under the Treaty to take fishing pressure off
weak stocks.  The funded amount is more than provided last year, and
consistent with U.S. Pacific Salmon Treaty obligations and
commitments.  For more information on the bills, go to:
http://thomas.loc.gov.

4:19/09. PANETTA TO ADDRESS FISH EXPO ON FRIDAY, THE
16TH: Former California Congressman, Director of the Office of
Management & Budget, White House Chief of Staff, and now chair of
the Pew Oceans Commission, Leon Panetta, will give the keynote
address for this year's FISH EXPO in Seattle (see Sublegals, 4:16/02).
FISH EXPO, being held at the Seattle State Convention & Trade Center,
is North America's largest commercial fishing exposition - a
combination of trade show and seminars.  Panetta's speech will be
Friday at 1130 HRS in Rooms 602-604 of the Trade Center.  For more
information, go to: www.pewoceans.org.

Also on hand at FISH EXPO will be PCFFA President Pietro
Parravano, a member of the Pew Oceans Commission.  The PCFFA/IFR
Booth number is 2405.

4:19/10.  YELLOWFIN TUNA QUOTA REACHED: On 6
November, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) published
notice in the Federal Register (Vol. 66, No. 215, pp. 56038-56039) to
announce that the 2001 yellowfin tuna quota had been reached.  A
15-percent incidental catch limit is now in effect for yellowfin tuna
taken in the U.S. purse seine fishery in the Commission's Yellowfin
Regulatory Area (CYRA) of the Inter-American Tropical Tuna
Commission (IATTC) through the remainder of 2001. This action is
taken in accordance with a resolution adopted by the IATTC and
approved by the Department of State (DOS). The action is effective
12:01 a.m., October 28, 2001, through 11:59 p.m., December 31, 2001.
Comments will be accepted through November 21, 2001. Submit
comments to Rodney R. McInnis, Acting Regional Administrator,
Southwest Region (Regional Administrator), NMFS, 501 W. Ocean
Boulevard, Suite 4200, Long Beach, CA 90802-4213. For further
information contact: Svein Fougner at 562-980-4040.

4:19/11.  SOCIO-ECONOMIC REPORT ON CALIFORNIA SQUID
FISHERY: An initial report on the California squid fishery, sponsored
by the California Sea Grant, has come out and is titled,
"Socio-Economic Organization of the California Market Squid Fishery:
Assessment for Optimal Resource Management." The research for this
report, authored by Caroline Pomeroy and Margaret FitzSimmons,
began in 1996 with the squid fishery ranked first among California
fisheries in tons and value landed. The 1997-98 El Nino events and the
passage of the squid fishery management bill, SB 364 (Sher 1997)
focused research efforts on the social and economic organization of the
fishery. For more information please contact Carrie Pomeroy at
cpomeroy@cats.ucsc.edu.

4:19/12.  MARINE FISHERIES ACTIVIST JOB
ANNOUNCEMENT: The Cape Cod Commercial Hook Fishermen's
Association (CCCHFA) is a grassroots non-profit organization
comprised of commercial fishermen and concerned coastal residents
whose rich cultural heritage and traditional economies depend on the
productivity and health of the marine ecosystems around them. The
CCCHFA seeks an enthusiastic, independent and ambitious candidate to
fill the full-time position of Marine Fisheries Activist. Responsibilities
will include developing and implementing campaign strategies that will
empower local people to influence marine policy, in addition to
operating the community action center campaign base.   A good
candidate will demonstrate excellent verbal and written skills.  This job
will be located in Chatham, Massachusetts. Deadline is 15 December
2001. Salary negotiable and benefits included.  Send resume and cover
letter with salary expectation to Executive Director, Cape Cod
Commercial Hook Fishermen's Association, 210 Orleans Road, North
Chatham MA 02650.  For more information contact (508) 945-2432 or
pparker@ccchfa.org.

NEWS, COMMENTS, CORRECTIONS: Submit your news items,
comments or any corrections to Natasha Benjamin, Editor at:
ifrfish@pacbell.net 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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--part1_ac.1ddf63dd.2925cbba_boundary-- From FISH1IFR@aol.com Wed Nov 21 14:37:34 2001 Received: from imo-r07.mx.aol.com (imo-r07.mx.aol.com [152.163.225.103]) by straylight.primelogic.com (8.11.6/8.11.1) with ESMTP id fALMbX084142 for ; Wed, 21 Nov 2001 14:37:33 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from FISH1IFR@aol.com) Received: from FISH1IFR@aol.com by imo-r07.mx.aol.com (mail_out_v31_r1.9.) id e.41.1445761d (4328) for ; Wed, 21 Nov 2001 17:32:58 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: <41.1445761d.292d8599@aol.com> Date: Wed, 21 Nov 2001 17:32:57 EST To: fishlink@straylight.primelogic.com MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="part1_41.1445761d.292d8599_boundary" X-Mailer: AOL 6.0 for Windows US sub 10536 From: fishlink-admin@straylight.primelogic.com Subject: [Fishlink] ~~>FISHLINK SUBLEGALS 11/16/01<~~ Sender: fishlink-admin@straylight.primelogic.com Errors-To: fishlink-admin@straylight.primelogic.com X-BeenThere: fishlink@straylight.primelogic.com X-Mailman-Version: 2.0.6 Precedence: bulk Reply-To: bit-bucket@straylight.primelogic.com X-Reply-To: fishlink@straylight.primelogic.com List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Fishlink is a joint fisheries information news service of Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations (PCFFA) and the Institute for Fisheries Resources (IFR). List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: --part1_41.1445761d.292d8599_boundary Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ########################################################## ~~>FISHLINK SUBLEGALS 11/16/01<~~ ########################################################## 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. 4, NO. 20 16 NOVEMBER 2001 ########################################################## IN THIS ISSUE....... WORLD FISHERIES DAY CELEBRATIONS SET FOR 21 NOVEMBER. SEE 4:20/01. PANETTA AT FISH EXPO, TELLS FISHERMEN TO "KICK ASS." SEE 4:20/02. C-J-S FUNDING BILL RESULTS IN GIVE-AWAY OF BERING SEA POLLOCK. SEE 4:20/04. OREGON COHO DELISTING DECISION APPEALED. SEE 4:20/08. CORPS GETS FUNDS TO NOTCH ELK RIVER DAM. SEE 4:20/14. AND MORE....... ######################################################### 4:20/01. WORLD FISHERIES DAY 2001 - BENEFITS, DONATIONS, RESOLUTION HONORING ONE OF HUMANKIND'S OLDEST ENDEAVORS: Wednesday, 21 November, marks World Fisheries Day this year with a number of different events planned around the globe. In the U.S., the Marine Fish Conservation Network (MFCN) has promoted a number of radio shows, including spots on National Public Radio discussing the importance of fishing (for more information, go to: www.conservefish.org). In response to the 11 September terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, DC, the Cape Cod Commercial Hook Fishermen's Association is sponsoring a World Fisheries Day related concert on Saturday, the 17th, to benefit the survivors of the seafood restaurant victims from the World Trade Center. Another example is in Maryland, where Phillips Seafood and the Baltimore County Watermen's Association will be delivering 500 pounds of fish to three homeless shelters in Baltimore on the 19th commemorating World Fisheries Day. In California, the state Legislature has adopted a resolution, authored by Assembly member Virginia Strom-Martin (D-Duncan Mills), celebrating World Fisheries Day. The November issue of The Fishermen's News features an article on World Fisheries Day (go to: www.pcffa.org/fn-nov01.htm). Finally, U.S. Representative Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), the House Democratic Whip, has a draft resolution in the Congress to formally recognize 21 November as World Fisheries Day (for more information, go to: sf.nancy@mail.house.gov). Also go to PCFFA's website at: www.pcffa.org for further information on the day designated to celebrate one of humankind's oldest endeavors. 4:20/02. PANETTA AT FISH EXPO - TELLS FISHERMEN TO GET TOGETHER AND "KICK ASS": Former U.S. Congressman and White House Chief of Staff, Leon Panetta, who now chairs the Pew Oceans Commission, addressed FISH EXPO on 16 November (see Sublegals, 4:19/09), describing to the assembled group the myriad of threats facing the ocean environment and telling fishermen they need to get together in order to have their voice heard. Among the threats to the oceans and its fishes he raised were non-point pollution sources that are causing dead zones in the Gulf of Mexico and elsewhere, the growing number of invasive species in the nation's waters, and the population growth along the U.S. coasts threatening wetlands and other habitats as well as water quality. He expressed his preference for some form of ocean governance that would bring all parties to the table using the process being used among six states around the Chesapeake Bay as a possible model. He also underscored the need to have fishermen at the table. "You've got to fight for your industry," Panetta told the fishing group. "Nationwide, this industry has never gotten its act together, and if you did, you could be a force. When you're one voice and you represent one powerful constituency in the country and you go to the people in Washington, you can begin to have an impact." He then went on to say that fishermen have to be prepared to "kick ass" to protect their resources and their livelihoods. Seafood importers, exporters, distributors and others in the shoreside sector are represented by the National Fisheries Institute. However, there is currently no national organization of commercial fishermen in the U.S. Unlike the federal U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy, the 20-member Pew Commission includes representatives from the commercial and recreational fishing industry, including PCFFA President Pietro Parravano. The Pew Commission is also regarded as the more balanced of the two groups currently addressing national ocean policy. The 16-member U.S. Commission, nominated by Congress and appointed by the President, is viewed as pro-offshore oil and pro-aquaculture. The next meeting of the Pew Commission is scheduled for the week of 26 November in New York City. It will hold a public hearing on Thursday, the 29th, from 1400-1700 HRS at the American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street while in New York. The Pew Commission, which has already published reports on pollution, aquaculture, and marine invasive species (go to: www.pewoceans.org), will issue its final recommendations on ways to control marine pollution, restore fisheries, protect coastal habitats, and sustain marine life to Congress and the nation in the fall of 2002. For more information on the New York meeting, contact Justin Kenney at: kenneyj@pewoceans.org. The U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy, meanwhile, held its second meeting on 13-14 November in Washington, DC. Starting more than a year after the Pew Commission began its work, the federal commission will begin a series of nine regional meetings. It has agreed to a tentative schedule for these meetings in 2002, starting with Charleston, South Carolina 14-16 January. Meetings are also currently scheduled to be held in Tampa Bay in February, New Orleans in March, Los Angeles in April, Honolulu in May; Seattle in June, Boston in July, Anchorage in August, and Chicago in September. For more information, contact Robert Hansen at: Robert.C.Hansen@noaa.gov. 4:20/03. IMPASSE ON DUNGENESS CRAB PRICE KEEPS CENTRAL CALIFORNIA SEASON CLOSED; CONGRESS EXTENDS STATE EEZ AUTHORITY OVER FISHERY: The Central California Dungeness Crab season (Sonoma County south) that was set to start on Thursday, the 15th, has been delayed as a result of a price disagreement between crabbers and processors on an ex-vessel price (see Sublegals 4:19/01). Crab marketing associations have asked for a market order price of between $2.25 and $2.50 per pound, while processors have offered an ex-vessel price of $1.75 per pound. If the stalemate continues, it could jeopardize the Thanksgiving market. In the meantime, Congress has approved language, as part of the Commerce-Justice-State appropriation package (HR 2500 - see 4:20/04 below), on 15 November, to extend state jurisdiction over the Dungeness crab fishery in the federal Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) offshore California, Oregon and Washington through 30 September 2006. The bill was sent to the President 16 November. This language continues existing authority by the states over this fishery out to 200 miles; however, the issue may be taken up again prior to 2006 in the reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation & Management Act. 4:20/04. COMMERCE-JUSTICE-STATE APPROPRIATIONS BILL SENT TO PRESIDENT, $3.3 BILLION FOR NOAA, AFA AMENDED GIVING POLLOCK TO CATCHER/PROCESSORS, RELIEF FOR PACIFIC COAST GROUNDFISH FISHERMEN: On Thursday, 15 November, the Senate gave final approval on a 98-1 vote to the 2002 Commerce-Justice-State appropriations bill, HR 2500 (House Report 107-298) and sent the $39.4 billion spending package to the President the following day. According to a 15 November WorldCatch News Network report, it includes $3.25 billion for the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) - a budget figure comparable to Senate and House-approved funding for the Commerce agency and just above the President's request of $3.15 billion. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), however, took a significant cut in conference committee. The House passed $729 million for the federal fishery agency, the Senate passed $668 million and conferees reported $579.2 million. The President requested $734 million, and the FY '01 enacted level was $815 million. Some of the cuts came in the area of stock assessments. Conservation programs get $439.2 million in the conference report, the weather programs are fully funded and the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund received the full request of $110 million. For more information, go to: www.worldcatch.com. On 15 November, the Senate also passed the 2002 Agriculture appropriations bill. The $75.9 billion funding bill, HR 2330, (House Report 107-275) passed on a 92-7 vote; it had already cleared the House on the 13th. It includes $961 million for the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), compared with the administration's request for $927 million. NRCS is involved in a number of salmon habitat restoration programs in California, Oregon and Washington. In addition to the language extending state jurisdiction in the EEZ over the Dungeness crab fishery, the Commerce-Justice-State funding package includes $15.58 million designed to assist the Pacific Coast groundfish fleet - money that had been sought by Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Patty Murray (D-WA). According to a report in the 15 November Daily Astorian, more than $4 million of that funding is aimed at placing observers directly on board fishing vessels to help compile more accurate catch information and track bycatch. Other groundfish backing found in the Conference Report includes: * $1.5 million for direct disaster assistance to fishermen who suffered financial losses. * $1 million for Oregon's Groundfish Disaster Outreach - a program that helps fishermen transition out of the industry and into new fields of employment. * $5.22 million for ongoing research on West Coast groundfish. * $2 million for cooperative groundfish research. The most controversial provision of the C-J-S 2002 funding bill is the rider inserted by Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) amending Section 213 of the American Fisheries Act (P.L. 105-277) deleting the 30 September 2004 sunset date and giving exclusive rights to the Seattle-based catcher-processor fleet and native corporations holding community development quotas (CDQs) that were initially allocated Bering Sea pollock for a 5-year period to implement American ownership of the pollock catch. The rights to harvest this fish stock are worth $700 million annually. The AFA was already controversial with many in the fisheries who viewed it as a rip-off of taxpayers and much of the fishing community to profit a few large well-connected (e.g., former Senate staffers now in the employ of the fishing companies) fish harvesting and processing companies. 4:20/05. PACIFIC COAST WHITING CATCHER/PROCESSOR FISHERY CLOSES FOR YEAR: On 13 November, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) announced the closure of the 2001 catcher/processor fishery for Pacific whiting (hake) effective 1800 HRS that day, pursuant to 50 CFR, Part 660. The closure will be in effect until the beginning of the 2002 season. NMFS is accepting comments on the action until 3 December. For comments, contact Rod McInnis, Acting Regional Administrator, Southwest Region, NMFS, 501 West Ocean Blvd., Suite 4200, Long Beach, CA 90802-4213. For more information, call Becky Renko at (206) 526-6110. 4:20/06. AUSTRALIAN SEAFOOD CONFERENCE TO FEATURE PAPER ON TRAWL FISHERY RESTRUCTURING AND BUY-OUT: "Seafood Directions 2001," Australia's national seafood conference, that will be held 27-29 November this year in Brisbane, Australia, will feature a paper on the restructuring and license buy-out implemented this year in the Queensland East Coast Trawl Fishery. The program resulted in the removal of one-third of the 750 licenses and boats that were authorized to fish in that fishery as of 1 January 2001, according to Ted Loveday, Chief Executive Officer of the Queensland Seafood Industry Association. One hundred (100) of these licenses were removed on 1 Jan 2001 through a $20 million (AUS) license buy-out and another hundred licenses have been permanently removed since then through mechanisms in the new Queensland East Coast Trawl Management Plan (ECTP) that was implemented in conjunction with the license buy-out. There are now a little over 500 licenses and boats remaining in the fishery and this number is continuing to decline, says Loveday. For more information on the conference or to receive a copy of the paper, go to: www.seafoodsite.com.au/seafooddirections. On a related issue, the November edition of The Queensland Fisherman, features a new fisheries policy developed by the Australian Seafood Industry Council (ASIC) that it circulated prior to that nation's recently conducted federal elections (pp.20-25). The policy may be of interest to U.S. and Canadian fishermen and others in the fisheries. For more information, go to: www.asic.org.au. 4:20/07. FISH CONSUMPTION SUBJECT OF ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE MEETING IN SEATTLE: "What is the relationship between water quality, fish consumption and environmental justice?" will be the focus of the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC) meeting scheduled for 3-6 December in Seattle. A public comment period dedicated to the focused policy issue is scheduled for Tuesday evening, 4 December from 1900-2100 HRS. The NEJAC was established to ensure that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) receives the viewpoints of diverse stakeholders on issues related to environmental justice. The NEJAC consists of 26 members representing community groups; industry; state, local and tribal governments, and both government and non-government organizations. For more information on the Seattle meeting, go to: http://es.epa.gov/oeca/main/ej/nejac/conf_ne.html, or call the toll-free NEJAC Hotline at: (888) 335-4299. 4:20/08. OREGON COHO DELISTING DECISION APPEALED: U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Michael Hogan ruled 16 November that a coalition of fisheries and conservation organizations, including both PCFFA and IFR, had a right to intervene in the Alsea Valley Alliance v. NMFS case (see Sublegals 4:19/05; 4:18/02) for purposes of appealing to the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Hogan's Oregon coastal coho Endangered Species Act (ESA) delisting decision. An appeal was immediately filed with the Court of Appeals, together with a request for a stay of Judge Hogan's decision. A stay, if granted, would reinstate coho ESA protections for the central Oregon population until either the appeal could be heard or the case becomes moot with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) changes in its policy concerning inclusion of hatchery fish within the genetic conservation unit (the ESU or 'evolutionarily significant unit') that the ESA listing protects. The basis of intervention was that NMFS is no longer representing the interests of fish protection interests because it failed to ask for a stay and failed to take an appeal. Instead of doing either, and faced with landowner petitions for the delisting of nearly every listed salmonid on the west coast based on that ruling, NMFS decided to undertake a complete review of its policy with regard to ESA classification of hatchery fish under the ESA. Planned hearings will begin in February of 2002 running for a period of 60 days, with a projected decision date in September 2002. NMFS then plans a status review of all listings that might be affected by any changes in the policy. At that time, at least two years down the road, NMFS may then propose relisting of the Central Oregon coho, leaving them completely unprotected under the ESA in the interim. For details on the NMFS review see: http://www.nwr.noaa.gov/occd/occd.html. The decision on the request for a stay of Judge Hogan's trial court order must be made by 10 December. For more information on the Intervener's petition, contact: Patti Goldman or Kristen Boyles, EarthjusticeLegal Defense Fund, (206) 343-7340. For the full Oregonian story see: http://www.oregonlive.com/printer/printer.ssf?/xml/story.ssf/ html_standard.xsl?/base/news/10060017576527191.xml 4:20/09. EIGHTH ANNUAL SALMON RUN: Okay, it's only a 5k run and 3k walk, but this is not the Sacramento, the Columbia or the Fraser where we'd demand a marathon, or the Yukon or the Amur where an ironman triathlon would be required. It's for the Ventura River and it's a good cause. The Matilija Coalition, a local non-profit dedicated to restoring the Ventura River in southern California (it once supported major coho and steelhead populations), is sponsoring the run as part of a fund-raiser on Sunday, 18 November. Fish passage on the Ventura River has been blocked for decades by the now silted-in Matilija Dam, and both fish conservationists and surfers are working to remove the dam and restore the river. The Institute for Fisheries Resources, in fact, is under contract with the California Coastal Conservancy to develop a plan for the ancient Matilija structure. For more information on the event, that is being co-sponsored by Patagonia and Great Pacific Iron Works, among others, contact: Paul Jenkin, Environmental Director, Surfrider Foundation Ventura County Chapter Coordinator, Matilija Coalition at: paul@matilija-coalition.org. 4:20/10. HATCHERY SALMON SURPLUSES ADD TO FOOD BANKS FOR THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY: In addition to fish donations being made by fishing groups to food banks around World Fisheries Day and the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, fish hatcheries throughout the Northwest are making surplus hatchery fish available for shelters and others serving the needy this year. WorldCatch News Network reports that about 80,000 pounds of frozen fillets have been distributed to food banks across the Washington State so far this year. Twenty-thousand pounds have come to Second Harvest of the Inland Northwest, with another 20,000 pounds on the way. While the Chinook and pink runs are done for the year, some coho are still making their way to hatcheries, and the chum season is just getting started. Last year, food banks in Washington distributed 140,000 pounds of fillets. In Oregon, the state is planning to hike its hatchery contributions to the hungry and needy, with a truckload of about 40,000 pounds of frozen salmon fillets for the Oregon Food Bank. The shipment is the first of several totaling about 140,000 hatchery fish which will provide around 500,000 meals to needy Oregonians this fall. For more information, go to: www.worldcatch.com. 4:20/11. BUSH ADMINISTRATION REMOVES MINING CLAIMS BAN IN SOUTHERN OREGON SALMON STREAMS: Reversing one of the last Clinton Administration initiatives, Secretary of Interior Gale Norton is lifting the current ban on filing new mining claims within the Siskiyou National Forest in some of the west coast's last remaining good salmon and steelhead spawning habitat in southern Oregon. The ban, imposed for a two year period by outgoing Secretary of Interior Bruce Babbitt on 23 January 2001, was intended to pave the way for further protections of these public lands primarily for their habitat and wildlife value, but Babbitt failed to protect these key river systems under a national monument designation, citing lack of time. Conservation and fisheries groups in the area have been pressing for the designation of these public lands as a 'Six Rivers National Monument' for several years, a proposal also backed by PCFFA and several other fisheries groups because of the need for protection of key salmon and steelhead streams. Monument status would have provided maximum protection for critical salmon and steelhead habitat on these public lands. There are already more than 1,000 mining claims in the Siskiyou National Forest, and under the much criticized 1872 Mining Act any of these mining claims could be developed with little regard to environmental impacts and with no royalties payments to the US Treasury. Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber, Oregon Senator Ron Wyden and Representative Peter DeFazio, in whose Congressional district these lands sit, all favored the original mining claim moratorium, but Oregon Senator Gordon Smith has opposed any additional protection for those areas. Local mining advocates argued that the rivers should remain open to mining 'in light of current national security concerns.' For more information about efforts to protect the southern Oregon coastal river systems and the 'Siskiyou Wild Rivers' proposal see: http://www.siskiyou.org. 4:20/12. CONSERVATIONISTS SEEK TO BLOCK SALE OF MAINE SALMON FARM TO DUTCH COMPANY: Plans by a Maine aquaculture operation, Heritage Salmon, to sell out to the Dutch Seafood giant, Nutreco, have run afoul of local conservation groups who are currently in federal court in Bangor suing Heritage for operating its farms in violation of the U.S. Clean Water Act (CWA). U.S. Public Interest Research Group (U.S. PIRG) has asked Maine Department of Marine Resources Commissioner George LaPointe to block any transfer of the farms under Maine law. "For nearly a decade, Heritage has violated the federal Clean Water Act with impunity, and has also failed to live up to the requirements of its state leases," said Joshua R. Kratka, senior attorney at the National Environmental Law Center (NELC). "The State of Maine should not transfer these leases of public lands to yet another multinational fish-farming conglomerate without first assuring that any new salmon farm operator will comply with state and federal environmental laws." Heritage Salmon is a division of George Weston, Ltd., the Canadian supermarket conglomerate. In a 2 November letter, U.S. PIRG's attorneys requested that LaPointe deny a transfer of Heritage sites to any new owner until the new owner guarantees that environmental safeguards will be put in place. Such safeguards include measures to prevent fish escapes and the spread of disease to wild salmon, to minimize the use and release of toxic chemicals, and to ensure that salmon farm wastes do not create "dead zones" on the ocean bottom beneath and around the farm sites. Heritage, like other salmon farm owners in Maine, operates its farms on submerged public lands. It leases these lands from the state, and must abide by the terms of its leases. State law prohibits the transfer of a lease if, among other things, the operations of the new lessee would "unreasonably interfere with the ability of the lease site and surrounding areas to support existing ecologically significant flora and fauna." For more information, contact Joshua Kratka at: (617) 422-0880. 4:20/13. DISMAL FORECAST FOR BRISTOL BAY SOCKEYE: The Associated Press reported on 15 November that the Alaska Department of Fish & Game (ADFG) is predicting a run of 16.8 million sockeye this next season for Bristol Bay, with approximately 9.7 million reds available for harvest. The University of Washington predicted just slightly more fish in its forecast. The forecast pales in comparison to the average 25 million reds fishermen have netted in the bay over the last 20 years. Last year's catch was about 14 million fish. Alaska Governor Tony Knowles has declared a disaster in the region three out of the last five years due to low salmon returns or prices, and next summer is setting up to be possibly worse still. In addition to production, prices too have been depressed; last season fishermen took home only 40 cents a pound, the lowest price since 1975, because of increasing competition from foreign fish farms. Many fishermen doubt prices will improve next summer. And many might just stay home. Last summer, about 15 percent of Bristol Bay's 1,800-plus boat fishermen and 900 beach fishermen stayed away. 4:20/14. CONGRESS GIVES ARMY CORPS FUNDS TO BEGIN NOTCHING ELK CREEK DAM TO ALLOW SALMON PASSAGE: The Eugene Register-Guard reported 16 November that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE) has received $2 million from Congress to begin notching the half-finished Elk Creek Dam to allow salmon passage on this tributary of Oregon's Rogue River. Elk Creek Dam was first authorized by Congress in 1962 as part of a three-dam flood-control project for the Rogue River. Construction was halted at the halfway point in 1987 after a federal injunction was issued based on the COE's failure to assess impacts on Rogue River salmon. Since 1987 crews have been trapping salmon and steelhead at the base of the dam, hauling them in trucks upstream, and releasing them to reach spawning habitat. The trap-haul system cost $8 million/year, and federal biologists have warned that in the long run threatened coho salmon would not survive. In 1995, COE abandoned the project after spending $100 million. Two years later it proposed partial demolition to enhance fish passage, but local opposition kept the Corps from going ahead. PCFFA, IFR and other organizations then sued to have the dam removed under the federal Endangered Species Act. The $2 million will cover work through the fiscal year ending next September. COE plans to sign up a contractor for the work in January and have it completed by October, in time for spawning coho salmon to swim through the notch to good spawning habitat upstream. See: http://www.registerguard.com/news/ Wire/N0076OR--ElkCreekDam.html. 4:20/15. MIAMI TO HOST FISHERIES SCIENCE SUMMIT: The world's leading fisheries experts will meet 26-30 November at the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Sciences for the first "World Conference on the Scientific and Technical Bases for the Sustainability of Fisheries," according to a report 16 November by WorldCatch News Network. Scientists representing key fisheries across the globe will present research that addresses some of the critical challenges imposed by the increasing worldwide demand for fish and other seafood; one billion people depend on fish as their main source of animal protein and many more consume seafood as part of a healthy diet. The 5-day conference is intended to bring together current scientific knowledge to compare and contrast case studies of many of the world's major fisheries. Fisheries assessment and management experts on tuna, billfish, reef fish, anchovies, sharks, hakes, cod, lobsters, shrimps, abalone, orange roughy and other fishes will provide their global perspective on the successes and failures in fisheries as a means to try to develop an international consensus on the management priorities for sustainability. "Our ultimate goal is to define how we can use our ocean resources in a sustainable way," said Nelson Ehrhardt, professor of marine biology and fisheries at the Rosenstiel School and conference organizer. "To meet the world's demand for fish, while reducing the decline of existing stocks, we must manage fish stocks by leaving enough fish so that they can breed and maintain their populations and also protect essential habitats, given environmental variability and uncertainty." The World Conference is sponsored by the Rosenstiel School's Center for Sustainable Fisheries. The final outcome of this conference will be a publication containing case studies as well as the discussions, conclusions and recommendations presented by the participants. This publication is intended by the sponsors to become the guide for policy institutions, commercial entities and non-governmental organizations to use as a reference on scientific and technical matters regarding the sustainability of fisheries. For more information, go to: http://www.rsmas.miami.edu/groups/cfsf/2001conf. NEWS, COMMENTS, CORRECTIONS: Submit your news items, comments or any corrections to Allison Vogt, Editor at: ifrfish@pacbell.net or call the IFR office with the news and a source at either: (415) 561-FISH (Southwest Office) or (541) 689-2000 (Northwest Office). ########################################################## "Sublegals" are a weekly fisheries news bulletin service of Fishlink. To find out more about Fishlink, list information can be viewed and you can subscribe yourself automatically at: http://straylight.primelogic.com/mailman/listinfo/fishlink . If you have any trouble subscribing or unsubscribing, contact PCFFA/IFR directly at: . ########################################################## "Fishlink" is a registered trademark of the Institute for Fisheries Resources. All rights to the use of this trademark are reserved to IFR. This publication, however, may be freely reproduced and circulated without copyright restriction. If you are receiving this as a subscriber, please feel free to pass this on to your colleagues. Subscribers who wish to post or circulate hard copy of Sublegals or have no access to the Internet may receive fax subscriptions by faxing their request, with their fax number to: (415) 561-5464. Thanks! ########################################################## NOTICE In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107 this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving it for research and educational purposes. The Institute for Fisheries Resources, a nonprofit organization, provides the Fishlink News Service free of charge even though it costs the organization considerable time and money to produce it. We would like to continue to provide this service free. You could help by making a tax-deductible contribution (anything you can afford, whether $5.00 or $500.00) to keep this effort going and growing. Please send your tax-deductible contribution to: Institute for Fisheries Resources, PO Box 29370, San Francisco, CA 94129-0370. Please do not send credit card information via E-mail. For further information about making tax-deductible contributions to IFR please phone us at: (541) 689-2000, or fax us at: (541)689-2500. -- Your Dedicated Editors ########################################################## --part1_41.1445761d.292d8599_boundary Content-Type: text/html; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ##########################################################
                 ~~>FISHLINK SUBLEGALS 11/16/01<~~
##########################################################
      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. 4, NO. 20                                   16 NOVEMBER 2001
##########################################################
IN THIS ISSUE.......

WORLD FISHERIES DAY CELEBRATIONS SET FOR 21
NOVEMBER. SEE 4:20/01.

PANETTA AT FISH EXPO, TELLS FISHERMEN TO
"KICK ASS."  SEE 4:20/02.

C-J-S FUNDING BILL RESULTS IN GIVE-AWAY OF
BERING SEA POLLOCK. SEE 4:20/04.

OREGON COHO DELISTING DECISION
APPEALED.  SEE 4:20/08.

CORPS GETS FUNDS TO NOTCH ELK RIVER
DAM.  SEE 4:20/14.

AND MORE.......
#########################################################
4:20/01. WORLD FISHERIES DAY 2001 - BENEFITS,
DONATIONS, RESOLUTION HONORING ONE OF HUMANKIND'S
OLDEST ENDEAVORS:  Wednesday, 21 November, marks World
Fisheries Day this year with a number of different events planned
around the globe. In the U.S., the Marine Fish Conservation Network
(MFCN) has promoted a number of radio shows, including spots on
National Public Radio discussing the importance of fishing (for more
information, go to: www.conservefish.org).  In response to the 11
September terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, DC, the
Cape Cod Commercial Hook Fishermen's Association is sponsoring a
World Fisheries Day related concert on Saturday, the 17th, to benefit the
survivors of the seafood restaurant victims from the World Trade
Center.  Another example is in Maryland, where Phillips Seafood and
the Baltimore County Watermen's Association will be delivering 500
pounds of fish to three homeless shelters in Baltimore on the 19th
commemorating World Fisheries Day. In California, the state
Legislature has adopted a resolution, authored by Assembly member
Virginia Strom-Martin (D-Duncan Mills), celebrating World Fisheries
Day.  

The November issue of The Fishermen's News features an article on
World Fisheries Day (go to: www.pcffa.org/fn-nov01.htm).  Finally,
U.S. Representative Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), the House Democratic Whip,
has a draft resolution in the Congress to formally recognize 21
November as World Fisheries Day (for more information, go to:
sf.nancy@mail.house.gov). Also go to PCFFA's website at:
www.pcffa.org for further information on the day designated to
celebrate one of humankind's oldest endeavors.

4:20/02. PANETTA AT FISH EXPO - TELLS FISHERMEN TO
GET TOGETHER AND "KICK ASS":  Former U.S. Congressman and
White House Chief of Staff, Leon Panetta, who now chairs the Pew
Oceans Commission, addressed FISH EXPO on 16 November (see
Sublegals, 4:19/09), describing to the assembled group the myriad of
threats facing the ocean environment and telling fishermen they need to
get together in order to have their voice heard.  Among the threats to the
oceans and its fishes he raised were non-point pollution sources that are
causing dead zones in the Gulf of Mexico and elsewhere, the growing
number of invasive species in the nation's waters, and the population
growth along the U.S. coasts threatening wetlands and other habitats as
well as water quality.  He expressed his preference for some form of
ocean governance that would bring all parties to the table using the
process being used among six states around the Chesapeake Bay as a
possible model. He also underscored the need to have fishermen at the
table.

"You've got to fight for your industry," Panetta told the fishing
group. "Nationwide, this industry has never gotten its act together, and if
you did, you could be a force. When you're one voice and you represent
one powerful constituency in the country and you go to the people in
Washington, you can begin to have an impact."   He then went on to say
that fishermen have to be prepared to "kick ass" to protect their
resources and their livelihoods. Seafood importers, exporters,
distributors and others in the shoreside sector are represented by the
National Fisheries Institute. However, there is currently no national
organization of commercial fishermen in the U.S.                                      

Unlike the federal U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy, the
20-member Pew Commission includes representatives from the
commercial and recreational fishing industry, including PCFFA
President Pietro Parravano.  The Pew Commission is also regarded as
the more balanced of the two groups currently addressing national ocean
policy.  The 16-member U.S. Commission, nominated by Congress and
appointed by the President, is viewed as pro-offshore oil and
pro-aquaculture.  The next meeting of the Pew Commission is scheduled
for the week of 26 November in New York City.  It will hold a public
hearing on Thursday, the 29th, from 1400-1700 HRS at the American
Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street while in
New York.  The Pew Commission, which has already published reports
on pollution, aquaculture, and marine invasive species (go to:
www.pewoceans.org), will issue its final recommendations on ways to
control marine pollution, restore fisheries, protect coastal habitats,
and sustain marine life to Congress and the nation in the fall of 2002.
For more information on the New York meeting, contact Justin Kenney
at: kenneyj@pewoceans.org.

The U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy, meanwhile, held its second
meeting on 13-14 November in Washington, DC.  Starting more than a
year after the Pew Commission began its work, the federal commission
will begin a series of nine regional meetings.  It has agreed to a tentative
schedule for these meetings in 2002, starting with Charleston, South
Carolina 14-16 January. Meetings are also currently
scheduled to be held in Tampa Bay in February, New Orleans in March,
Los Angeles in April, Honolulu in May; Seattle in June, Boston in July,
Anchorage in August, and Chicago in September.  For more
information, contact Robert Hansen at: Robert.C.Hansen@noaa.gov.

4:20/03. IMPASSE ON DUNGENESS CRAB PRICE KEEPS
CENTRAL CALIFORNIA SEASON CLOSED; CONGRESS
EXTENDS STATE EEZ AUTHORITY OVER FISHERY:  The Central
California Dungeness Crab season (Sonoma County south) that was set
to start on Thursday, the 15th, has been delayed as a result of a price
disagreement between crabbers and processors on an ex-vessel price
(see Sublegals 4:19/01).  Crab marketing associations have asked for a
market order price of between $2.25 and $2.50 per pound, while
processors have offered an ex-vessel price of $1.75 per pound.  If the
stalemate continues, it could jeopardize the Thanksgiving market.

In the meantime, Congress has approved language, as part of the
Commerce-Justice-State appropriation package (HR 2500 - see 4:20/04
below), on 15 November, to extend state jurisdiction over the
Dungeness crab fishery in the federal Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)
offshore California, Oregon and Washington through 30 September
2006.  The bill was sent to the President 16 November. This language
continues existing authority by the states over this fishery out to 200
miles; however, the issue may be taken up again prior to 2006 in the
reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation &
Management Act.

4:20/04. COMMERCE-JUSTICE-STATE APPROPRIATIONS
BILL SENT TO PRESIDENT, $3.3 BILLION FOR NOAA, AFA
AMENDED GIVING POLLOCK TO CATCHER/PROCESSORS,
RELIEF FOR PACIFIC COAST GROUNDFISH FISHERMEN: On
Thursday, 15 November, the Senate gave final approval on a 98-1 vote
to the 2002 Commerce-Justice-State appropriations bill, HR 2500
(House Report 107-298) and sent the $39.4 billion spending package to
the President the following day.  According to a 15 November
WorldCatch News Network report, it includes $3.25 billion for the
National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) - a budget
figure comparable to Senate and House-approved funding for the
Commerce agency and just above the President's request of $3.15
billion.  The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), however, took
a significant cut in conference committee. The House passed $729
million for the federal fishery agency, the Senate passed $668 million
and conferees reported $579.2 million. The President requested $734
million, and the FY '01 enacted level was $815 million. Some of the cuts
came in the area of stock assessments. Conservation programs get
$439.2 million in the conference report, the weather programs are fully
funded and the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund received the full
request of $110 million. For more information, go to:
www.worldcatch.com.

On 15 November, the Senate also passed the 2002 Agriculture
appropriations bill. The $75.9 billion funding bill, HR 2330, (House
Report 107-275) passed on a 92-7 vote; it had already cleared the House
on the 13th. It includes $961 million for the Natural Resources
Conservation Service (NRCS), compared with the administration's
request for $927 million. NRCS is involved in a number of salmon
habitat restoration programs in California, Oregon and Washington.         

In addition to the language extending state jurisdiction in the EEZ
over the Dungeness crab fishery, the Commerce-Justice-State funding
package includes $15.58 million designed to assist the Pacific Coast
groundfish fleet - money that had been sought by Senators Ron Wyden
(D-OR) and Patty Murray (D-WA).  According to a report in the 15
November Daily Astorian, more than $4 million of that funding is aimed
at placing observers directly on board fishing vessels to help compile
more accurate catch information and track bycatch. Other groundfish
backing found in the Conference Report includes:

* $1.5 million for direct disaster assistance to fishermen who suffered
financial losses.

* $1 million for Oregon's Groundfish Disaster Outreach - a program that
helps fishermen transition out of the industry and into new fields of
employment.

* $5.22 million for ongoing research on West Coast groundfish.

* $2 million for cooperative groundfish research.

The most controversial provision of the C-J-S 2002 funding bill is the
rider inserted by Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) amending Section 213 of
the American Fisheries Act (P.L. 105-277) deleting the 30 September
2004 sunset date and giving exclusive rights to the Seattle-based
catcher-processor fleet and native corporations holding community
development quotas (CDQs) that were initially allocated Bering Sea
pollock for a 5-year period to implement American ownership of the
pollock catch. The rights to harvest this fish stock are worth $700
million annually.  The AFA was already controversial with many in the
fisheries who viewed it as a rip-off of taxpayers and much of the fishing
community to profit a few large well-connected (e.g., former Senate
staffers now in the employ of the fishing companies) fish harvesting and
processing companies.

4:20/05. PACIFIC COAST WHITING CATCHER/PROCESSOR
FISHERY CLOSES FOR YEAR: On 13 November, the National
Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) announced the closure of the 2001
catcher/processor fishery for Pacific whiting (hake) effective 1800 HRS
that day, pursuant to 50 CFR, Part 660. The closure will be in effect
until the beginning of the 2002 season.  NMFS is accepting comments
on the action until 3 December.  For comments, contact Rod McInnis,
Acting Regional Administrator, Southwest Region, NMFS, 501 West
Ocean Blvd., Suite 4200, Long Beach, CA 90802-4213. For more
information, call Becky Renko at (206) 526-6110.

4:20/06. AUSTRALIAN SEAFOOD CONFERENCE TO FEATURE
PAPER ON TRAWL FISHERY RESTRUCTURING AND BUY-OUT:
"Seafood Directions 2001," Australia's national seafood conference, that
will be held 27-29 November this year in Brisbane, Australia, will
feature a paper on the restructuring and license buy-out implemented
this year in the Queensland East Coast Trawl Fishery.  The program
resulted in the removal of one-third of the 750 licenses and boats that
were authorized to fish in that fishery as of 1 January 2001, according to
Ted Loveday, Chief Executive Officer of the Queensland Seafood
Industry Association.  One hundred (100) of these licenses were
removed on 1 Jan 2001 through a $20 million (AUS) license buy-out
and another hundred licenses have been permanently removed since then
through mechanisms in the new Queensland East Coast Trawl
Management Plan (ECTP) that was implemented in conjunction with the
license buy-out.  There are now a little over 500 licenses and boats
remaining in the fishery and this number is continuing to decline, says
Loveday. For more information on the conference or to receive a copy
of the paper, go to: www.seafoodsite.com.au/seafooddirections.

On a related issue, the November edition of The Queensland
Fisherman, features a new fisheries policy developed by the Australian
Seafood Industry Council (ASIC) that it circulated prior to that nation's
recently conducted federal elections (pp.20-25).  The policy may be of
interest to U.S. and Canadian fishermen and others in the fisheries. For
more information, go to: www.asic.org.au.

4:20/07. FISH CONSUMPTION SUBJECT OF ENVIRONMENTAL
JUSTICE MEETING IN SEATTLE: "What is the relationship between
water quality, fish consumption and environmental justice?" will be the
focus of the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC)
meeting scheduled for 3-6 December in Seattle.  A public comment
period dedicated to the focused policy issue is scheduled for Tuesday
evening, 4 December from 1900-2100 HRS.

The NEJAC was established to ensure that the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) receives the viewpoints of diverse
stakeholders on issues related to environmental justice. The NEJAC
consists of 26 members representing community groups; industry; state,
local and tribal governments, and both government and non-government
organizations. For more information on the Seattle meeting, go to:
http://es.epa.gov/oeca/main/ej/nejac/conf_ne.html, or call the toll-free
NEJAC Hotline at: (888) 335-4299.

4:20/08.  OREGON COHO DELISTING DECISION APPEALED:
U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Michael Hogan ruled 16 November that a
coalition of fisheries and conservation organizations, including both
PCFFA and IFR, had a right to intervene in the Alsea Valley Alliance v.
NMFS case (see Sublegals 4:19/05; 4:18/02) for purposes of appealing
to the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Hogan's Oregon coastal coho
Endangered Species Act (ESA) delisting decision.  An appeal was
immediately filed with the Court of Appeals, together with a request for
a stay of Judge Hogan's decision.  A stay, if granted, would reinstate
coho ESA protections for the central Oregon population until either the
appeal could be heard or the case becomes moot with the National
Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) changes in its policy concerning
inclusion of hatchery fish within the genetic conservation unit (the ESU
or 'evolutionarily significant unit') that the ESA listing protects.  

The basis of intervention was that NMFS is no longer representing
the interests of fish protection interests because it failed to ask for a stay
and failed to take an appeal.  Instead of doing either, and faced with
landowner petitions for the delisting of nearly every listed salmonid on
the west coast based on that ruling, NMFS decided to undertake a
complete review of its policy with regard to ESA classification of
hatchery fish under the ESA.  Planned hearings will begin in February of
2002 running for a period of 60 days, with a projected decision date in
September 2002.  NMFS then plans a status review of all listings that
might be affected by any changes in the policy.  At that time, at least
two years down the road, NMFS may then propose relisting of the
Central Oregon coho, leaving them completely unprotected under the
ESA in the interim.  For details on the NMFS review see:
http://www.nwr.noaa.gov/occd/occd.html.     The decision on the request
for a stay of Judge Hogan's trial court order must be made by 10
December.  For more information on the Intervener's petition, contact:
Patti Goldman or Kristen Boyles, EarthjusticeLegal Defense Fund, (206)
343-7340.  For the full Oregonian story see:
http://www.oregonlive.com/printer/printer.ssf?/xml/story.ssf/
html_standard.xsl?/base/news/10060017576527191.xml

4:20/09. EIGHTH ANNUAL SALMON RUN: Okay, it's only a 5k
run and 3k walk, but this is not the Sacramento, the Columbia or the
Fraser where we'd demand a marathon, or the Yukon or the Amur where
an ironman triathlon would be required.  It's for the Ventura River and
it's a good cause. The Matilija Coalition, a local non-profit dedicated to
restoring the Ventura River in southern California (it once supported
major coho and steelhead populations), is sponsoring the run as part of a
fund-raiser on Sunday, 18 November.  Fish passage on the Ventura
River has been blocked for decades by the now silted-in Matilija Dam,
and both fish conservationists and surfers are working to remove the
dam and restore the river.  The Institute for Fisheries Resources, in fact,
is under contract with the California Coastal Conservancy to develop a
plan for the ancient Matilija structure.  For more information on the
event, that is being co-sponsored by Patagonia and Great Pacific Iron
Works, among others, contact: Paul Jenkin, Environmental Director,
Surfrider Foundation Ventura County Chapter Coordinator, Matilija
Coalition at: paul@matilija-coalition.org.

4:20/10. HATCHERY SALMON SURPLUSES ADD TO FOOD
BANKS FOR THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY: In addition to fish
donations being made by fishing groups to food banks around World
Fisheries Day and the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, fish hatcheries
throughout the Northwest are making surplus hatchery fish available for
shelters and others serving the needy this year. WorldCatch News
Network reports that about 80,000 pounds of frozen fillets have been
distributed to food banks across the Washington State so far this year.
Twenty-thousand pounds have come to Second Harvest of the Inland
Northwest, with another 20,000 pounds on the way. While the Chinook
and pink runs are done for the year, some coho are still making their
way to hatcheries, and the chum season is just getting started. Last year,
food banks in Washington distributed 140,000 pounds of fillets. In
Oregon, the state is planning to hike its hatchery contributions to the
hungry and needy, with a truckload of about 40,000 pounds of frozen
salmon fillets for the Oregon Food Bank. The shipment is the first of
several totaling about 140,000 hatchery fish which will provide around
500,000 meals to needy Oregonians this fall. For more information, go
to: www.worldcatch.com.

4:20/11.  BUSH ADMINISTRATION REMOVES MINING
CLAIMS BAN IN SOUTHERN OREGON SALMON STREAMS:
Reversing one of the last Clinton Administration initiatives, Secretary of
Interior Gale Norton is lifting the current ban on filing new mining
claims within the Siskiyou National Forest in some of the west coast's
last remaining good salmon and steelhead spawning habitat in southern
Oregon.  The ban, imposed for a two year period by outgoing Secretary
of Interior Bruce Babbitt on 23 January 2001, was intended to pave the
way for further protections of these public lands primarily for their
habitat and wildlife value, but Babbitt failed to protect these key river
systems under a national monument designation, citing lack of time.
Conservation and fisheries groups in the area have been pressing for the
designation of these public lands as a 'Six Rivers National Monument'
for several years, a proposal also backed by PCFFA and several other
fisheries groups because of the need for protection of key salmon and
steelhead streams.  Monument status would have provided maximum
protection for critical salmon and steelhead habitat on these public
lands.  There are already more than 1,000 mining claims in the Siskiyou
National Forest, and under the much criticized 1872 Mining Act any of
these mining claims could be developed with little regard to
environmental impacts and with no royalties payments to the US
Treasury.  Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber, Oregon Senator Ron
Wyden and Representative Peter DeFazio, in whose Congressional
district these lands sit, all favored the original mining claim moratorium,
but Oregon Senator Gordon Smith has opposed any additional protection
for those areas.  Local mining advocates argued that the rivers should
remain open to mining 'in light of current national security concerns.'
For more information about efforts to protect the southern Oregon
coastal river systems and the 'Siskiyou Wild Rivers' proposal see:
http://www.siskiyou.org.

4:20/12. CONSERVATIONISTS SEEK TO BLOCK SALE OF
MAINE SALMON FARM TO DUTCH COMPANY: Plans by a Maine
aquaculture operation, Heritage Salmon, to sell out to the Dutch Seafood
giant, Nutreco, have run afoul of local conservation groups who are
currently in federal court in Bangor suing Heritage for operating its
farms in violation of the U.S. Clean Water Act (CWA).  U.S. Public
Interest Research Group (U.S. PIRG) has asked Maine Department of
Marine Resources Commissioner George LaPointe to block any transfer
of the farms under Maine law. "For nearly a decade, Heritage has
violated the federal Clean Water Act with impunity, and has also failed
to live up to the requirements of its state leases," said Joshua R. Kratka,
senior attorney at the National Environmental Law Center (NELC).
"The State of Maine should not transfer these leases of public lands to
yet another multinational fish-farming conglomerate without first
assuring that any new salmon farm operator will comply with state and
federal environmental laws."  Heritage Salmon is a division of George
Weston, Ltd., the Canadian supermarket conglomerate.

In a 2 November letter, U.S. PIRG's attorneys requested that
LaPointe deny a transfer of Heritage sites to any new owner until the
new owner guarantees that environmental safeguards will be put in
place.  Such safeguards include measures to prevent fish escapes and the
spread of disease to wild salmon, to minimize the use and release of
toxic chemicals, and to ensure that salmon farm wastes do not create
"dead zones" on the ocean bottom beneath and around the farm sites.
Heritage, like other salmon farm owners in Maine, operates its farms on
submerged public lands.  It leases these lands from the state, and must
abide by the terms of its leases.  State law prohibits the transfer of a
lease if, among other things, the operations of the new lessee would
"unreasonably interfere with the ability of the lease site and surrounding
areas to support existing ecologically significant flora and fauna."  For
more information, contact Joshua Kratka at: (617) 422-0880.

4:20/13. DISMAL FORECAST FOR BRISTOL BAY SOCKEYE:
The Associated Press reported on 15 November that the Alaska
Department of Fish & Game (ADFG) is predicting a run of 16.8 million
sockeye this next season for Bristol Bay, with approximately 9.7 million
reds available for harvest. The University of Washington predicted just
slightly more fish in its forecast. The forecast pales in comparison to the
average 25 million reds fishermen have netted in the bay over the last 20
years. Last year's catch was about 14 million fish. Alaska Governor
Tony Knowles has declared a disaster in the region three out of the last
five years due to low salmon returns or prices, and next summer is
setting up to be possibly worse still. In addition to production, prices too
have been depressed; last season fishermen took home only 40 cents a
pound, the lowest price since 1975, because of increasing competition
from foreign fish farms. Many fishermen doubt prices will improve next
summer. And many might just stay home. Last summer, about 15
percent of Bristol Bay's 1,800-plus boat fishermen and 900 beach
fishermen stayed away.

4:20/14. CONGRESS GIVES ARMY CORPS FUNDS TO BEGIN
NOTCHING ELK CREEK DAM TO ALLOW SALMON PASSAGE:
The Eugene Register-Guard reported 16 November that the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers (COE) has received $2 million from Congress to
begin notching the half-finished Elk Creek Dam to allow salmon
passage on this tributary of Oregon's Rogue River. Elk Creek Dam was
first authorized by Congress in 1962 as part of a three-dam flood-control
project for the Rogue River. Construction was halted at the halfway
point in 1987 after a federal injunction was issued based on the COE's
failure to assess impacts on Rogue River salmon.  Since 1987 crews
have been trapping salmon and steelhead at the base of the dam, hauling
them in trucks upstream, and releasing them to reach spawning habitat.
The trap-haul system cost $8 million/year, and federal biologists have
warned that in the long run threatened coho salmon would not survive.
In 1995, COE abandoned the project after spending $100 million. Two
years later it proposed partial demolition to enhance fish passage, but
local opposition kept the Corps from going ahead. PCFFA, IFR and
other organizations then sued to have the dam removed under the federal
Endangered Species Act. The $2 million will cover work through the
fiscal year ending next September. COE plans to sign up a contractor for
the work in January and have it completed by October, in time for
spawning coho salmon to swim through the notch to good spawning
habitat upstream. See: http://www.registerguard.com/news/
Wire/N0076OR--ElkCreekDam.html.

4:20/15. MIAMI TO HOST FISHERIES SCIENCE SUMMIT: The
world's leading fisheries experts will meet 26-30 November at the
University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric
Sciences for the first "World Conference on the Scientific and Technical
Bases for the Sustainability of Fisheries," according to a report 16
November by WorldCatch News Network.   Scientists representing key
fisheries across the globe will present research that addresses some of
the critical challenges imposed by the increasing worldwide demand for
fish and other seafood; one billion people depend on fish as their main
source of animal protein and many more consume seafood as part of a
healthy diet. The 5-day conference is intended to bring together current
scientific knowledge to compare and contrast case studies of many of
the world's major fisheries. Fisheries assessment and management
experts on tuna, billfish, reef fish, anchovies, sharks, hakes, cod,
lobsters, shrimps, abalone, orange roughy and other fishes will provide
their global perspective on the successes and failures in fisheries as a
means to try to develop an international consensus on the management
priorities for sustainability.

"Our ultimate goal is to define how we can use our ocean resources
in a sustainable way," said Nelson Ehrhardt, professor of marine biology
and fisheries at the Rosenstiel School and conference organizer. "To
meet the world's demand for fish, while reducing the decline of existing
stocks, we must manage fish stocks by leaving enough fish so that they
can breed and maintain their populations and also protect essential
habitats, given environmental variability and uncertainty."

The World Conference is sponsored by the Rosenstiel School's
Center for Sustainable Fisheries. The final outcome of this conference
will be a publication containing case studies as well as the discussions,
conclusions and recommendations presented by the participants. This
publication is intended by the sponsors to become the guide for policy
institutions, commercial entities and non-governmental organizations to
use as a reference on scientific and technical matters regarding the
sustainability of fisheries. For more information, go to:
http://www.rsmas.miami.edu/groups/cfsf/2001conf.

NEWS, COMMENTS, CORRECTIONS: Submit your news items,
comments or any corrections to Allison Vogt, Editor at:
ifrfish@pacbell.net 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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--part1_41.1445761d.292d8599_boundary-- From FISH1IFR@aol.com Thu Nov 29 23:24:05 2001 Received: from imo-r02.mx.aol.com (imo-r02.mx.aol.com [152.163.225.98]) by straylight.primelogic.com (8.11.6/8.11.1) with ESMTP id fAU7O4N50707 for ; Thu, 29 Nov 2001 23:24:04 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from FISH1IFR@aol.com) Received: from FISH1IFR@aol.com by imo-r02.mx.aol.com (mail_out_v31_r1.9.) id e.25.1f102b4b (3974) for ; Fri, 30 Nov 2001 02:19:20 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: <25.1f102b4b.29388cf7@aol.com> Date: Fri, 30 Nov 2001 02:19:19 EST To: fishlink@straylight.primelogic.com MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="part1_25.1f102b4b.29388cf7_boundary" X-Mailer: AOL 6.0 for Windows US sub 10536 From: fishlink-admin@straylight.primelogic.com Subject: [Fishlink] ~~>FISHLINK SUBLEGALS 11/23/01<~~ Sender: fishlink-admin@straylight.primelogic.com Errors-To: fishlink-admin@straylight.primelogic.com X-BeenThere: fishlink@straylight.primelogic.com X-Mailman-Version: 2.0.6 Precedence: bulk Reply-To: bit-bucket@straylight.primelogic.com X-Reply-To: fishlink@straylight.primelogic.com List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Fishlink is a joint fisheries information news service of Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations (PCFFA) and the Institute for Fisheries Resources (IFR). List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: --part1_25.1f102b4b.29388cf7_boundary Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit sub4-21.txt ########################################################## ~~>FISHLINK SUBLEGALS 11/23/01<~~ ########################################################## 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. 4, NO. 21 23 NOVEMBER 2001 ########################################################## IN THIS ISSUE....... CENTRAL CALIFORNIA DUNGENESS CRAB FISHERY REMAINS CLOSED IN PRICE DISPUTE. 4:21/01. COAST GUARD FINDINGS IN MISS BRITTANY ACCIDENT. 4:21/02. WASHINGTON STATE JUDGE OVERRULES COUNTY "SALMON PROTECTION" PLAN. 4:21/05. TANKER ACCIDENT HIGHLIGHTS NEED FOR COASTAL TANKER PROTECTIONS. 4:21/10. NEW SEABIRD AVOIDANCE REGS PROPOSED IN ALASKA FISHERY. 4:21/16. AND MORE....... ########################################################## 4:21/01. CENTRAL CALIFORNIA DUNGENESS CRAB FISHERY REMAINS CLOSED OVER PRICE DISPUTE, THANKGIVING MARKET LOST: The Central California Dungeness crab fishery remains closed due to an impasse between fish processors and crabbers on an ex-vessel price (see Sublegals, 4:20/03; 4:19/01). Marketing associations representing crab fishermen have submitted market orders for $2.25 per pound, the same opening price as last season, but processors have only been willing to offer $1.85 per pound. Meanwhile one large trawler from Half Moon Bay did go without a market order and delivered 15,000 lbs. of crab into San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf shortly after the legal opening of 15 November, selling them for $2.40 per pound (this fisherman, John Dooley, had said he would fish for $2.00 per pound, but having been the one boat unwilling to honor the tie-up he ended up with the higher price in a market desperate for fresh product). Aside from Dooley's load the only fresh crab reaching the markets traditionally served by the Central California fishery are those from the Tribal fishery off the coast of Washington. There Tribal fishermen are reportedly getting $2.15 per pound and San Francisco wholesalers are paying $2.55 per pound for their delivered live crab. The willingness of the processors to pay higher prices for the "scab crab" and the Tribal crab from Washington than the price asked for by local fishermen has led some to charge that a few large processors are actively attempting to break the fishing associations. The Northern California (Mendocino County north), Oregon and non-Tribal Washington fishery is scheduled to open on 1 December if a price agreement can be reached. The California Department of Fish & Game has authorized a 64-hour preset for the 1 December opening, pursuant to a request by PCFFA. 4:21/02. COAST GUARD FINDINGS IN MISS BRITTANY ACCIDENT BLAME NEGLIGENCE: The U.S. Coast Guard investigation of the 7 August capsizing of the crab boat Miss Brittany in the Columbia River estuary has concluded that captain negligence, plus failure to wear life jackets, not wave amplification due to mounding of dredge spoils, was the primary cause of the loss of life to two crew members. In findings released 21 November, the Coast Guard noted that the captain of the Miss Brittany was fishing in an area known to be very dangerous at ebb tides, where waves break from three different directions, and was very near the bar. The missing crew members, because of the bulkiness while working on deck, were not wearing life jackets. Rescue crews arrived within 15 minutes, but rescue efforts failed. The Coast Guard ruled out wave amplification in this specific case, considering the direction of the swells. However, boats have been lost in the area in the past because of the wave amplification phenomenon, caused by mounding of dredge spoils dumped in the estuary by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE). The Columbia River Crab Fishermen's Association (CRCFA) and PCFFA have recently sued the Army Corps over the Corps failure to reduce the wave amplification safety hazard for small fishing boats in the estuary (see Sublegals 4:15/01). For more information on the Coast Guard findings contact: Amy Gaskill, US Coast Guard, (503) 247-4011. 4:21/03. BIG ROCK PROPOSES HYDRO PROJECTS ON TRINITY: Big Rock Power Partners has filed preliminary permits with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for the construction of two small hydropower projects on the Willow and Old Campbell Creeks in the Trinity River basin. Willow Creek is well known for its whitewater and boaters provide a substantial amount tourism and business for the town of Willow Creek, as well as being a salmon stream. While Big Rock Power maintains that, "The use of small designs results in lesser environmental impact making these projects superior to most other modes of power generation," the Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC) has found the permits contrary to several federal policies. Both sites are located within the Six Rivers National Forest, meaning that the proposed projects must comply with the Six Rivers Land and Resource Management Plan (LRMP) as well as the Northwest Forest Plan both of which emphasize the protection of in-stream flows and riparian habitat. The two projects are also inconsistent with efforts to restore salmon resources in the Trinity, a major tributary of the Klamath River, in northern California. The Old Campbell Creek project also falls under the jurisdiction of the Wild & Scenic Rivers Act which prohibits the licensing of any dam, water conduit, or reservoir. The Old Campbell Water Project proposes to divert from 5 to 140 cubic feet per second (cfs) through a 2500-foot pipeline. The power plant would have the capacity to generate 3 megawatts of electricity. The Willow Creek Water Project proposes to divert from 10 to 450 cfs also through a 2500-foot pipeline. That power plant would have the capacity to generate 5 megawatts of electricity. More information and the ability to comment on the projects is available on Big Rock Power's website at www.bigrockpower.com. Comments can also be sent to FERC to the attention of James Goris, Regional Director 901 Market Street San Francisco, CA 94103. 4:21/04. FOURTH ANNUAL SALMON OCEAN ECOLOGY CONFERENCE IN JANUARY: The 4th Annual Salmon Ocean Ecology Meeting will take place on 15-16 January, 2002, at the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Santa Cruz, California Laboratory. Following on previous meetings in Newport, Seattle, and Nanaimo, B.C., this is the fourth in a series of informal meetings designed to foster communication among researchers working on the ocean ecology of Pacific salmonids. The purpose of the meeting will be to highlight work in progress, including presentations of speculative and "not-quite-polished" results. The first day of the meeting will be devoted to the theme "Adaptations of Pacific Salmon to Extreme Ocean Environments." The second day will be devoted to more general ecosystem observations and ecological papers. The first Conference announcement and more information is available on their website at: http://www.pfeg.noaa.gov/events/SalmonMeeting. 4:21/05. WASHINGTON STATE JUDGE OVERRULES COUNTY "SALMON PROTECTION" PLAN, CALLING IT INADEQUATE: The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported 22 November that Thurston County Superior Court Judge Christine Pomeroy overturned Washington's Skagit County salmon-protection plan for agricultural areas, saying it did not employ the "best available science" in determining the size of streamside buffers. The Judge ruled in favor of the Swinomish Indian Tribe and the Washington Environmental Council, who called the case an important test of what the state will allow in terms of salmon protection buffers. The issue has proved a flash point in agricultural communities, according to the P-I article, because crops cannot be grown inside the buffers. Skagit County proposed a system of buffers that could be expanded. To see the complete article, go to: http://seattlep-i.nwsource.com/local/47785_salm22.shtml. 4:21/06. NATIONAL GUIDANCE ON MEASURES TO PROTECT AND RESTORE WETLANDS AND RIPARIAN AREAS AND ABATE NONPOINT SOURCE POLLUTION AVAILABLE FOR COMMENTS: The U.S. Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) has developed and is requesting comments on a draft technical guidance for protecting and restoring wetlands and riparian areas from sources of nonpoint pollution and using vegetated treatment systems (vegetative filter strips and constructed wetlands) for controlling nonpoint source pollution. This guidance is intended to provide technical assistance to state program managers, fishermen and others on the best available, economically achievable means of protecting and restoring wetlands and riparian areas damaged by nonpoint source pollution. Additionally, this guidance provides technical assistance for state program managers on the use of vegetated treatment systems to control nonpoint source pollution. EPA says that the draft technical guidance is consistent with the Guidance Specifying Management Measures for Sources of Nonpoint Pollution in Coastal Water (EPA 840-B-92-002), which EPA published in January 1993 under the authority of section 6217(g) of the Coastal Zone Act Reauthorization Amendments of 1990 (CZARA). The draft document does not supplant or replace the requirements of the 1993 document. The complete text of the draft guidance is available on EPA's Internet site on the Nonpoint Source Control Branch's homepage at: http://www.epa.gov/owow/nps/wetmeasures. Copies of the complete draft can also be obtained in electronic or hard copy format by request from Chris Solloway at the above address, by E-mail at: Solloway.Chris@epa.gov, or by calling (202) 260-3008. 4:21/07. CALIFORNIA WATER POLICY CONFERENCE: "The Price of Water: Are We Counting All the Costs?" is the theme of the California Water Policy Conference being held 6-7 December in Los Angeles. The conference includes workshops on privatization and deregulation, water use efficiency, CALFED and watershed management. For more information, go to: http://www.cawaterpolicy.org. 4:21/08. PUBLIC SCOPING MEETINGS FOR MARINE SANCTUARY JOINT MANAGEMENT PLAN REVIEW, BOUNDARY LINE LIKELY TO BE MAJOR ISSUE: A series of 20 scoping meetings for the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary (NMS), Cordell Bank NMS and Monterey Bay NMS begins 28 November in Santa Cruz and ends 17 January in San Jose. The meetings are to receive public input on the management plan review for the three NMS located along California's north central coast. Members of the public, fishermen and others will have the opportunity to comment on the plan and the sanctuaries. The fishing industry had been one of the major proponents of the sanctuary designations for these waters in order to protect important fishing grounds from proposals at the time for oil drilling, deep sea mining and even the scuttling of decommissioned nuclear submarines in these waters. One of the major issues is likely to be the boundary line between the Gulf of the Farallones and Monterey sanctuaries. Fishermen, the counties of Marin, San Francisco and San Mateo, as well as some conservation groups have pressed to adjust the boundaries between the two sanctuaries at Ano Nuevo, which not only demarks the geographic and ecological boundary between the two sanctuaries, but the political one as well (it is the boundary line between San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties). Persons unable to attend any of the scooping sessions may submit comments by e-mail to jointplancomments@noaa.gov or on their website. The comment period remains open until 31 January 2002. To see the full schedule of 20 meetings, make a comment, or read about the management plan visit their website at: http://sanctuaries.nos.noaa.gov/jointplan 4:21/09. SUSTAINING SEASCAPES CONFERENCE SCHEDULED FOR 7-8 MARCH 2002: The Center for Biodiversity & Conservation (CBC) will host their seventh annual spring symposium, 'Sustaining Seascapes: The Science & Policy of Marine Resource Management.' The symposium will explore the conservation of marine biodiversity and fisheries through the integrated design of marine protected areas (MPAs), MPA networks, and other complementary coastal management frameworks. Topics will include an overview of marine fisheries and biodiversity; the economics of coastal zones; fisheries, tourism, and other sectors, and; analytical and practical approaches to linking social and ecological systems. To register, please contact: Central Reservations, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY 10024, Tel: (212) 769-5200 or (212) 769-5272. For more information visit http://research.amnh.org/biodiversity 4:21/10. TANKER ACCIDENT HIGHLIGHTS NEED FOR COASTAL TANKER PROTECTIONS: On 23 November the retired 906-foot oil tanker Atigun Pass broke a tow line in 30 foot swells at the mouth of the Columbia River and threatened to run aground. Fortunately, the Atigun Pass was carrying only about 20,000 gallons of fuel oil, and was being towed from Portland to China for salvage because it did not meet current double hulled oil tanker vessel standards. The ship was saved over the weekend, but the accident highlights the need for state oil tanker vessel safety standards that meet the specific conditions of local ports and coastlines. Current U.S. law (the Oil Pollution Act (OPA), 33 U.S.C. 2701-2761) apparently pre-empts state legislatures from passing tanker safety laws that are more stringent than the very weak national standards. Yet there is a long history of major oil tanker spills on the west coast, including a 2.3 million gallon spill off the Washington Olympic peninsula in 1972; a 239,000 gallon spill off Port Angeles, Washington in 1985; a 231,000 gallon spill along Grays Harbor, Washington in 1988; a 400,000 gallon spill along the Olympic peninsula in 1991; and of course the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska in 1989. An average of two oil tankers per day transit Washington State waters, the largest carrying as much as 40 million gallons of crude oil - three times the amount that spilled from the Exxon Valdez. An oil spill accident in the navigationally treacherous Puget Sound would destroy major fisheries in both Washington and Canada. Most coastal states, PCFFA and many other fisheries organizations have advocated Congressional legislation that would allow states to set higher safety standards for oil tanker shipments within their state waters that address unique safety risks better than the very minimal federal laws. Late in the 106th Congress, then Senator Slade Gorton (R-WA) introduced S. 2506 and Representative Jack Metcalf (R-WA) introduced H.R. 4385, to give states more authority in setting oil tanker safety standards. However, these bills have not been reintroduced as yet in the 107th Congress. For the article on the Atigun Pass accident see the Seattle Times for 23 November, going to the Archive page at: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com for that date. Alaskans, meanwhile, who had sued Exxon for punitive damages from the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill were stunned and angered by the recent U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that the $5 billion fine against the petroleum giant Exxon-Mobil was excessive. Many plaintiffs had been counting on payments from the punitive verdict to solve problems including the effects of a declining fishing economy. 4:21/11. FAST TRACK TRADE BILL SET FOR VOTE 6 DECEMBER: Congress will be voting on H.R. 3005 "Fast Track legislation" which gives the President authority to negotiate trade agreements while denying Congress the opportunity to add amendments or have in-depth debate on the agreement (see Sublegals, 4:16/15; 4:14/11). The President would also draft all of the implementing legislation required to bring U.S. law into accordance with the agreement. Global Exchange states "while the U.S. Constitution invests in Congress the exclusive authority to 'regulate Commerce with foreign Nations,' it bestows upon the Executive exclusive authority for managing 'relations with foreign sovereigns.' This design is one of many checks and balances built into the U.S. Constitution to avoid one branch of government from having absolute control of a vital policy area. Fast Track would concentrate the power to set the terms of international trade in the hands of the President." The legislation also sets time limits for Congressional action on any agreements. Congress would be forced to either reject or accept the entire package within 60 days of when it is introduced, with only 20 hours allowed for debate. This not only prevents detailed analysis and debate of trade agreements, but limits opportunities for public access and input. This would greatly restrict public participation in the formation of trade policies. President Bush has stated that besides expanding NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) to the entire Western Hemisphere, he will use fast track to prioritize free trade deals with Chile (see Sublegals, 4:17/03). This worries fishing groups because it could exacerbate the dumping of imported fish into the U.S. market, particularly Chilean farmed salmon (see Sublegals 4:14/10). This would put U.S. fishermen, who must adhere to strong conservation standards, at a competitive disadvantage in the marketplace, absent safeguards placed on seafood imports. To read about fast track legislation in more detail visit Global Exchange at http://www.globalexchange.org/ftaa or http://thomas.loc.gov for a copy of the bill by number. 4:21/12. AQUATIC INVASIVE WEED THREATENS FISHERIES: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is warning against the spread of a Brazilian exotic weed, Salvinia molesta, which has recently arrived in the U.S. Craig Springer said that the invasive plant, also known as giant molesta, "could impact our economy by causing irreparable damage to the environment, affecting hunting and fishing, farming and hydropower." Giant molesta grows phenomenally quickly, doubling its area in as little as a week. It grows in 3-foot thick mats that can block out all sunlight below, killing beneficial plants, bugs and fish. Farming and water-dependent economies in Australia and Africa have been decimated by infestations of this vegetative menace. It is almost impossible to mechanically remove because the mats weigh around 36 tons/acre and it will regrow from small shredded pieces. Salvinia molesta has already appeared in southern states from California to North Carolina; coastal inland waters of Oregon and Washington are also at risk. The best defense against invasion is early detection and prevention. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service encourages fishermen to immediately report any suspected sighting toll-free to the Aquatic Nuisance Species Hotline 1(877)STOP-ANS. For additional information, contact Bob Pitman at 505/248-6471 or: bob_pitman@fws.gov. 4:21/13. AUSTRALIAN ECOLOGIST VISITS SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: Jeremy Prince is a worldwide expert on abalone from Western Australia who has studied reef by reef management and the rights and duties of abalone divers. He will be presenting information on how to equip fishermen to do assessments on 2 December at noon at Cannetti's Restaurant in San Pedro, California (front of 22nd Street) and at 1800 hours on December 2 at the Santa Barbara Docks upstairs classroom. For more information contact Peter Halmay at: phalmay@earthlink.net. 4:21/14. REWARD FOR RETURN OF TAGGED ALBACORE: The American Fishermen's Research Foundation (AFRF), in cooperation with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), has implanted electronic, archival tags in albacore tuna (Thunnus alalunge) and released them in the North Pacific Ocean. Tagged fish can be identified by the presence of a yellow dart tag in the back of the fish near the second dorsal fin and a plastic coated wire protruding from the rear portion of the belly. A reward of $500 U.S. dollars will be paid for the return of the tagged fish with the archival tag in place along with the date, latitude and longitude of where the tagged fish was caught and the gear used to catch the fish. Return the tagged fish and capture information to: Paul Crone NMFS, Southwest Fisheries Service Center, PO Box 271, La Jolla, CA 92038. Email Paul.Crone@noaa.gov or telephone at (858) 546-7096. 4:21/15. CALIFORNIA COASTKEEPER EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR POSITION: California CoastKeeper, a non-profit environmental organization that preserves, restores and protects California's aquatic ecosystems is hiring an Executive Director. CoastKeeper is currently involved in running a pollution hotline, citizen water quality monitoring, reducing sewage overflows in coastal communities and other projects to protect communities and the waters they depend on. To learn more about the organization visit www.coastkeeper.org. To learn more about the position email Denise Washko at cacoast@cacoastkeeper.org. 4:21/16. NEW SEABIRD AVOIDANCE REGS PROPOSED IN ALASKA FISHERY: The US National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) sent its revised Environmental Assessment and Regulatory Impact Review (EA/RIR) for "A Regulatory Amendment to Revise Regulations for Seabird Avoidance Measures in the Hook-and-line Fisheries off Alaska To Reduce the Incidental Catch of the Short-tailed Albatross and Other Seabird Species" to the North Pacific Fishery Management Council office in Anchorage on Monday, November 19. Contact the Council office directly if you'd like a hard copy to: (907)271-2809. The amendment itself will be considered by the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council at its 5-10 December 2001 meeting. The EA/RIR documents are now available from the Alaska Region NMFS website at: http://www.fakr.noaa.gov/protectedresources/seabirds/newsitems.htm. For more information about the Council and the proposed amendment see: http://www.fakr.noaa.gov/npfmc. 4:21/17. CALIFORNIA WATERSHED PROJECT FUNDING DATABASE: A potentially valuable new tool for identifying watershed restoration project funding is the California Watershed Foundation Funding Database, a combined project of the California Resources Agency, California State University at Chico and InfoEd. Though specific to California, it is the first statewide web searchable database of watershed restoration funding sources currently available. Organizations that are involved in watershed restoration funding generally are particularly encouraged to visit the website at: http://watershed.ecst.csuchico.edu/new_spin/spinmain.asp. An online form is available for entering new programs into the index at: http://watershed.ecst.csuchico.edu/new_spin/sendmail1.asp. Please direct comments on the website back to Kristin Carter at: kcooper-carter@csuchico.edu. 4:21/18. EAST COAST COOPERATIVE FISHERIES RESEARCH NEWSLETTER: 'Collaborations' is a monthly update newsletter of cooperative research news put out by the Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance (NAMA), with support from the Northeast Consortium. The update service is designed for individuals and groups committed to the future of fisherman-scientist cooperative marine research. For more information see: www.namanet.org. For the first issue of the newsletter see: http://www.namanet.org/newsletter.htm. NAMA also has a collaborative research vessel coordination service to link fishing vessels with researchers in need of at-sea research platforms, available from their 'Collaborative Research' link from their home page. 4:21/19. NMFS SALMON SCIENCE PANEL CHASTIZES NMFS FOR POOR MANAGEMENT: An independent science review panel, the Salmon Recovery Scientific Review Panel (RSRP), has issued a report severely criticizing the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) for its lack of a scientifically credible rationale for allowing high levels of harvest on certain ESA listed fish, as well as its ongoing failure to account for loss of habitat, hydropower and hatchery impacts on salmon runs as part of its analysis of harvest options and tradeoffs. The report, dated 27-29 August but released only recently, also faults NMFS for failure to use the best available population models to predict escapement, failure to collect the data necessary to make good management decisions, and failure to include in its procedures for setting allowable harvests the data assessing the impacts from hydropower dams, loss of habitat and other non-harvest factors so that the impact of all factors could be compared. The Panel also noted the need to design in a sufficient time period in which to test whether true recovery has been achieved, so that the cyclical nature of ocean conditions does not lead to false impressions based on a few good years. The full report is available at: http://research.nwfsc.noaa.gov/cbd/trt/rsrp.htm. NEWS, COMMENTS, CORRECTIONS: Submit your news items, comments or any corrections to Allison Vogt, Editor at: ifrfish@pacbell.net or call the IFR/PCFFA office with the news and a source at either: (415) 561-FISH (Southwest Office) or (541) 689-2000 (Northwest Office). ########################################################## "Sublegals" are a weekly fisheries news bulletin service of Fishlink. To find out more about Fishlink, list information can be viewed and you can subscribe yourself automatically at: http://straylight.primelogic.com/mailman/listinfo/fishlink If you have any trouble subscribing or unsubscribing, contact PCFFA/IFR directly at: . ########################################################## "Fishlink" is a registered trademark of the Institute for Fisheries Resources. All rights to the use of this trademark are reserved to IFR. This publication, however, may be freely reproduced and circulated without copyright restriction. If you are receiving this as a subscriber, please feel free to pass this on to your colleagues. Subscribers who wish to post or circulate hard copy of Sublegals or have no access to the Internet may receive fax subscriptions by faxing their request, with their fax number to: (415) 561-5464. Thanks! ########################################################## NOTICE In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107 this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving it for research and educational purposes. The Institute for Fisheries Resources, a nonprofit organization, provides the Fishlink News Service free of charge even though it costs the organization considerable time and money to produce it. We would like to continue to provide this service free. You could help by making a tax-deductible contribution (anything you can afford, whether $5.00 or $500.00) to keep this effort going and growing. Please send your tax-deductible contribution to: Institute for Fisheries Resources, PO Box 29370, San Francisco, CA 94129-0370. Please do not send credit card information via E-mail. For further information about making tax-deductible contributions to IFR please phone us at: (541) 689-2000, or fax us at: (541)689-2500. -- Your Dedicated Editors ########################################################## --part1_25.1f102b4b.29388cf7_boundary Content-Type: text/html; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit                                                                             sub4-21.txt
##########################################################
              ~~>FISHLINK SUBLEGALS 11/23/01<~~
##########################################################
     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. 4, NO. 21                                  23 NOVEMBER 2001
##########################################################

IN THIS ISSUE.......

CENTRAL CALIFORNIA DUNGENESS CRAB FISHERY
REMAINS CLOSED IN PRICE DISPUTE. 4:21/01.  

COAST GUARD FINDINGS IN MISS BRITTANY
ACCIDENT. 4:21/02.  

WASHINGTON STATE JUDGE OVERRULES COUNTY
"SALMON PROTECTION" PLAN. 4:21/05.

TANKER ACCIDENT HIGHLIGHTS NEED FOR
COASTAL TANKER PROTECTIONS. 4:21/10.  

NEW SEABIRD AVOIDANCE REGS PROPOSED
IN ALASKA FISHERY. 4:21/16.  

AND MORE.......
##########################################################

4:21/01.  CENTRAL CALIFORNIA DUNGENESS CRAB
FISHERY REMAINS CLOSED OVER PRICE DISPUTE,
THANKGIVING MARKET LOST: The Central California Dungeness
crab fishery remains closed due to an impasse between fish processors
and crabbers on an ex-vessel price (see Sublegals, 4:20/03; 4:19/01).
Marketing associations representing crab fishermen have submitted
market orders for $2.25 per pound, the same opening price as last
season, but processors have only been willing to offer $1.85 per pound.
Meanwhile one large trawler from Half Moon Bay did go without a
market order and delivered 15,000 lbs. of crab into San Francisco's
Fisherman's Wharf shortly after the legal opening of 15 November,
selling them for $2.40 per pound (this fisherman, John Dooley, had said
he would fish for $2.00 per pound, but having been the one boat
unwilling to honor the tie-up he ended up with the higher price in a
market desperate for fresh product). Aside from Dooley's load the only
fresh crab reaching the markets traditionally served by the Central
California fishery are those from the Tribal fishery off the coast of
Washington. There Tribal fishermen are reportedly getting $2.15 per
pound and San Francisco wholesalers are paying $2.55 per pound for
their delivered live crab. The willingness of the processors to pay higher
prices for the "scab crab" and the Tribal crab from Washington than the
price asked for by local fishermen has led some to charge that a few
large processors are actively attempting to break the fishing
associations.  

The Northern California (Mendocino County north), Oregon and
non-Tribal Washington fishery is scheduled to open on 1 December if a
price agreement can be reached.  The California Department of Fish &
Game has authorized a 64-hour preset for the 1 December opening,
pursuant to a request by PCFFA.     

4:21/02.  COAST GUARD FINDINGS IN MISS BRITTANY
ACCIDENT BLAME NEGLIGENCE: The U.S. Coast Guard
investigation of the 7 August capsizing of the crab boat Miss Brittany in
the Columbia River estuary has concluded that captain negligence, plus
failure to wear life jackets, not wave amplification due to mounding of
dredge spoils, was the primary cause of the loss of life to two crew
members.  In findings released 21 November, the Coast Guard noted
that the captain of the Miss Brittany was fishing in an area known to be
very dangerous at ebb tides, where waves break from three different
directions, and was very near the bar.  The missing crew members,
because of the bulkiness while working on deck, were not wearing life
jackets.  Rescue crews arrived within 15 minutes, but rescue efforts
failed.  The Coast Guard ruled out wave amplification in this specific
case, considering the direction of the swells.  However, boats have been
lost in the area in the past because of the wave amplification
phenomenon, caused by mounding of dredge spoils dumped in the
estuary by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE).  The Columbia
River Crab Fishermen's Association (CRCFA) and PCFFA have
recently sued the Army Corps over the Corps failure to reduce the wave
amplification safety hazard for small fishing boats in the estuary (see
Sublegals 4:15/01).  For more information on the Coast Guard findings
contact: Amy Gaskill, US Coast Guard, (503) 247-4011.  

4:21/03. BIG ROCK PROPOSES HYDRO PROJECTS ON
TRINITY: Big Rock Power Partners has filed preliminary permits with
the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for the construction
of two small hydropower projects on the Willow and Old Campbell
Creeks in the Trinity River basin.  Willow Creek is well known for its
whitewater and boaters provide a substantial amount tourism and
business for the town of Willow Creek, as well as being a salmon
stream. While Big Rock Power maintains that, "The use of small designs
results in lesser environmental impact making these projects superior to
most other modes of power generation," the Environmental Protection
Information Center (EPIC) has found the permits contrary to several
federal policies. Both sites are located within the Six Rivers National
Forest, meaning that the proposed projects must comply with the Six
Rivers Land and Resource Management Plan (LRMP) as well as the
Northwest Forest Plan both of which emphasize the protection of
in-stream flows and riparian habitat. The two projects are also
inconsistent with efforts to restore salmon resources in the Trinity, a
major tributary of the Klamath River, in northern California.

The Old Campbell Creek project also falls under the jurisdiction of
the Wild & Scenic Rivers Act which prohibits the licensing of any dam,
water conduit, or reservoir. The Old Campbell Water Project proposes to
divert from 5 to 140 cubic feet per second (cfs) through a 2500-foot
pipeline. The power plant would have the capacity to generate 3
megawatts of electricity. The Willow Creek Water Project proposes to
divert from 10 to 450 cfs also through a 2500-foot pipeline. That power
plant would have the capacity to generate 5 megawatts of electricity.
More information and the ability to comment on the projects is available
on Big Rock Power's website at www.bigrockpower.com. Comments
can also be sent to FERC to the attention of James Goris, Regional
Director 901 Market Street San Francisco, CA 94103.

4:21/04. FOURTH ANNUAL SALMON OCEAN ECOLOGY
CONFERENCE IN JANUARY:  The 4th Annual Salmon Ocean
Ecology Meeting will take place on 15-16 January, 2002, at the National
Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Santa Cruz, California Laboratory.
Following on previous meetings in Newport, Seattle, and Nanaimo,
B.C., this is the fourth in a series of informal meetings designed to foster
communication among researchers working on the ocean ecology of
Pacific salmonids. The purpose of the meeting will be to highlight work
in progress, including presentations of speculative and
"not-quite-polished" results. The first day of the meeting will be devoted
to the theme "Adaptations of Pacific Salmon to Extreme Ocean
Environments." The second day will be devoted to more general
ecosystem observations and ecological papers. The first Conference
announcement and more information is available on their website  at:
http://www.pfeg.noaa.gov/events/SalmonMeeting.

4:21/05. WASHINGTON STATE JUDGE OVERRULES COUNTY
"SALMON PROTECTION" PLAN, CALLING IT INADEQUATE: The
Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported 22 November that Thurston County
Superior Court Judge Christine Pomeroy overturned Washington's
Skagit County salmon-protection plan for agricultural areas, saying it
did not employ the "best available science" in determining the size of
streamside buffers. The Judge ruled in favor of the Swinomish Indian
Tribe and the Washington Environmental Council, who called the case
an important test of what the state will allow in terms of salmon
protection buffers. The issue has proved a flash point in agricultural
communities, according to the P-I article, because crops cannot be
grown inside the buffers. Skagit County proposed a system of buffers
that could be expanded. To see the complete article, go to:
http://seattlep-i.nwsource.com/local/47785_salm22.shtml.

4:21/06. NATIONAL GUIDANCE ON MEASURES TO PROTECT
AND RESTORE WETLANDS AND RIPARIAN AREAS AND
ABATE NONPOINT SOURCE POLLUTION AVAILABLE FOR
COMMENTS: The U.S. Environmental Protection Administration
(EPA) has developed and is requesting comments on a draft technical
guidance for protecting and restoring wetlands and riparian areas from
sources of nonpoint pollution and using vegetated treatment systems
(vegetative filter strips and constructed wetlands) for controlling
nonpoint source pollution. This guidance is intended to provide
technical assistance to state program managers, fishermen and others on
the best available, economically achievable means of protecting and
restoring wetlands and riparian areas damaged by nonpoint source
pollution.  Additionally, this guidance provides technical assistance for
state program managers on the use of vegetated treatment systems to
control nonpoint source pollution. EPA says that the draft technical
guidance is consistent with the Guidance Specifying Management
Measures for Sources of Nonpoint Pollution in Coastal Water (EPA
840-B-92-002), which EPA published in January 1993 under the
authority of section 6217(g) of the Coastal Zone Act Reauthorization
Amendments of 1990 (CZARA).

The draft document does not supplant or replace the requirements of
the 1993 document. The complete text of the draft guidance is available
on EPA's Internet site on the Nonpoint Source Control Branch's
homepage at: http://www.epa.gov/owow/nps/wetmeasures. Copies of
the complete draft can also be obtained in electronic or hard copy format
by request from Chris Solloway at the above address, by E-mail at:
Solloway.Chris@epa.gov, or by calling (202) 260-3008.

4:21/07. CALIFORNIA WATER POLICY CONFERENCE: "The
Price of Water: Are We Counting All the Costs?" is the theme of the
California Water Policy Conference being held 6-7 December in Los
Angeles. The conference includes workshops on privatization and
deregulation, water use efficiency, CALFED and watershed
management. For more information, go to:
http://www.cawaterpolicy.org.

4:21/08.  PUBLIC SCOPING MEETINGS FOR MARINE
SANCTUARY JOINT MANAGEMENT PLAN REVIEW,
BOUNDARY LINE LIKELY TO BE MAJOR ISSUE:  A series of 20
scoping meetings for the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine
Sanctuary (NMS), Cordell Bank NMS and Monterey Bay NMS begins
28 November in Santa Cruz and ends 17 January in San Jose. The
meetings are to receive public input on the management plan review for
the three NMS located along California's north central coast. Members
of the public, fishermen and others will have the opportunity to
comment on the plan and the sanctuaries. The fishing industry had been
one of the major proponents of the sanctuary designations for these
waters in order to protect important fishing grounds from proposals at
the time for oil drilling, deep sea mining and even the scuttling of
decommissioned nuclear submarines in these waters.

One of the major issues is likely to be the boundary line between the
Gulf of the Farallones and Monterey sanctuaries.  Fishermen, the
counties of Marin, San Francisco and San Mateo, as well as some
conservation groups have pressed to adjust the boundaries between the
two sanctuaries at Ano Nuevo, which not only demarks the geographic
and ecological boundary between the two sanctuaries, but the political
one as well (it is the boundary line between San Mateo and Santa Cruz
counties).

Persons unable to attend any of the scooping sessions may submit
comments by e-mail to jointplancomments@noaa.gov or on their
website. The comment period remains open until 31 January 2002. To
see the full schedule of 20 meetings, make a comment, or read about the
management plan visit their website at:
http://sanctuaries.nos.noaa.gov/jointplan

4:21/09. SUSTAINING SEASCAPES CONFERENCE
SCHEDULED FOR 7-8 MARCH 2002: The Center for Biodiversity &
Conservation (CBC) will host their seventh annual spring symposium,
'Sustaining Seascapes: The Science & Policy of Marine Resource
Management.' The symposium will explore the conservation of marine
biodiversity and fisheries through the integrated design of marine
protected areas (MPAs), MPA networks, and other complementary
coastal management frameworks. Topics will include an overview of
marine fisheries and biodiversity; the economics of coastal zones;
fisheries, tourism, and other sectors, and; analytical and practical
approaches to linking social and ecological systems. To register, please
contact: Central Reservations, American Museum of Natural History,
Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY 10024, Tel: (212)
769-5200 or (212) 769-5272. For more information visit
http://research.amnh.org/biodiversity

4:21/10.  TANKER ACCIDENT HIGHLIGHTS NEED FOR
COASTAL TANKER PROTECTIONS:  On 23 November the retired
906-foot oil tanker Atigun Pass broke a tow line in 30 foot swells at the
mouth of the Columbia River and threatened to run aground.
Fortunately, the Atigun Pass was carrying only about 20,000 gallons of
fuel oil, and was being towed from Portland to China for salvage
because it did not meet current double hulled oil tanker vessel standards.
The ship was saved over the weekend, but the accident highlights the
need for state oil tanker vessel safety standards that meet the specific
conditions of local ports and coastlines.  Current U.S. law (the Oil
Pollution Act (OPA), 33 U.S.C. 2701-2761) apparently pre-empts state
legislatures from passing tanker safety laws that are more stringent than
the very weak national standards.  Yet there is a long history of major oil
tanker spills on the west coast, including a 2.3 million gallon spill off
the Washington Olympic peninsula in 1972; a 239,000 gallon spill off
Port Angeles, Washington in 1985; a 231,000 gallon spill along Grays
Harbor, Washington in 1988; a 400,000 gallon spill along the Olympic
peninsula in 1991; and of course the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska in
1989.  

An average of two oil tankers per day transit Washington State
waters, the largest carrying as much as 40 million gallons of crude oil -
three times the amount that spilled from the Exxon Valdez.  An oil spill
accident in the navigationally treacherous Puget Sound would destroy
major fisheries in both Washington and Canada. Most coastal states,
PCFFA and many other fisheries organizations have advocated
Congressional legislation that would allow states to set higher safety
standards for oil tanker shipments within their state waters that address
unique safety risks better than the very minimal federal laws. Late in the
106th Congress, then Senator Slade Gorton (R-WA) introduced S. 2506
and Representative Jack Metcalf (R-WA) introduced H.R. 4385, to give
states more authority in setting oil tanker safety standards.  However,
these bills have not been reintroduced as yet in the 107th Congress. For
the article on the Atigun Pass accident see the Seattle Times for 23
November, going to the Archive page at:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com for that date.

Alaskans, meanwhile, who had sued Exxon for punitive damages
from the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill were stunned and angered by the
recent U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that the $5 billion fine
against the petroleum giant Exxon-Mobil was excessive. Many plaintiffs
had been counting on payments from the punitive verdict to solve
problems including the effects of a declining fishing economy.
4:21/11. FAST TRACK TRADE BILL SET FOR VOTE 6
DECEMBER: Congress will be voting on H.R. 3005 "Fast Track
legislation" which gives the President authority to negotiate trade
agreements while denying Congress the opportunity to add amendments
or have in-depth debate on the agreement (see Sublegals, 4:16/15;
4:14/11). The President would also draft all of the implementing
legislation required to bring U.S. law into accordance with the
agreement. Global Exchange states "while the U.S. Constitution invests
in Congress the exclusive authority to 'regulate Commerce with foreign
Nations,' it bestows upon the Executive exclusive authority for
managing 'relations with foreign sovereigns.' This design is one of many
checks and balances built into the U.S. Constitution to avoid one branch
of government from having absolute control of a vital policy area. Fast
Track would concentrate the power to set the terms of international trade
in the hands of the President."

The legislation also sets time limits for Congressional action on any
agreements. Congress would be forced to either reject or accept the
entire package within 60 days of when it is introduced, with only 20
hours allowed for debate. This not only prevents detailed analysis and
debate of trade agreements, but limits opportunities for public access
and input. This would greatly restrict public participation in the
formation of trade policies.  President Bush has stated that besides
expanding NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) to the
entire Western Hemisphere, he will use fast track to prioritize free trade
deals with Chile (see Sublegals, 4:17/03).  This worries fishing groups
because it could exacerbate the dumping of imported fish into the U.S.
market, particularly Chilean farmed salmon (see Sublegals 4:14/10).
This would put U.S. fishermen, who must adhere to strong conservation
standards, at a competitive disadvantage in the marketplace, absent
safeguards placed on seafood imports. To read about fast track
legislation in more detail visit Global Exchange at
http://www.globalexchange.org/ftaa or http://thomas.loc.gov for a copy
of the bill by number.

4:21/12.  AQUATIC INVASIVE WEED THREATENS FISHERIES:
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is warning against the spread of a
Brazilian exotic weed, Salvinia molesta, which has recently arrived in
the U.S.  Craig Springer said that the invasive plant, also known as giant
molesta, "could impact our economy by causing irreparable damage to
the environment, affecting hunting and fishing, farming and
hydropower."  Giant molesta grows phenomenally quickly, doubling its
area in as little as a week. It grows in 3-foot thick mats that can block
out all sunlight below, killing beneficial plants, bugs and fish. Farming
and water-dependent economies in Australia and Africa have been
decimated by infestations of this vegetative menace. It is almost
impossible to mechanically remove because the mats weigh around 36
tons/acre and it will regrow from small shredded pieces.  Salvinia
molesta has already appeared in southern states from California to North
Carolina; coastal inland waters of Oregon and Washington are also at
risk. The best defense against invasion is early detection and prevention.
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service encourages fishermen to immediately
report any suspected sighting toll-free to the Aquatic Nuisance Species
Hotline 1(877)STOP-ANS. For additional information, contact Bob
Pitman at 505/248-6471 or: bob_pitman@fws.gov.

4:21/13.  AUSTRALIAN ECOLOGIST VISITS SOUTHERN
CALIFORNIA: Jeremy Prince is a worldwide expert on abalone from
Western Australia who has studied reef by reef management and the
rights and duties of abalone divers. He will be presenting information on
how to equip fishermen to do assessments on 2 December at noon at
Cannetti's Restaurant in San Pedro, California (front of 22nd Street) and
at 1800 hours on December 2 at the Santa Barbara Docks upstairs
classroom. For more information contact Peter Halmay at:
phalmay@earthlink.net.

4:21/14. REWARD FOR RETURN OF TAGGED ALBACORE:
The American Fishermen's Research Foundation (AFRF), in cooperation
with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), has implanted
electronic, archival tags in albacore tuna (Thunnus alalunge) and
released them in the North Pacific Ocean. Tagged fish can be identified
by the presence of a yellow dart tag in the back of the fish near the
second dorsal fin and a plastic coated wire protruding from the rear
portion of the belly. A reward of $500 U.S. dollars will be paid for the
return of the tagged fish with the archival tag in place along with the
date, latitude and longitude of where the tagged fish was caught and the
gear used to catch the fish. Return the tagged fish and capture
information to: Paul Crone NMFS, Southwest Fisheries Service Center,
PO Box 271, La Jolla, CA 92038. Email Paul.Crone@noaa.gov or
telephone at (858) 546-7096.

4:21/15. CALIFORNIA COASTKEEPER EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
POSITION: California CoastKeeper, a non-profit environmental
organization that preserves, restores and protects California's aquatic
ecosystems is hiring an Executive Director. CoastKeeper is currently
involved in running a pollution hotline, citizen water quality monitoring,
reducing sewage overflows in coastal communities and other projects to
protect communities and the waters they depend on. To learn more
about the organization visit www.coastkeeper.org.  To learn more about
the position email Denise Washko at cacoast@cacoastkeeper.org.

4:21/16.  NEW SEABIRD AVOIDANCE REGS PROPOSED IN
ALASKA FISHERY:  The US National Marine Fisheries Service
(NMFS) sent its revised Environmental Assessment and Regulatory
Impact Review (EA/RIR) for "A Regulatory Amendment to Revise
Regulations for Seabird Avoidance Measures in the Hook-and-line
Fisheries off Alaska To Reduce the Incidental Catch of the Short-tailed
Albatross and Other Seabird Species" to the North Pacific Fishery
Management Council office in Anchorage on Monday, November 19.
Contact the Council office directly if you'd like a hard copy to:
(907)271-2809. The amendment itself will be considered by the North
Pacific Fisheries Management Council at its 5-10 December 2001
meeting.  The EA/RIR documents are now available from the Alaska
Region NMFS website at:
http://www.fakr.noaa.gov/protectedresources/seabirds/newsitems.htm.
For more information about the Council and the proposed amendment
see: http://www.fakr.noaa.gov/npfmc.  

4:21/17.  CALIFORNIA WATERSHED PROJECT FUNDING
DATABASE:  A potentially valuable new tool for identifying watershed
restoration project funding is the California Watershed Foundation
Funding Database, a combined project of the California Resources
Agency, California State University at Chico and InfoEd. Though
specific to California, it is the first statewide web searchable database of
watershed restoration funding sources currently available.
Organizations that are involved in watershed restoration funding
generally are particularly encouraged to visit the website at:
http://watershed.ecst.csuchico.edu/new_spin/spinmain.asp. An online
form is available for entering new programs into the index at:
http://watershed.ecst.csuchico.edu/new_spin/sendmail1.asp.   Please
direct comments on the website back to Kristin Carter at:
kcooper-carter@csuchico.edu.

4:21/18. EAST COAST COOPERATIVE FISHERIES RESEARCH
NEWSLETTER: 'Collaborations' is a monthly update newsletter of
cooperative research news put out by the Northwest Atlantic Marine
Alliance (NAMA), with support from the Northeast Consortium. The
update service is designed for individuals and groups committed to the
future of fisherman-scientist cooperative marine research. For more
information see: www.namanet.org.  For the first issue of the newsletter
see: http://www.namanet.org/newsletter.htm.   NAMA also has a
collaborative research vessel coordination service to link fishing vessels
with researchers in need of at-sea research platforms, available from
their 'Collaborative Research' link from their home page.

4:21/19.  NMFS SALMON SCIENCE PANEL CHASTIZES NMFS
FOR POOR MANAGEMENT:  An independent science review panel,
the Salmon Recovery Scientific Review Panel (RSRP), has issued a
report severely criticizing the National Marine Fisheries Service
(NMFS) for its lack of a scientifically credible rationale for allowing
high levels of harvest on certain ESA listed fish, as well as its ongoing
failure to account for loss of habitat, hydropower and hatchery impacts
on salmon runs as part of its analysis of harvest options and tradeoffs.
The report, dated 27-29 August but released only recently, also faults
NMFS for failure to use the best available population models to predict
escapement, failure to collect the data necessary to make good
management decisions, and failure to include in its procedures for
setting allowable harvests the data assessing the impacts from
hydropower dams, loss of habitat and other non-harvest factors so that
the impact of all factors could be compared.  The Panel also noted the
need to design in a sufficient time period in which to test whether true
recovery has been achieved, so that the cyclical nature of ocean
conditions does not lead to false impressions based on a few good years.
The full report is available at:
http://research.nwfsc.noaa.gov/cbd/trt/rsrp.htm.

NEWS, COMMENTS, CORRECTIONS: Submit your news items,
comments or any corrections to Allison Vogt, Editor at:
ifrfish@pacbell.net or call the IFR/PCFFA office with the news and a
source at either: (415) 561-FISH (Southwest Office) or (541) 689-2000
(Northwest Office).
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--part1_25.1f102b4b.29388cf7_boundary-- From FISH1IFR@aol.com Thu Dec 6 12:30:59 2001 Received: from imo-r07.mx.aol.com (imo-r07.mx.aol.com [152.163.225.103]) by straylight.primelogic.com (8.11.6/8.11.1) with ESMTP id fB6KUrA88988 for ; Thu, 6 Dec 2001 12:30:54 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from FISH1IFR@aol.com) Received: from FISH1IFR@aol.com by imo-r07.mx.aol.com (mail_out_v31_r1.9.) id e.ba.1df2ce1f (14374) for ; Thu, 6 Dec 2001 15:25:42 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: Date: Thu, 6 Dec 2001 15:25:42 EST To: fishlink@straylight.primelogic.com MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="part1_ba.1df2ce1f.29412e46_boundary" X-Mailer: AOL 6.0 for Windows US sub 10536 From: fishlink-admin@straylight.primelogic.com Subject: [Fishlink] ~~>FISHLINK SUBLEGALS 11/30/01<~~ Sender: fishlink-admin@straylight.primelogic.com Errors-To: fishlink-admin@straylight.primelogic.com X-BeenThere: fishlink@straylight.primelogic.com X-Mailman-Version: 2.0.6 Precedence: bulk Reply-To: bit-bucket@straylight.primelogic.com X-Reply-To: fishlink@straylight.primelogic.com List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Fishlink is a joint fisheries information news service of Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations (PCFFA) and the Institute for Fisheries Resources (IFR). List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: --part1_ba.1df2ce1f.29412e46_boundary Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ########################################################## ~~>FISHLINK SUBLEGALS 11/30/01<~~ ########################################################## 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. 4, NO. 22 30 NOVEMBER 2001 ########################################################## IN THIS ISSUE....... WORLD FISH CATCHES OVER-REPORTED, STOCKS IN WORSE SHAPE THAN BELIEVED? 4:22/01. CENTRAL CALIFORNIA CRABBERS STAY TIED-UP; SAN FRANCISCO BAY HERRING FISHERY OPENS. 4:22/03. CHILEAN TRADE UNDER INVESTIGATION - IMPLICATIONS FOR FARMED SALMON IMPORTS? 4:22/05. FUNDING FOR COLUMBIA RIVER SALMON RESTORATION COMES UP SHORT. 4:22/12. MPAS FOUND TO IMPROVE HARVESTS OF CERTAIN FISH SPECIES IN SURROUNDING WATERS. 4:22/18. AND MORE...... ######################################################### 4:22/01. WORLD FISHERIES ASSESSMENTS MAY BE STATISTICALLY FLAWED: Various official reports have indicated serious overall worldwide increased fisheries harvests in recent years, particularly based on data recently discovered to have been seriously flawed. Systematic over-reporting by China in the 1990's has been found that, because the China harvests are so large, biases worldwide harvest statistics considerably, so that the overall harvest trend was officially up for the 1990's while the actual harvest levels had actually begun to decline. What this means is that the actual harvests, and perhaps the status of fish stocks, is worse than reported by the United Nations Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO) findings that depleted and overexploited ocean fish stocks constitute about 28 percent of the fish in the world's oceans; fully exploited stocks account for another 47 percent, with moderately exploited and under-exploited totaling about 25 percent. The report, "Systematic Distortions In World Fisheries Catch Trends," by Watson and Pauly, appears as a letter in the 29 November issue of Nature (No. 414, pp. 534-536). To view this report, go to: http://www.nature.com/nature/links/011129/011129-2.html. The Watson and Pauly letter comes on the heels of a scathing European Commission report on the European Union's (EU) Common Fishery Policy (CFP). According to a 23 November article in the U.K. trade publication, Fishing News (p.1), the Commission found enforcement and monitoring under the CFP to be fragmented, with unauthorized fishing being the most frequent infringement of the CFP. The report about management implementation, enforcement and monitoring for fisheries in the developed world brings into serious question the degree of adherence to management measures in less developed nations. To see the full FN article, go to: www.fishingnews.co.uk. 4:22/02. CATFISH LABELING BAN BECOMES TEMPORARY LAW: Fish importers will no longer be able to label their product as catfish after months of lobbying and consumer marketing by the U.S. catfish industry and Catfish Farmers of America (CFA) (see Sublegals 4:16/11) reports WorldCatch. U.S. President George W. Bush signed the Agricultural Appropriations Act (H.R. 2330), allowing the nation's catfish industry the exclusive use of the word catfish as a marketing name and prohibiting the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) from allowing any fish labeled as catfish unless it comes from the North American Ictaluridae family. These restrictions will last until 30 September 2002. However, similar language to that in H.R. 2330 is included in H.R. 2964, passed by the House, that would make the labeling ban permanent for fish not classified within the family Ictaluridae. U.S. Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-AK) is seeking to include similar legislation in the Senate Farm Bill. This legislation comes on the heels of the European Union's (EU) adopted regulations requiring name of seafood, place of origin and method of production (see Sublegals, 4:17/01) and coincides with the current effort of the Institute of Fisheries Resources (IFR) to increase public awareness of the need to properly label seafood (see Sublegals, 4:16/09). For more information on this IFR initiative, contact Natasha Benjamin at: ifrfish@pacbell.net. To read the entire WorldCatch article on the catfish labeling legislation visit: www.worldcatch.com. 4:22/03. NO PRICE SETTLEMENT ON CRAB; SAN FRANCISCO BAY HERRING SEASON STARTS THE 2ND: There are still no signed market orders for Dungeness crab for the central California season, that was scheduled to open 15 November (see Sublegals, 4:21/01; 4:20/03; 4:19/01). Currently fish processors have offered an opening price of $1.85 per pound ex-vessel and the marketing associations are asking $2.00 per pound, $.25 less than last years opening price. The "northern" season (Mendocino County, California north to the Canadian Border) was set to begin 1 December, but an impasse in the price negotiations there, too, is expected to delay that season opener. Meanwhile, along the central California coast, the San Francisco Bay "DH" gillnet roe herring fishery is set to begin Sunday evening, 2 December. The DH is the first platoon of boats to fish in this fishery, the first roe fishery to open each year along the Pacific Coast. The San Francisco Bay fishery, which also includes two platoons that start in January, is the largest herring fishery south of British Columbia and the United States' only surviving urban commercial fishery. 4/22/04: MARINE POLLUTION REPORT ISSUED BY UN: This past week the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) issued its report on marine pollution, "Protecting the Oceans from Land-Based Activities." Actions addressing sewage are given the highest priority in the report, along with the need for control over excessive nutrients, and a halt to the alteration or destruction of habitats and increased sediment flows. The report was prepared for the upcoming UN world summit on sustainable development, scheduled for Johannesburg in September 2002. PCFFA President Pietro Parravano will be addressing a meeting in Paris next week, hosted by UNESCO, where he will discuss fishery issues in preparation for the "Rio+10" Johannesburg summit. UNEP Director Klaus Toepfer said the value of marine and coastal ecosystems is equivalent to half of the annual global gross national product. "Yet we continue to treat coasts and oceans as if they were not an important economic resource for developing and developed countries alike," stated Toepfer. He said that nearly 80 percent of the environmental problems in the oceans begin on land, including pollution from factories, sewage, fertilizers and pesticides that wash into the sea. For more information on the Rio+10 summit and the United Nations Environment Program, or for a copy of the pollution report, search on the UNEP website starting at: http://www.unep.org. 4:22/05. U.S. - CHILE TRADE UNDER INVESTIGATION: The International Trade Commission (ITC) is beginning an investigation of trade between the U.S. and Chile as part of negotiations between the two countries to develop a free trade agreement (see Sublegals 4:17/03). WorldCatch News Network reported that the inquiry was requested by the U.S. Trade Representative's (USTR) office and will examine the Chilean economy and Chilean patterns of trade. The inquiry will also analyze the trade and economic impacts by sector of a U.S. Chile trade agreement (see Sublegals 4:16/07). Farmed salmon, a major share of Chilean exports, will be a part of the investigation (see Sublegals 4:17/03; 4:10/02; 4:09/02). United Fishermen of Alaska (UFA) has been pressing for such an investigation and for controls over Chilean salmon imports into the U.S., a position largely supported by PCFFA. The ITC report is to be submitted by 17 January 2002. Public comments are being accepted, but there will be no public hearings. Parties are asked to submit written statements (original and 14 copies) to Secretary, United States International Trade Commission, 500 E Street SW, Washington, D.C., 20436 no later than 12 December. For more information, contact: Dennis Rapkins, Deputy Project Leader, Office of Industries, ITC, 202-205-3406. To see the entire article, visit: www.worldcatch.com. The vote on H.R. 3005, the "fast track" bill aimed at giving the U.S. President greater authority in trade negotiations (see Sublegals, 4:21/11; 4:16/05; 4:14/11) is scheduled for 6 December, in the U.S. House of Representatives. The proposed free trade agreement with Chile would be the first negotiated under any fast track authority. The vote is expected to be close and, according to a report by the Washington Post, Congressman Thomas Davis (R-VA) is pushing for the vote, even if it can't pass, in an effort to create a schism between Democrats and the high tech industry. The vote creates a dilemma for the Democrats, torn between their labor and environment constituency, and the high tech industry that is seeking fewer restrictions on trade. For information, see: www.globalexchange.org/fasttrack. 4:22/06. SCIENTISTS FIND TRANSGENIC ESCAPED GENES IN MEXICO: Confirming the worst fears of critics of transgenic manipulation, scientists have discovered genes now commonly used in several experimentally grown genetically modified (GM) crops common in the U.S., but in the remotest parts of Mexico within populations of wild maize plants which are the genetic source and gene bank for all commercially grown corn. Opponents of genetically modified organisms have long claimed that exotic genes artificially inserted into plants to increase resistance to pests or pesticides could potentially escape the original plant source and contaminate other gene pools. Advocates for GM crops have discounted that possibility. However, this report, in the 29 November issue of Nature (No. 414, pp. 541-543), apparently confirms that fear. No signs of foreign genes were found in Peruvian maize nor in archived samples from the same Mexican maize taken from before the advent of transgenic crops. Mexico banned planting transgenic maize in 1998 to protect its gene banks, but it is still imported from the United States. The closest area with GM crops to the contaminated crop is 60 miles away. The article itself is on the web at: http://www.nature.com/nature/links/011129/011129-4.html. One of the implications of this finding is that risks of wild salmon gene pool contamination from the introduction of genetically modified salmon may also have been greatly understated. Scientists have also estimated that escaped GM salmon genes would take no more than 40 generations to spread throughout the wild salmon gene pool, with potentially devastating consequences for wild salmon survival, including possible extinction. See for instance the "Trojan Gene Theory" article: "Possible Ecological Risks of Transgenic Organism Release When Transgenes Affect Mating Success: Sexual Selection and the Trojan Gene Hypothesis," Muir and Howard, 23 November 1999 (Vol. 96, No. 24) in Proceedings of the US National Academy of Sciences, pages 13853-13856 (on the web by date and issue at: www.pnas.org.) 4:22/07. FISH FARMING LINKED TO INCREASE IN EXOTIC SPECIES: The 23 November issue of Science (Vol. 294, pp. 1655-1656) also includes an article on the problem of introduction of exotic species by aquaculture. The article, "Aquaculture - A Gateway for Exotic Species," concludes, "International transfers of nonnative species for aquaculture poses high ecological risks given the absence of strong policies in most countries." The authors call for considerably improved U.S. government oversight, and putting into place much stronger international policies to prevent use and eventual escape of non-native species from the aquaculture industry. 4:22/08. EPA TEMPERATURE GUIDANCE OUT FOR COMMENTS: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 10 is seeking comments on its draft guidance for developing water quality standards for temperature that protect native salmonids (including salmon, steelhead, bull trout and cutthroat trout) in the Pacific Northwest. This guidance will be the basis for all future water quality standards set by the states under the Clean Water Act (CWA) and for the state's process of setting 'total maximum daily loads' ('TMDLs') for water temperature for salmonids. Salmonids generally need cold water for survival, and many Northwest streams now greatly exceed optimum water temperatures for salmonid spawning and rearing, and as a consequence are listed as 'water quality limited' under the Clean Water Act's '303(d) List.' The Clean Water Act requires states to set TMDL temperature standards for maximum river water temperatures and to bring streams out of compliance with that standard back into compliance over time. The draft guidance for public comment can be found on the EPA website at: www.epa.gov/r10earth/water.htm or can be obtained in hard copy by calling EPA's Public Environmental Resource Center at (800) 424-4372. Comments are due by 22 February 2002. 4:22/09. COHO SALMON HABITAT RESTORATION FUNDING AVAILABLE: The California Department of Fish & Game (CDFG) is requesting proposals for fishery restoration work that restores or benefits coho salmon or their habitat throughout their current range in coastal California. The proposals are due 11 January 2002. To receive a copy of the Request for Proposals visit http://www.dfg.ca.gov or call (916) 327-8840. There will be a workshop to help guide the preparation of sound restoration proposals on Saturday, 8 December, from 1000 to 1500 hours at the Siskiyou County Fairgrounds, 1712 Fairlane Road in Yreka, California. 4:22/10. REPORT HIGHLIGHTS NEED FOR OREGON FORESTY REFORM FOR SALMON RESTORATION: A new status report on Oregon coastal watersheds and the impact of industrial forestry on salmon habitat has been published by the Coast Range Association of Oregon. The report, "Forestry and Salmon: A Report on Oregon's Coastal Watersheds and the Need for Forestry Reform," documents how modern industrial forestry in that state has stripped most coastal watersheds of larger old trees, removed sources of large woody debris in streams and greatly impoverished salmon production throughout Oregon's coastline. The report finds that: "A shift from an abundant large timber forest to a small, timber poor forest set the stage and caused much of the salmon crisis." As a result, few coastal watersheds are still within the historic range of variability that salmon evolved for and which they require for survival. The conclusions of the report are that without major regulatory reforms in the State of Oregon on private industrial timberlands, which compared to California and Washington are still poorly regulated, salmon recovery will be difficult to impossible. A copy of the watersheds report is available on the web at: http://www.coastrange.org. 4:22/11. BILL PROPOSES SAFEGUARDS FOR KEY TONGASS SALMON WATERSHEDS: Since its introduction on 20 September, eighty-six members of Congress have joined U.S. Representatives Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) and Connie Morella (R-MD) to co-sponsor the "Alaska Rainforest Conservation Act" (ARCA), H.R. 2908, intended to protect key watersheds in Alaska's Tongass National Forest, most of which produce salmon, from the impacts of large-scale clearcuts and roadbuilding. The Tongass, the largest temperate rainforest in the United States, is the source of much of the salmon production of the State of Alaska, but has also been badly overcut in the past by timber companies taking advantage of long term 'sweetheart deals' that were signed decades prior to most environmental protections. Though many of these deals have since been terminated, others remain. Timber sales in the Tongass typically are also conducted at a huge financial loss to taxpayers, in addition to damaging key salmon runs. Many of the key areas that would be protected under ARCA were administratively protected under the 1999 Tongass Land Management Plan (which Alaska fishermen played a key role in getting adopted), but the Plan was partially overturned in March 2001 by a suit filed by the Alaska timber industry, and the Bush Administration has already started the process to amend the Plan as of late September 2001. Newly appointed and confirmed Undersecretary for Natural Resources and the Environment Mark Rey (replacing Jim Lyons of the Clinton Administration) will oversee the review process. Rey, former aide to U.S. Senator Frank Murkowski (R-AK) as chair of the Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee, was an active timber industry lobbyist for almost 20 years and is also widely blamed as the author of the infamous 'Timber Salvage Rider' of 1995, which suspended all environmental laws for 18 months on all west coast old growth timber sales in key salmon watersheds. Rey is also now the Administration official overseeing the U.S. Forest Service. H.R. 2908 is now in the House Resources Committees' Subcommittee on Forestry & Forest Health, with no hearings as yet scheduled. 4:22/12. CONGRESS FALLS SHORT IN COLUMBIA RIVER SALMON RECOVERY PLAN FUNDING: The $435.6 million total allocated by Congress in the 2002 federal budget for Columbia River salmon recovery plan implementation "falls far short," according to American Rivers, of the amounts actually required to implement that plan. Trout Unlimited, American Rivers and Save Our Wild Salmon, a coalition of fisheries and conservation groups, have estimated the full costs of implementation of the controversial 2000 National Marine Fisheries Service's (NMFS) Biological Opinion (BiOp) for the recovery of the Columbia and Snake River's 12 salmon runs now listed as either threatened or endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) as more like $700 million needed in 2002, with higher levels in future years. Similar funding levels were, in fact, advocated by U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-ID) ($688.2 million) and Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber ($718 million) during this Congressional session, but the Administration eventually only requested $350 million - an amount that was raised to $435.6 million only after intensive lobbying by U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Representative Norm Dicks (D-WA) and others. Since the events of 11 September, even less money is likely to be available in the future given the current federal budget deficits now projected as lasting several years. The NMFS BiOp, adopted December 2000 as a way to avoid decommissioning the four lower Snake River hydropower dams, will fail without adequate implementation funding. Failure to implement the recovery plan would trigger a crisis in the Columbia and Snake Rivers, where policies on dams would then be in direct collision with the ESA, the Clean Water Act, the Northwest Power Act and Tribal Treaty obligations. For more information contact Rob Masonis, American Rivers Seattle Office, (206) 213-0330. 4:22/13. WILD VERSUS FARMED SALMON TASTE TEST SET FOR SEATTLE: The Sustainable Fisheries Alliance has announced a taste test between wild and farmed salmon is scheduled for Wednesday, 19 December, at the Fremont Unconventional Space (FUNC), 160 N. Canal Street in Seattle. The taste test will involve five different species of salmon. The event itself will also feature a media presentation on open water net-cage salmon, halibut, blackcod, and cod farming and the effects on coastal communities and the environment, and a several course gourmet seafood meal featuring wild and sustainable seafood and the "Amazing Salmon BBQ" - oysters, salmon, crab, blackcod, tuna, halibut, and caviar, coupled with a microbrew tour. There will be a scary event (left over from Halloween) - the telling of the Frankenfish Story, as well as an auction, music and special guests. For more information, call John Foss at (206) 932-0595, or e-mail him at: sustain@oz.net. 4:22/14. WASHINGTON PESTICIDE/ESA STRATEGY UNVEILED: The Washington State Pesticide/Endangered Species Act (ESA) Task Force, an interagency task force with representatives from several federal and state agencies as well as several scientists, has released its final strategy document entitled, "A Process for Evaluating Pesticides in Washington State Surface Waters for Potential Impacts to Salmonids." The document outlines a strategy for evaluating the impact of pesticides on threatened and endangered salmonids in Washington State. The finalized strategy document can be obtained on the web at: www.wa.gov/agr/pmd/pesticides/esa.htm. On the federal level, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has recently been sued by a coalition of groups, including PCFFA, for its systematic failure to consult with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) on the impact of pesticides on Endangered Species Act (ESA) listed salmonids as required under Section 7 of the federal ESA. Many pesticides are now known to chronically affect salmonid survival rates at levels far below those set on the basis of instant mortality alone. See for instance a recent report, "Diminishing Returns: Salmon Decline and Pesticides" (February 1999) on the web at: www.ifrfish.org/salpest.htm. 4:22/15. MORE WASHINGTON RIVERS ADDED TO POLLUTED LIST: Washington's Department of Ecology has added another 22 waterways to the growing the of lakes, rivers and marine waters defined as 'water quality limited' in accordance with the Clean Water Act (CWA) 303(d) List. These are waters no longer 'fishable or swimmable,' the standard required under the Act. Water quality problems identified in Washington state are listed at: www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/wq/303d. The next required revision of the state's 303(d) List is scheduled for fall of 2002. The 2002 list will be issued following adoption by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of their temperature standards guidance (see Sublegals 4:22/08 above). For more information about the program, contact Ecology Water Cleanup Coordinator Ron McBride, at (360) 407-6469 or at: rmcb461@ecy.wa.gov. 4:22/16. CALIFORNIA FISH & GAME COMMISSION MEETING - NEARSHORE FISHERY ISSUES UNDER CONSIDERATION: The California Fish & Game Commission will meet 6-7 December in Long Beach. Among the major fishery issues to be discussed will be the report on the peer review of its Nearshore Fishery Management Plan (Agenda Item #5) and adoption of proposed changes to the nearshore permit (Agenda Item #14), as well as adoption of the Marine Life Management Act (MLMA) master plan (dealing with state marine protected areas - Agenda Item #16) as well as consideration of adoption of the White Seabass Fishery Management Plan (Agenda Item #17). For more information, go to: www.dfg.ca.gov/fg_comm/12-06-01.htm. 4:22/17. NMFS RELEASES EIS FOR STELLER SEA LIONS: On 28 November, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) released its final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) intended to "provide information on potential environmental impacts that could occur from implementing a suite of fisheries management measures such that the western population of Steller sea lions existence is not jeopardized nor its critical habitat adversely modified by the groundfish fisheries in the Gulf of Alaska and the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands; and meet the National Environmental Policy Act's [NEPA] purpose of fostering excellent actions and better decisions that are based on understanding the environmental consequences of actions." Much of the Alaskan groundfish fishery has been closed due to concerns for the Steller sea lion, now listed under the Endangered Species Act. To view the SEIS, go to: http://www.fakr.noaa.gov/sustainablefisheries/seis/sslpm/default.htm. 4:22/18. REPORT INDICATES CARIBBEAN MARINE PROTECTED AREAS HAVE IMPROVED SURROUNDING FISH HARVESTS: An article in the 30 November issue of Science (Vol. 294, pp. 1920-1923) titled "Effects of Marine Reserves on Adjacent Fisheries," reports on a study that has looked at two new marine protected areas, one in Florida and the other near the Caribbean island of St. Lucia, and concluded that the existence of these protected areas has indeed increased surrounding fisheries harvests. While marine protected areas (MPAs) have had some demonstrated conservation benefits, few studies have as yet been done to examine benefits to commercial and recreational fisheries and so they remain highly controversial among both industries. This study confirms theoretical predictions that properly structured marine protected areas (e.g., that protect key nursery areas and allow dispersal) can have substantial collateral benefits to surrounding fisheries. Near St. Lucia, surrounding fish harvests were observed to increase by 46 to 90 percent over a five-year period, depending on species. To view the Science article, go to: www.sciencemag.org. 4:22/19. PFMC AD HOC GROUNDFISH COMMITTEE TO MEET IN PORTLAND: The Pacific Fishery Management Council's (PFMC) Ad Hoc Groundfish Multi-Year Management Committee (GMMC) will hold a public work session, Thursday-Friday, 13-14 December, at the PFMC West Conference Room, 7700 NE Ambassador Place, Suite 200, in Portland, Oregon. For more information, call (503) 326-6352 or go to the PFMC website at: www.pcouncil.org. 4:22/20. LAWSUIT TARGETS WILDLIFE INITIATIVES IN WASHINGTON STATE: The December 2001 issue of Pacific Fishing carries an announcement (p.7) about a group calling itself "Citizens for Responsible Wildlife Management (CRWM)," which is legally challenging the constitutionality of two recently passed wildlife management initiatives (I-655 and I-713, both restricting the use of bear bait, dogs and traps in hunting and wildlife management). By implication, however, a court victory in the case would invalidate all future citizen initiatives concerning wildlife management in the State of Washington. The group's suit alleges that all such initiatives, regardless of subject, are an unconstitutional special interest political interference with the state's Public Trust Doctrine and with science-based public wildlife management policies. In addition to a number of hunter and sportsman's groups who opposed those particular initiatives, the coalition also includes the Purse Seine Vessel Owner's Association and the Washington Women for Commercial Fisheries because, should such a suit succeed, it would also by implication invalidate future versions of such past initiatives as I-640 and I-696, either of which would have essentially banned commercial fishing in that state. Both of these divisive initiatives (which lost by a wide margin) were made possible for fringe anti-commercial sportfishing activists to get on the ballot only with extensive under-the-table organizing support, funding and legal assistance from aluminum companies and other upper Columbia River special interest groups, who were seeking retribution against the commercial fishing industry for its strong stand favoring decommissioning of four Snake River dams, a move which threatened their massive power and transportation subsidies. The CRWM's point is that most wildlife initiatives these days are not about wildlife management so much as about power politics, and if allowed to stand most would seriously undercut the state's ability to effectively manage public trust wildlife resources. For more information on CRWM see: www.responsiblewildlifemanagement.org. NEWS, COMMENTS, CORRECTIONS: Submit your news items, comments or any corrections to Allison Vogt, Editor at: ifrfish@pacbell.net or call the IFR/PCFFA office with the news and a source at either: (415) 561-FISH (Southwest Office) or (541) 689-2000 (Northwest Office). ########################################################## "Sublegals" are a weekly fisheries news bulletin service of Fishlink. 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For further information about making tax-deductible contributions to IFR please phone us at: (541) 689-2000, or fax us at: (541)689-2500. -- Your Dedicated Editors ########################################################## --part1_ba.1df2ce1f.29412e46_boundary Content-Type: text/html; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ##########################################################
                   ~~>FISHLINK SUBLEGALS 11/30/01<~~
##########################################################
     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. 4, NO. 22                                      30 NOVEMBER 2001
##########################################################

IN THIS ISSUE.......

WORLD FISH CATCHES OVER-REPORTED, STOCKS IN
WORSE SHAPE THAN BELIEVED? 4:22/01.  

CENTRAL CALIFORNIA CRABBERS STAY TIED-UP; SAN   
FRANCISCO BAY HERRING FISHERY OPENS. 4:22/03.  

CHILEAN TRADE UNDER INVESTIGATION - IMPLICATIONS
FOR FARMED SALMON IMPORTS? 4:22/05.

FUNDING FOR COLUMBIA RIVER SALMON RESTORATION
COMES UP SHORT. 4:22/12.  

MPAS FOUND TO IMPROVE HARVESTS OF CERTAIN FISH
SPECIES IN SURROUNDING WATERS. 4:22/18.  

AND MORE......
#########################################################
4:22/01.  WORLD FISHERIES ASSESSMENTS MAY BE
STATISTICALLY FLAWED: Various official reports have indicated
serious overall worldwide increased fisheries harvests in recent years,
particularly based on data recently discovered to have been seriously
flawed.  Systematic over-reporting by China in the 1990's has been
found that, because the China harvests are so large, biases worldwide
harvest statistics considerably, so that the overall harvest trend was
officially up for the 1990's while the actual harvest levels had actually
begun to decline.  What this means is that the actual harvests, and
perhaps the status of fish stocks, is worse than reported by the United
Nations Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO) findings that depleted
and overexploited ocean fish stocks constitute about 28 percent of the
fish in the world's oceans; fully exploited stocks account for another 47
percent, with moderately exploited and under-exploited totaling about
25 percent. The report, "Systematic Distortions In World Fisheries
Catch Trends," by Watson and Pauly, appears as a letter in the 29
November issue of Nature (No. 414, pp. 534-536). To view this report,
go to: http://www.nature.com/nature/links/011129/011129-2.html.

The Watson and Pauly letter comes on the heels of a scathing
European Commission report on the European Union's (EU) Common
Fishery Policy (CFP).  According to a 23 November article in the U.K.
trade publication, Fishing News  (p.1), the Commission found
enforcement and monitoring under the CFP to be fragmented, with
unauthorized fishing being the most frequent infringement of the CFP.
The report about management implementation, enforcement and
monitoring for fisheries in the developed world brings into serious
question the degree of adherence to management measures in less
developed nations. To see the full FN article, go to:
www.fishingnews.co.uk.

4:22/02. CATFISH LABELING BAN BECOMES TEMPORARY
LAW:  Fish importers will no longer be able to label their product as
catfish after months of lobbying and consumer marketing by the U.S.
catfish industry and Catfish Farmers of America (CFA) (see Sublegals
4:16/11) reports WorldCatch.  U.S. President George W. Bush signed
the Agricultural Appropriations Act (H.R. 2330), allowing the nation's
catfish industry the exclusive use of the word catfish as a marketing
name and prohibiting the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) from
allowing any fish labeled as catfish unless it comes from the North
American Ictaluridae family.

These restrictions will last until 30 September 2002. However, similar
language to that in H.R. 2330 is included in H.R. 2964, passed by the
House, that would make the labeling ban permanent for fish not
classified within the family Ictaluridae. U.S. Senator Blanche Lincoln
(D-AK) is seeking to include similar legislation in the Senate Farm Bill.
This legislation comes on the heels of the European Union's (EU)
adopted regulations requiring name of seafood, place of origin and
method of production (see Sublegals, 4:17/01) and coincides with the
current effort of the Institute of Fisheries Resources (IFR) to increase
public awareness of the need to properly label seafood (see Sublegals,
4:16/09). For more information on this IFR initiative, contact Natasha
Benjamin at: ifrfish@pacbell.net. To read the entire WorldCatch article
on the catfish labeling legislation visit: www.worldcatch.com.

4:22/03. NO PRICE SETTLEMENT ON CRAB; SAN FRANCISCO
BAY HERRING SEASON STARTS THE 2ND: There are still no
signed market orders for Dungeness crab for the central California
season, that was scheduled to open 15 November (see Sublegals,
4:21/01; 4:20/03; 4:19/01).  Currently fish processors have offered an
opening price of $1.85 per pound ex-vessel and the marketing
associations are asking $2.00 per pound, $.25 less than last years
opening price.  The "northern" season (Mendocino County, California
north to the Canadian Border) was set to begin 1 December, but an
impasse in the price negotiations there, too, is expected to delay that
season opener.  Meanwhile, along the central California coast, the San
Francisco Bay "DH" gillnet roe herring fishery is set to begin Sunday
evening, 2 December.  The DH is the first platoon of boats to fish in this
fishery, the first roe fishery to open each year along the Pacific Coast.
The San Francisco Bay fishery, which also includes two platoons that
start in January, is the largest herring fishery south of British Columbia
and the United States' only surviving urban commercial fishery.

4/22/04: MARINE POLLUTION REPORT ISSUED BY UN: This
past week the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) issued its
report on marine pollution, "Protecting the Oceans from Land-Based
Activities."  Actions addressing sewage are given the highest priority in
the report, along with the need for control over excessive nutrients, and
a halt to the alteration or destruction of habitats and increased sediment
flows. The report was prepared for the upcoming UN world summit on
sustainable development, scheduled for Johannesburg in September
2002.  PCFFA President Pietro Parravano will be addressing a meeting
in Paris next week, hosted by UNESCO, where he will discuss fishery
issues in preparation for the "Rio+10" Johannesburg summit.

UNEP Director Klaus Toepfer said the value of marine and coastal
ecosystems is equivalent to half of the annual global gross national
product. "Yet we continue to treat coasts and oceans as if they were not
an important economic resource for developing and developed countries
alike," stated Toepfer. He said that nearly 80 percent of the
environmental problems in the oceans begin on land, including pollution
from factories, sewage, fertilizers and pesticides that wash into the sea.
For more information on the Rio+10 summit and the United Nations
Environment Program, or for a copy of the pollution report, search on
the UNEP website starting at: http://www.unep.org.

4:22/05. U.S. - CHILE TRADE UNDER INVESTIGATION: The
International Trade Commission (ITC) is beginning an investigation of
trade between the U.S. and Chile as part of negotiations between the two
countries to develop a free trade agreement (see Sublegals 4:17/03).
WorldCatch News Network reported that the inquiry was requested by
the U.S. Trade Representative's (USTR) office and will examine the
Chilean economy and Chilean patterns of trade. The inquiry will also
analyze the trade and economic impacts by sector of a U.S. Chile trade
agreement (see Sublegals 4:16/07). Farmed salmon, a major share of
Chilean exports, will be a part of the investigation (see Sublegals
4:17/03; 4:10/02; 4:09/02). United Fishermen of Alaska (UFA) has been
pressing for such an investigation and for controls over Chilean salmon
imports into the U.S., a position largely supported by PCFFA.

The ITC report is to be submitted by 17 January 2002. Public
comments are being accepted, but there will be no public hearings.
Parties are asked to submit written statements (original and 14 copies) to
Secretary, United States International Trade Commission, 500 E Street
SW, Washington, D.C., 20436 no later than 12 December. For more
information, contact: Dennis Rapkins, Deputy Project Leader, Office of
Industries, ITC, 202-205-3406. To see the entire article, visit:
www.worldcatch.com.

The vote on H.R. 3005, the "fast track" bill aimed at giving the U.S.
President greater authority in trade negotiations (see Sublegals, 4:21/11;
4:16/05; 4:14/11) is scheduled for 6 December, in the U.S. House of
Representatives.  The proposed free trade agreement with Chile would
be the first negotiated under any fast track authority. The vote is
expected to be close and, according to a report by the Washington Post,
Congressman Thomas Davis (R-VA) is pushing for the vote, even if it
can't pass, in an effort to create a schism between Democrats and the
high tech industry.  The vote creates a dilemma for the Democrats, torn
between their labor and environment constituency, and the high tech
industry that is seeking fewer restrictions on trade.  For information, see:
www.globalexchange.org/fasttrack.  

4:22/06. SCIENTISTS FIND TRANSGENIC ESCAPED GENES IN
MEXICO: Confirming the worst fears of critics of transgenic
manipulation, scientists have discovered genes now commonly used in
several experimentally grown genetically modified (GM) crops common
in the U.S., but in the remotest parts of Mexico within populations of
wild maize plants which are the genetic source and gene bank for all
commercially grown corn.  Opponents of genetically modified
organisms have long claimed that exotic genes artificially inserted into
plants to increase resistance to pests or pesticides could potentially
escape the original plant source and contaminate other gene pools.
Advocates for GM crops have discounted that possibility.  However, this
report, in the 29 November issue of Nature (No. 414, pp. 541-543),
apparently confirms that fear.  No signs of foreign genes were found in
Peruvian maize nor in archived samples from the same Mexican maize
taken from before the advent of transgenic crops.  Mexico banned
planting transgenic maize in 1998 to protect its gene banks, but it is still
imported from the United States.  The closest area with GM crops to the
contaminated crop is 60 miles away.  The article itself is on the web at:
http://www.nature.com/nature/links/011129/011129-4.html.

One of the implications of this finding is that risks of wild salmon
gene pool contamination from the introduction of genetically modified
salmon may also have been greatly understated.  Scientists have also
estimated that escaped GM salmon genes would take no more than 40
generations to spread throughout the wild salmon gene pool, with
potentially devastating consequences for wild salmon survival, including
possible extinction.  See for instance the "Trojan Gene Theory" article:
"Possible Ecological Risks of Transgenic Organism Release When
Transgenes Affect Mating Success: Sexual Selection and the Trojan
Gene Hypothesis," Muir and Howard, 23 November 1999 (Vol. 96, No.
24) in Proceedings of the US National Academy of Sciences, pages
13853-13856 (on the web by date and issue at: www.pnas.org.)

4:22/07.  FISH FARMING LINKED TO INCREASE IN EXOTIC
SPECIES:  The 23 November issue of Science (Vol. 294, pp.
1655-1656) also includes an article on the problem of introduction of
exotic species by aquaculture.  The article, "Aquaculture - A Gateway
for Exotic Species," concludes, "International transfers of nonnative
species for aquaculture poses high ecological risks given the absence of
strong policies in most countries."  The authors call for considerably
improved U.S. government oversight, and putting into place much
stronger international policies to prevent use and eventual escape of
non-native species from the aquaculture industry.  

4:22/08. EPA TEMPERATURE GUIDANCE OUT FOR
COMMENTS:  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Region 10 is seeking comments on its draft guidance for developing
water quality standards for temperature that protect native salmonids
(including salmon, steelhead, bull trout and cutthroat trout) in the Pacific
Northwest.  This guidance will be the basis for all future water quality
standards set by the states under the Clean Water Act (CWA) and for the
state's process of setting 'total maximum daily loads' ('TMDLs') for
water temperature for salmonids.  Salmonids generally need cold water
for survival, and many Northwest streams now greatly exceed optimum
water temperatures for salmonid spawning and rearing, and as a
consequence are listed as 'water quality limited' under the Clean Water
Act's '303(d) List.'  The Clean Water Act requires states to set TMDL
temperature standards for maximum river water temperatures and to
bring streams out of compliance with that standard back into compliance
over time. The draft guidance for public comment can be found on the
EPA website at: www.epa.gov/r10earth/water.htm or can be obtained in
hard copy by calling EPA's Public Environmental Resource Center at
(800) 424-4372.  Comments are due by 22 February 2002.

4:22/09. COHO SALMON HABITAT RESTORATION FUNDING
AVAILABLE: The California Department of Fish & Game (CDFG) is
requesting proposals for fishery restoration work that restores or benefits
coho salmon or their habitat throughout their current range in coastal
California. The proposals are due 11 January 2002. To receive a copy of
the Request for Proposals visit http://www.dfg.ca.gov or call (916)
327-8840. There will be a workshop to help guide the preparation of
sound restoration proposals on Saturday, 8 December, from 1000 to
1500 hours at the Siskiyou County Fairgrounds, 1712 Fairlane Road in
Yreka, California.

4:22/10.  REPORT HIGHLIGHTS NEED FOR OREGON
FORESTY REFORM FOR SALMON RESTORATION: A new status
report on Oregon coastal watersheds and the impact of industrial
forestry on salmon habitat has been published by the Coast Range
Association of Oregon.  The report, "Forestry and Salmon: A Report on
Oregon's Coastal Watersheds and the Need for Forestry Reform,"
documents how modern industrial forestry in that state has stripped most
coastal watersheds of larger old trees, removed sources of large woody
debris in streams and greatly impoverished salmon production
throughout Oregon's coastline.  The report finds that: "A shift from an
abundant large timber forest to a small, timber poor forest set the stage
and caused much of the salmon crisis."  As a result, few coastal
watersheds are still within the historic range of variability that salmon
evolved for and which they require for survival.  The conclusions of the
report are that without major regulatory reforms in the State of Oregon
on private industrial timberlands, which compared to California and
Washington are still poorly regulated, salmon recovery will be difficult
to impossible.  A copy of the watersheds report is available on the web
at: http://www.coastrange.org.

4:22/11.  BILL PROPOSES SAFEGUARDS FOR KEY TONGASS
SALMON WATERSHEDS:  Since its introduction on 20 September,
eighty-six members of Congress have joined U.S. Representatives Rosa
DeLauro (D-CT) and Connie Morella (R-MD) to co-sponsor the "Alaska
Rainforest Conservation Act" (ARCA), H.R. 2908, intended to protect
key watersheds in Alaska's Tongass National Forest, most of which
produce salmon, from the impacts of large-scale clearcuts and
roadbuilding.  The Tongass, the largest temperate rainforest in the
United States, is the source of much of the salmon production of the
State of Alaska, but has also been badly overcut in the past by timber
companies taking advantage of long term 'sweetheart deals' that were
signed decades prior to most environmental protections.  Though many
of these deals have since been terminated, others remain. Timber sales in
the Tongass typically are also conducted at a huge financial loss to
taxpayers, in addition to damaging key salmon runs.  

Many of the key areas that would be protected under ARCA were
administratively protected under the 1999 Tongass Land Management
Plan (which Alaska fishermen played a key role in getting adopted), but
the Plan was partially overturned in March 2001 by a suit filed by the
Alaska timber industry, and the Bush Administration has already started
the process to amend the Plan as of late September 2001.  Newly
appointed and confirmed Undersecretary for Natural Resources and the
Environment Mark Rey (replacing Jim Lyons of the Clinton
Administration) will oversee the review process.  Rey, former aide to
U.S. Senator Frank Murkowski (R-AK) as chair of the Senate Energy &
Natural Resources Committee, was an active timber industry lobbyist
for almost 20 years and is also widely blamed as the author of the
infamous 'Timber Salvage Rider' of 1995, which suspended all
environmental laws for 18 months on all west coast old growth timber
sales in key salmon watersheds.  Rey is also now the Administration
official overseeing the U.S. Forest Service.  H.R. 2908 is now in the
House Resources Committees' Subcommittee on Forestry & Forest
Health, with no hearings as yet scheduled.

4:22/12. CONGRESS FALLS SHORT IN COLUMBIA RIVER
SALMON RECOVERY PLAN FUNDING:  The $435.6 million total
allocated by Congress in the 2002 federal budget for Columbia River
salmon recovery plan implementation "falls far short," according to
American Rivers, of the amounts actually required to implement that
plan.  Trout Unlimited, American Rivers and Save Our Wild Salmon, a
coalition of fisheries and conservation groups, have estimated the full
costs of implementation of the controversial 2000 National Marine
Fisheries Service's (NMFS) Biological Opinion (BiOp) for the recovery
of the Columbia and Snake River's 12 salmon runs now listed as either
threatened or endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act
(ESA) as more like $700 million needed in 2002, with higher levels in
future years.  Similar funding levels were, in fact, advocated by U.S.
Senator Mike Crapo (R-ID) ($688.2 million) and Oregon Governor John
Kitzhaber ($718 million) during this Congressional session, but the
Administration eventually only requested $350 million - an amount that
was raised to $435.6 million only after intensive lobbying by U.S.
Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Representative Norm Dicks (D-WA) and
others.  Since the events of 11 September, even less money is likely to
be available in the future given the current federal budget deficits now
projected as lasting several years. The NMFS BiOp, adopted December
2000 as a way to avoid decommissioning the four lower Snake River
hydropower dams, will fail without adequate implementation funding.
Failure to implement the recovery plan would trigger a crisis in the
Columbia and Snake Rivers, where policies on dams would then be in
direct collision with the ESA, the Clean Water Act, the Northwest
Power Act and Tribal Treaty obligations.  For more information contact
Rob Masonis, American Rivers Seattle Office, (206) 213-0330.


4:22/13. WILD VERSUS FARMED SALMON TASTE TEST SET
FOR SEATTLE: The Sustainable Fisheries Alliance has announced a
taste test between wild and farmed salmon is scheduled for Wednesday,
19 December, at the Fremont Unconventional Space (FUNC), 160 N.
Canal Street in Seattle. The taste test will involve five different species
of salmon.  The event itself will also feature a media presentation on
open water net-cage salmon, halibut, blackcod, and cod farming and the
effects on coastal communities and the environment, and a several
course gourmet seafood meal featuring wild and sustainable seafood and
the "Amazing Salmon BBQ"  - oysters, salmon, crab, blackcod, tuna,
halibut, and caviar, coupled with a microbrew tour. There will be a scary
event (left over from Halloween) - the telling of the Frankenfish Story,
as well as an auction, music and special guests. For more information,
call John Foss at (206) 932-0595, or e-mail him at: sustain@oz.net.

4:22/14.  WASHINGTON PESTICIDE/ESA STRATEGY
UNVEILED: The Washington State Pesticide/Endangered Species Act
(ESA) Task Force, an interagency task force with representatives from
several federal and state agencies as well as several scientists, has
released its final strategy document entitled, "A Process for Evaluating
Pesticides in Washington State Surface Waters for Potential Impacts to
Salmonids."  The document outlines a strategy for evaluating the impact
of pesticides on threatened and endangered salmonids in Washington
State.  The finalized strategy document can be obtained on the web at:
www.wa.gov/agr/pmd/pesticides/esa.htm.

On the federal level, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) has recently been sued by a coalition of groups, including
PCFFA, for its systematic failure to consult with the National Marine
Fisheries Service (NMFS) on the impact of pesticides on Endangered
Species Act (ESA) listed salmonids as required under Section 7 of the
federal ESA.  Many pesticides are now known to chronically affect
salmonid survival rates at levels far below those set on the basis of
instant mortality alone.  See for instance a recent report, "Diminishing
Returns: Salmon Decline and Pesticides" (February 1999) on the web at:
www.ifrfish.org/salpest.htm.

4:22/15.  MORE WASHINGTON RIVERS ADDED TO POLLUTED
LIST:  Washington's Department of Ecology has added another 22
waterways to the growing the of lakes, rivers and marine waters defined
as 'water quality limited' in accordance with the Clean Water Act
(CWA) 303(d) List.  These are waters no longer 'fishable or
swimmable,' the standard required under the Act.  Water quality
problems identified in Washington state are listed at:
www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/wq/303d.  The next required revision of the
state's 303(d) List is scheduled for fall of 2002.  The 2002 list will be
issued following adoption by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) of their temperature standards guidance (see Sublegals 4:22/08
above).  For more information about the program, contact Ecology
Water Cleanup Coordinator Ron McBride, at (360) 407-6469 or at:
rmcb461@ecy.wa.gov.

4:22/16. CALIFORNIA FISH & GAME COMMISSION MEETING
- NEARSHORE FISHERY ISSUES UNDER CONSIDERATION: The
California Fish & Game Commission will meet 6-7 December in Long
Beach.  Among the major fishery issues to be discussed will be the
report on the peer review of its Nearshore Fishery Management Plan
(Agenda Item #5) and adoption of proposed changes to the nearshore
permit (Agenda Item #14), as well as adoption of the Marine Life
Management Act (MLMA) master plan (dealing with state marine
protected areas - Agenda Item #16) as well as consideration of adoption
of the White Seabass Fishery Management Plan (Agenda Item #17).  For
more information, go to: www.dfg.ca.gov/fg_comm/12-06-01.htm.

4:22/17. NMFS RELEASES EIS FOR STELLER SEA LIONS: On
28 November, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) released
its final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) intended
to "provide information on potential environmental impacts that could
occur from implementing a suite of fisheries management measures
such that the western population of Steller sea lions existence is
not jeopardized nor its critical habitat adversely modified by the
groundfish fisheries in the Gulf of Alaska and the Bering Sea and
Aleutian Islands; and meet the National Environmental Policy Act's
[NEPA] purpose of fostering excellent actions and better decisions that
are based on understanding the environmental consequences of actions."
Much of the Alaskan groundfish fishery has been closed due to concerns
for the Steller sea lion, now listed under the Endangered Species Act. To
view the SEIS, go to:
http://www.fakr.noaa.gov/sustainablefisheries/seis/sslpm/default.htm.

4:22/18. REPORT INDICATES CARIBBEAN MARINE
PROTECTED AREAS HAVE IMPROVED SURROUNDING FISH
HARVESTS:  An article in the 30 November issue of Science (Vol. 294,
pp. 1920-1923) titled "Effects of Marine Reserves on Adjacent
Fisheries," reports on a study that has looked at two new marine
protected areas, one in Florida and the other near the Caribbean island of
St. Lucia, and concluded that the existence of these protected areas has
indeed increased surrounding fisheries harvests.  While marine protected
areas (MPAs) have had some demonstrated conservation benefits, few
studies have as yet been done to examine benefits to commercial and
recreational fisheries and so they remain highly controversial among
both industries.  This study confirms theoretical predictions that
properly structured marine protected areas (e.g., that protect key nursery
areas and allow dispersal) can have substantial collateral benefits to
surrounding fisheries. Near St. Lucia, surrounding fish harvests were
observed to increase by 46 to 90 percent over a five-year period,
depending on species. To view the Science article, go to:
www.sciencemag.org.

4:22/19. PFMC AD HOC GROUNDFISH COMMITTEE TO MEET
IN PORTLAND: The Pacific Fishery Management Council's (PFMC)
Ad Hoc Groundfish Multi-Year Management Committee (GMMC) will
hold a public work session, Thursday-Friday, 13-14 December, at the
PFMC West Conference Room, 7700 NE Ambassador Place, Suite 200,
in Portland, Oregon.  For more information, call (503) 326-6352 or go to
the PFMC website at: www.pcouncil.org.

4:22/20.  LAWSUIT TARGETS WILDLIFE INITIATIVES IN
WASHINGTON STATE:  The December 2001 issue of Pacific Fishing
carries an announcement (p.7) about a group calling itself "Citizens for
Responsible Wildlife Management (CRWM)," which is legally
challenging the constitutionality of two recently passed wildlife
management initiatives (I-655 and I-713, both restricting the use of bear
bait, dogs and traps in hunting and wildlife management).  By
implication, however, a court victory in the case would invalidate all
future citizen initiatives concerning wildlife management in the State of
Washington.  The group's suit alleges that all such initiatives, regardless
of subject, are an unconstitutional special interest political interference
with the state's Public Trust Doctrine and with science-based public
wildlife management policies.  

In addition to a number of hunter and sportsman's groups who
opposed those particular initiatives, the coalition also includes the Purse
Seine Vessel Owner's Association and the Washington Women for
Commercial Fisheries because, should such a suit succeed, it would also
by implication invalidate future versions of such past initiatives as I-640
and I-696, either of which would have essentially banned commercial
fishing in that state.  Both of these divisive initiatives (which lost by a
wide margin) were made possible for fringe anti-commercial
sportfishing activists to get on the ballot only with extensive
under-the-table organizing support, funding and legal assistance from
aluminum companies and other upper Columbia River special interest
groups, who were seeking retribution against the commercial fishing
industry for its strong stand favoring decommissioning of four Snake
River dams, a move which threatened their massive power and
transportation subsidies.  The CRWM's point is that most wildlife
initiatives these days are not about wildlife management so much as
about power politics, and if allowed to stand most would seriously
undercut the state's ability to effectively manage public trust wildlife
resources.  For more information on CRWM see:
www.responsiblewildlifemanagement.org.

NEWS, COMMENTS, CORRECTIONS: Submit your news items,
comments or any corrections to Allison Vogt, Editor at:
ifrfish@pacbell.net or call the IFR/PCFFA office with the news and a
source at either: (415) 561-FISH (Southwest Office) or (541) 689-2000
(Northwest Office).

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--part1_ba.1df2ce1f.29412e46_boundary-- From FISH1IFR@aol.com Tue Dec 11 18:09:59 2001 Received: from imo-m05.mx.aol.com (imo-m05.mx.aol.com [64.12.136.8]) by straylight.primelogic.com (8.11.6/8.11.1) with ESMTP id fBC29vA07298 for ; Tue, 11 Dec 2001 18:09:58 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from FISH1IFR@aol.com) Received: from FISH1IFR@aol.com by imo-m05.mx.aol.com (mail_out_v31_r1.9.) id e.48.340e717 (3998) for ; Tue, 11 Dec 2001 21:04:41 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: <48.340e717.29481538@aol.com> Date: Tue, 11 Dec 2001 21:04:40 EST To: fishlink@straylight.primelogic.com MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="part1_48.340e717.29481538_boundary" X-Mailer: AOL 6.0 for Windows US sub 10536 From: fishlink-admin@straylight.primelogic.com Subject: [Fishlink] ~~>FISHLINK SUBLEGALS 12/07/01<~~ Sender: fishlink-admin@straylight.primelogic.com Errors-To: fishlink-admin@straylight.primelogic.com X-BeenThere: fishlink@straylight.primelogic.com X-Mailman-Version: 2.0.6 Precedence: bulk Reply-To: bit-bucket@straylight.primelogic.com X-Reply-To: fishlink@straylight.primelogic.com List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Fishlink is a joint fisheries information news service of Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations (PCFFA) and the Institute for Fisheries Resources (IFR). List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: --part1_48.340e717.29481538_boundary Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ########################################################## ~~>FISHLINK SUBLEGALS 12/07/01<~~ ########################################################## 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. 4, NO. 23 7 DECEMBER 2001 ########################################################## PARRAVANO PARIS SPEECH TO GLOBAL CONFERENCE ON OCEANS AND COASTS AT RIO +10. 4:23/01. LEGGATT REPORT CONDEMNS BRITISH COLUMBIA SALMON NET PEN AQUACULTURE OPERATIONS. 4:23/01. NMFS SETTLES ESSENTIAL FISH HABITAT LITIGATION WITH CONSERVATION AND FISHING GROUPS. 4:23/06. CENTRAL CALIFORNIA DUNGENESS CRAB PRICE FINALLY SETTLED, NORTH STAYS TIED-UP. 4:23/09. BPA BLASTED OVER MASSIVE KILLS OF COLUMBIA RIVER SALMON. 4:23/12. ######################################################### 4:23/01. PARRAVANO TELLS UN CONFERENCE COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH NEEDED FOR SUSTAINABLE FISHERIES DEVELOPMENT: In a 5 December presentation before the United Nations (UN)-sponsored "Global Conference on Oceans and Coasts at Rio + 10", held this past week in France, PCFFA President Pietro Parravano called for policies that consider fisheries "from the ocean to the plate" in planning for sustainable development. Convened at the UNESCO offices in Paris, the meeting is part of the preparation for the World Summit on Sustainable Development, scheduled for next September in Johannesburg, South Africa. That summit will assess the progress made in the decade since the international environmental conference held at Rio de Janeiro in 1992. Parravano emphasized the value of maintaining artisanal and commercial fisheries, as part of economically diverse coastal economies, in planning for development, and that said policies must be mindful of the fundamentals of a healthy fishing industry: abundant fish stocks, access to the fish, and markets for the fish. He stressed there were no "silver bullets" to conserving fish, and the fisheries, cultures and communities that depend on those stocks, chiding the proponents of "three letter solutions" and their "cure du jours." Parravano went on to say the protection of fisheries requires hard work and political will. "The solutions often will require multiple actions, from sound fishing regulations to tough habitat protections and strong pollution abatement programs," he said in his speech that covered issues ranging from overfishing and the threats of aquaculture to trade regulations and seafood labeling. Parravano, the only commercial fisherman or representative from the fishing industry making a presentation, appeared on the "High Seas" panel of the conference with the UN Food & Agriculture's (FAO) Serge Garcia, Dr. Daniel Pauly with the University of British Columbia, Matt Gianni with Greenpeace, and Professor Moritaka Hayashi with the Waseda University School of Law, among others. Parravano's speech can be found on PCFFA's website at: www.pcffa.org. Also appearing at the Paris conference was Canada's Minister of Fisheries & Oceans Herb Dhaliwal, who called for united global action to protect the world's oceans. In 1997, he told the conferees, Canada became the first country in the world to pass a national Oceans Act and adopt the Rio vision of integrated management as a national mandate. Canada is now in the process of finalizing a national oceans management framework, and has launched pilot projects and a network of regional offices to test the principles of integrated management in a variety of real-life situations across the country. It has also incorporated integrated management into the National Program of Action it developed in response to the Global Program of Action (GPA) adopted by coastal nations in 1995 to control pollution and protect the marine environment from the impacts of land activities. The Minister's talk, however, came on the heels of a scathing report on aquaculture in Canada and its pollution of coastal waters and threat to native fish populations (see 4:23/02 below). Minister Dhaliwal also used the Paris conference venue to announce that the United Nations Agreement on Straddling & Highly Migratory Fish Stocks (UNFA) would take effect 13 December with the 30 nations required for ratification now having signed. The agreement establishes guiding principles for the sustainable management of straddling and highly migratory fish stocks, such as the precautionary approach and the minimization of pollution, waste, discards and bycatch. Canada was one of the first countries to sign it. The text of Dhaliwal's speech can be seen at: www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca. 4:23/02. LEGGATT REPORT OUT, CALLS FOR CONTINUED MORATORIUM ON SALMON FARMS IN BC, REMOVAL OF ALL NET PENS BY 2005: The findings of the Canadian investigation into the impacts of salmon net pen aquaculture operations in British Columbia were released this past week (see Sublegals, 4:14/09). The Report of the Leggatt Inquiry (named for former BC Supreme Court Justice Stuart Leggatt, who headed the investigation) "Clear Choices, Clean Waters," is the result of a review of BC's salmon farm industry and eight days of public hearings in five communities. The report presented findings that net-cage salmon farms are the cause of major environmental damage to the coastal environment and pose a significant threat to wild fish stocks. The report lists six recommendations for mitigating damage, including removal of net-cage salmon farms by 2005. To the north, Alaska has a moratorium on all fish farms, and hasn't experienced B.C.'s farm-induced pollution, parasite, or disease problems so far. California and Oregon also prohibit salmon net pen aquaculture operations. Alaskan fishermen and biologists, however, have found escaped farm fish in both ocean and rivers as far north as the Bering Sea. Escaped Atlantic salmon have successfully reproduced in Canadian streams and add to the fear that this non-indigenous species will invade wild fish habitat, spread disease, prey on and take food from wild fish. B.C. also raises chinook and coho salmon, and escapes of those species could genetically weaken local Pacific salmon stocks. "These fish have no idea if they're wrapped in Maple Leaves or Old Glory - we are finding them in Alaskan waters and are deeply concerned," said Alaska Trollers Association Executive Director Dale Kelley, who had testified before the Leggatt inquiry. She pointed to Canada's and Alaska's obligation to protect both fish and fishermen under the Pacific Salmon Treaty. "Leggatt's recommendations should be acted on immediately and are right in line with the overarching principles of the Treaty," stated Kelley. The Leggatt Report (http://www.leggattinquiry.com/Report/InquiryReport.asp) recommends: 1. Remove all net-cage salmon farms from the marine environment by 1 January 2005. 2. Remove responsibility for promotion of aquaculture from the Department of Fisheries & Oceans (DFO) and increase monitoring and regulation of salmon farming by government regulators. 3. Increase involvement of communities, especially First Nations, in consultation, partnership and ownership of salmon farming operations. 4. Maintain the moratorium on new farm sites with no further expansion at existing sites; complete and update the Salmon Aquaculture Review. 5. Apply the precautionary principle to regulation of the salmon farming industry. 6. Require labeling and identification of farm salmon at the consumer level. 4:23/03. NMFS REPORT ON SALMON NET PENS IN PACIFIC NORTHWEST CALLED "WHITEWASH," "BLATANT PANDERING TO AQUACULTURE INTERESTS": The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has released its report on the net-pen salmon farming industry in the Pacific Northwest evaluating risks associated with this form of aquaculture. In stark contrast to the extensive Leggatt Inquiry in British Columbia, NMFS claims there is "very little to no risk" of the escape of Atlantic salmon in the region or the impact of antibiotic resistant bacteria on native salmonids. "It is no secret NMFS is competing with the USDA [U.S. Department of Agriculture] over which agency will ultimately have aquaculture and its federal subsidies under it," said PCFFA Executive Director Zeke Grader. "But one would have thought there would be at least a scintilla of science and objectivity in this report. Instead our federal fishery agency has dished up findings clearly in conflict with all the known facts in this blatant pandering to aquaculture interests." The report, "The Net-Pen Salmon Farming Industry in the Pacific Northwest" can be found at: http://www.nwfsc.noaa.gov/pubs/tm/tm49/TM49.htm. 4:23/04. SALMON FARMS MAJOR SOURCE OF POLLUTION IN CHILE: On 28 November, Intrafish.com reported that new research in Chile demonstrates that discharges from salmon farms in Regions X and XI are equal to those which would be caused by four times the number of human inhabitants of the zone. The study, carried out by the Universidad de Los Lagos, also pointed out that the waste is discharged without any kind of treatment. According to the newspaper La Tercera, the research was commissioned by the environmental non-governmental organization (NGO), Fundacion Terram. The professor in charge of the survey, Alejandro Buschmann, said that the waste from salmon farms is equivalent to that generated by a population ranging between 2.7 and 4.1 million inhabitants. To see the full text of the report, go to: http://www.intrafish.com/article.php?articleID=18469. 4:23/05. IMPACTS OF AQUACULTURE TO BE CONSIDERED AT ASLO MEETING IN VICTORIA: Abstracts for papers are being called for on the "Potential Impacts of Aquaculture" for the American Society of Limnology & Oceanography's (ASLO) summer meeting scheduled for 10-14 June in Victoria, British Columbia. The theme for this ASLO conference is 'Inter-disciplinary Linkages in Aquatic Sciences and Beyond'. Known impacts of aquaculture include changes in nutrient dynamics of sediments and water column, disease transmission, predator control, harmful algal blooms, genetic conservation, sustainability, and invasion biology to list only a few. The deadline for abstracts is 20 January 2002. For contact and submission information, go to: http://aslo.org/victoria2002/index.html. 4:23/06. ESSENTIAL FISH HABITAT PROTECTION SUIT SETTLED: Thursday, 6 December, the case American Oceans Campaign, et. al. v. Evans, Civil No. 99-982 GK (U.S. District Court, Washington DC) was formally settled by consent order. This litigation was brought in 1998 by a number of marine conservation groups and two commercial fishing organizations (PCFFA and the Cape Cod Commercial Hook Fishermen's Association) against the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and all the federal fisheries management councils to enforce the 'essential fish habitat (EFH)' provisions of the Sustainable Fisheries Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act, 16 U.S.C. 1855(b)). The EFH provisions were originally written by PCFFA and became law in the 1996 Magnuson Act amendments. Under the statute the regional fishery councils are required to identify and protect essential fish habitat for each species. Rules for the implementation of the EFH provisions were published in the 8 November 1999 Federal Register (64. Fed. Reg. 60731-66559). Since 1977, PCFFA has been pushing for stronger habitat protection measures, asserting that catch restrictions alone, without measures to protect habitats, flows and water quality, would not be sufficient for the management and conservation of fish stocks. The court, in a previous decision September 2000, found that the federal fisheries management councils have generally done a poor job of either the identification of EFH or the protection of EFH, or both, and were particularly lax in protecting habitat from the impacts of fishing operations themselves, a requirement of the 1996 amendments to the Act. Though most modern fisheries avoid sea bottom habitat and thus minimize habitat destruction, ongoing reef destruction and groundfish nursery bed destruction by certain bottom trawl gear, excessively heavy roller gear and other seabed dragger gear combinations still commonly used in some federal fisheries have been of particular concern to fisheries biologists and fishermen, and the Act's provisions were intended also to require the agencies to fully assess and correct these long standing problems so that all fisheries are more sustainable. (For an annotated bibliography on fishing impacts on habitat see: www.gsmfc.org/fishingimpacts.html.) The settlement provides for enforceable deadlines for each regional management council to fully implement the EFH provisions in each region, and for periodic reports to the court from NMFS on implementation progress. Copies of the settlement agreement, district court decision, and other materials are available online at http://www.oceana.org/. 4:23/07. NMFS TO SPONSOR SYMPOSIUM ON EFFECTS OF FISHING ON HABITATS: The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has announced it will sponsor a national "Symposium on Effects of Fishing on Benthic Habitats" scheduled for 12-14 November 2002 in Tampa, Florida. According to NMFS, "The goal of the symposium is to help ensure sustainable fisheries and healthy, diverse ecosystems by advancing the scientific knowledge available to resource managers to evaluate and appropriately manage fishing activities that affect benthic habitat." A call for abstracts and papers will be issued this month. For information on sessions and registration, go to: http://walrus.wr.usgs.gov/bh2002/. Those wishing to be added to the symposium mailing list and receive additional conference information, as it becomes available, should e-mail: lori@esa.org. 4:23/08. RUSSIAN FISHERMEN APPEAL FOR ASSISTANCE IN FIGHTING 'FISH MAFIA' AND RUSSIAN FISH AGENCY CORRUPTION: The Russian-English publication Tikhookeansky Vestnick (Northern Pacific) Magazine, the only voice of commercial fishermen and fishing dependent communities in the Russian Far East, is appealing worldwide for sponsors and subscribers to its publication and to help support its ongoing efforts to rid their fisheries of rampant government corruption and mismanagement, and to combat the 'sweetheart deals' quota system manipulated by what they call the 'Fish Mafia' that largely still controls the Russian fisheries quota allocation system. The magazine's repeated exposures since its beginning in January 2000 of cozy government-factory trawler allocation deals that have cut local Russian fishermen off from access to their own fisheries in favor of giant foreign-owned factory trawlers have earned it a worldwide reputation as a protector of fishing dependent communities in Kamchatka and throughout the Russian Far East. Fishermen in the Russian Far East are currently fighting against the selling off of Russia's continental shelf oil and gas reserves within vitally important fisheries areas that, if those developments proceed, are likely to wipe out a major seafood source for the region (see Sublegals, 4:10/10). The magazine is on line in both English and Russian at: http://npacific.kamchatka.ru. Donations to their work can be made to the Charitable Public Fund of Bioresources Conservation of the Northern Pacific (fund "Northern Pacific"). Since sending funds to Russia is particularly difficult, before doing so you should contact Sergei Vakhryn, Editor, for instructions by way of email at: s.vakhrin@npacific.kamchatka.ru. 4:23/09. CENTRAL CALIFORNIA CRAB SEASON FINALLY OPENS; NORTH REMAINS OUT IN PRICE DISPUTE: On Tuesday, 3 December, seeing a break in the weather, the central California (Sonoma County south) crab fleet agreed on a Dungeness price to settle a tie-up that had been ongoing since 15 November (see Sublegals, 4:22/03; 4:21/01; 4:20/03; 4:19/01). The price finally settled on at $1.88 ex-vessel per pound, the lowest opening price in five years and considerably below last year's start of $2.25. On Wednesday, vessels from Bodega Bay to Monterey Bay began setting traps and the first crabs started coming in. Generally, production has been slow and the crabs smaller than usual. In the meantime, crabbers in northern California (Mendocino County north), Oregon and Washington remain tied-up with their own price dispute. To date, fish processors have only been willing to offer $1.65 per pound for those crabs; this fishery had been set to open 1 December. 4:23/10: EPA TO MOVE FORWARD WITH HUDSON DREDGING: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced 4 December that the nearly $465 million project to dredge the upper Hudson River to remove sediment contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) will be carried out (see Sublegals 4:6/20; 4:5/11). The agency had made an initial announcement in early August of its decision to order the dredging. The EPA rejected General Electric's (GE) plea to scale back the cleanup. GE used PCBs (an insulating material) for more than 30 years at its factories on the Hudson, until manufacture and use of the chemicals were banned in 1977. During that time, an estimated 1.3 million pounds or more of PCBs leaked or were dumped into the river, some of it under state permits. Economic analysts have said the cost of the dredging will not harm GE earnings, since the company had set aside reserves to pay the estimated cost. GE, however, is expected to continue fighting the EPA, hoping to overturn the decision and get out from under its responsibility for the cleanup. Since 1937, PCBs have been suspected carcinogens. The contamination of the Hudson destroyed one of the nation's most celebrated urban commercial fisheries - that for shad. The cleanup is expected to be one of the biggest and most complex environmental cleanup projects in the history of the country. For more information go to: http://riverkeeper.org/pcb/index.html. 4:23/11. HERRING FISHERY OFF TO SLOW START IN SAN FRANCISCO BAY; FLAVORED ROE TO BOOST DEMAND FOR ATLANTIC HERRING?: The San Francisco Bay herring roe fishery opened 2 December. Fishing during the first week was slow but not unusual for this first herring fishery to open each year along the Pacific Coast (see Sublegals, 4:22/03). The "DH" gillnet fishery is open until 21 December, but there is no fishing on weekends. In January the "Odd" and "Even" gillnet platoons begin their fishery in the Bay, and fishing opens as well to the north in Tomales Bay, Humboldt Bay and Crescent City. The total gillnet quota this year for San Francisco Bay is 4,130 tons. For more information, contact the California Department of Fish & Game (CDFG) at: (650) 631-6758. Demand for herring roe in Japan, the principal market for the product, has declined due to that nation's economic recession over the past few years. Now, WorldCatch, in a 2 December article, reports that companies may be turning to flavored herring roe as an alternative to the salted roe. Many companies turned to flavored roe for Atlantic herring in the early 1980's to find a less expensive substitute for Pacific roe. In the salted form, Atlantic roe was a flop, but when producers replaced the salt with flavoring, a new Japanese market was born. A variety of flavored products have since been developed, including roe marinated soy sauce, mentai (spicy Korean style) flavored roe, and even roe packed with mayonnaise. Other products combine herring roe with vegetable and seafood products. To see the full text of the WorldCatch report, go to: www.worldcatch.com. 4:23/12. BPA BLASTED OVER 2001 JUVENILE SALMON SACRIFICE: In an economics report released 3 December by the Save Our Wild Salmon Coalition titled "Failing Salmon, Failing People," the total power cost savings that the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) actually achieved in summer 2001 by eliminating its spill program for the Columbia has been quantified. The termination of the spill program resulted in the worst loss of Columbia River juvenile salmon and steelhead since any of the Columbia river stocks have been listed under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) (see Sublegals 4:01/02; 3:18/01; 3:15/10; 3:14/04). The report, based on BPA's own numbers, concludes that if BPA had kept the spill program going at 100 percent of required recovery plan levels, the total additional cost to consumers would have only been about 38 cents/month for consumers in Seattle and only about 75 cents/month for consumers in Portland over one year. Even for utilities that are 100% dependent on BPA power, the maximum rate impact would have been only an additional $1.50/month maximum over a one-year period. As a result of BPA's decision to terminate the spill program, the juvenile survival rates ESA listed Snake River steelhead plunged to only 16 percent, as compared to 68 percent in 2000, and chinook juvenile survival rates were only 57 percent, nearly 20 percent lower than in 2000, both record lows. This means threatened and endangered Columbia River fish returning as adults in 2004 and 2005 are likely to be at record lows numbers. In 2001 the federal government spent hundreds of millions of dollars in efforts to restore the 12 ESA listed salmon and steelhead runs in the Columbia and Snake Rivers, while BPA was simultaneously killing them in large numbers by refusal to permit the use of water in the river as spill to help improve water quality and flush the juveniles out to the sea. For a copy of the report see: www.wildsalmon.org. 4:23/13. WASHINGTON'S GOLDSBOROUGH DAM DISMANTLED: More than 100 years after the once great salmon runs on Goldsborough Creek in the State of Washington were blocked by dams, the last of a series of these dams has now been removed, reports the 13 November Oregonian. The removal of the last Goldsborough Dam in November opens up 14 miles of upstream habitat for coho, chum, steelhead and cutthroat trout. The Simpson Timber Company agreed in 1996 to remove the last 32-foot high dam, which stored water for the company's mills at Shelton, at the urging of the Squaxin Tribe. The total project cost $4.8 million, with part of the costs paid for by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE). 4:23/14. US ARMY CORPS SAYS SNAKE RIVER DAMS SHOULD STAY: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE), which operates the eight mainstem Columbia and Snake River hydropower dams, has finally selected its preferred alternative in its lengthy Lower Snake River Juvenile Salmon Migration Feasilibity Report and Environmental Impact Statement issued in December 1999. Not surprisingly, COE recommended against the decommissioning and partial removal of the four lower Snake River dams (Ice Harbor, Lower Monumental, Little Goose and Lower Granite Dams) and selected 'major system improvements' as its preferred alternative. The Corps is thus putting its faith in various proposed renovations and potential future improvements to fish passage that it believes are likely to permit enough fish to bypass the Snake River dams to prevent extinction, but which do not require any of the existing dams to be entirely bypassed. Critics of the COE decision point out that: (1) the effectiveness of the proposed 'major improvements' is highly speculative and similar improvements in the past have not been effective; (2) at least one of those measures, increased spill, is subject to the unilateral veto of the Bonneville Power Administration, (see 4:23/12 above); (3) the Corps is still ignoring its obligations under the Clean Water Act and at least one court order that will require additional efforts to improve water quality in the Snake River that none of the proposed 'major system improvements' really address, and that; (4) the total costs of all the required improvements to try to technologically fix an inherently fish-hostile dam and reservoir system in the Snake River are likely to exceed the value of the relatively minimal economic benefits provided by the four lower Snake River dams and will greatly exceed any economic costs likely to occur if those four marginal dams were decommissioned. COE has forwarded its recommendations to the other members of the Federal Caucus (which includes the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), among others) for their input before the release of its final Record of Decision (ROD) and Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS), which it expects to publish in early 2002. For a copy of their statement as well as downloadable copies of the many other documents in this analysis go to: http://www.nww.usace.army.mil/lsr. 4:23/15. KLAMATH RESTORATION PACKAGE PROPOSED FOR FARM BILL: Negotiations between Oregon U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Gordon Smith, and California Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer has resulted in draft Klamath Basin water reform legislation to be inserted as an amendment into the Senate version of the Farm Bill. The Senate version, S. 1731, the "Agriculture, Conservation & Rural Enhancement Act of 2001" is one of the more important measures still being considered by the U.S. Congress, which is months overdue in finalizing a federal budget. The compromise language would create a ten member multi-agency federal agency task force to develop a five-year plan of action within six months of passage for reforming the Upper Klamath Basin's greatly over-subscribed water allocation system, and would then redirect $175 million in existing Department of Agriculture conservation programs specifically to the Klamath Basin to be distributed as grants under supervision of that task force to fund measures in accordance with that plan, through fiscal year 2006. Negotiations on final amendment language are ongoing. The Farm Bill is a huge undertaking, with over 900 pages, and debate on the bill is likely to take considerable time. The fate of this amendment is uncertain. To review the bill, go to: http://thomas.loc.gov. To view the 5 December Oregonian supporting editorial go to: http://www.oregonlive.com/editorials/oregonian/index.ssf?/xml/story.ssf /html_standard.xsl?/base/editorial/10075569331534962.xml 4:23/16: SOCIOECONOMICS SYMPOSIUM CALL FOR PAPERS: The Socioeconomics Section of the American Fisheries Society (AFS) has announced a special symposium proposed for the 132nd AFS Annual Meeting in Baltimore, Maryland, 18-22 August 2002. The title of this symposium is "Fisheries and Aquatic Habitat Management: Socioeconomic Aspects." Persons interested in presenting a paper should send the following information by 13 December to Ray Rhodes at: rhodesr@mrd.dnr.state.sc.us: (1) Author Name(s); (2) Contact Information (email, mailing address, and telephone); and (3) Presentation title. For additional information regarding the 2002 AFS Annual Meeting, visit the Internet site for this meeting at: http://www.fisheries.org/annual2002/. 4:23/17: 100TH ISSUE OF SUBLEGALS; NEW WEBSITE AND PLEDGE DRIVE: This Sublegals marks the 100th issue since PCFFA and IFR jointly began it as a weekly Internet newsletter in January 2000. It was designed as a replacement for PCFFA's decades old newsletter, Friday, providing a less expensive and more timely means of getting information out to subscribers. It has been a labor of love (sometimes late) for the two organizations; it currently receives no advertising revenue, grant funds, nor subscription fees. With the next issue, we are starting a 'pledge drive' (ala public television and public radio) for the last two weeks of December and first two weeks of January with lots of great gifts (with our famous 'sarcastic fringehead' logo) for readers willing to pledge small donations. The next issue also marks the opening of Sublegals' very own website with printable current and past issues and, eventually, an index of all issues and a calendar. The new website is: www.sublegals.net. 4:23/18. PERSONNEL CHANGES AT PCFFA/IFR: Persons contacting the PCFFA or IFR offices or may wish to note some personnel changes. HELEN KIER, who served as PCFFA office manager extraordinaire for the past 16 years has retired, or at least partially, and has been promoted to Office Manager Emeritus. ALLISON VOGT, who served the past year as an Americorps volunteer in the IFR office steps in to take over administrative duties (and as Sublegals Editor) before she leaves for graduate school next September. NICOLE BROWN is the new development officer, serving half time for each organization, and will be responsible for fund raising efforts. NATASHA BENJAMIN, IFR's Fisheries Program Officer, was married 24 November and returns 13 December. MOLLY THOMAS, the first editor of Sublegals, who last worked on IFR's Klamath Resource Information System (KRIS), has left for Boulder, Colorado and a change of scenery. Finally, KY RUSSELL and MICHELLE WALLAR are the two new Americorps volunteers who began their year of service in the IFR office in October. NEWS, COMMENTS, CORRECTIONS: Submit news items, comments or any corrections to Allison Vogt, Editor at: ifrfish@pacbell.net or call the IFR/PCFFA office with the news and a source at either: (415) 561-FISH (Southwest Office) or (541) 689-2000 (Northwest Office). ########################################################## "Sublegals" are a weekly fisheries news bulletin service of Fishlink. To find out more about Fishlink, list information can be viewed and you can subscribe yourself automatically at: http://straylight.primelogic.com/mailman/listinfo/fishlink If you have any trouble subscribing or unsubscribing, contact PCFFA/IFR directly at: . ########################################################## "Fishlink" is a registered trademark of the Institute for Fisheries Resources. All rights to the use of this trademark are reserved to IFR. This publication, however, may be freely reproduced and circulated without copyright restriction. If you are receiving this as a subscriber, please feel free to pass this on to your colleagues. Subscribers who wish to post or circulate hard copy of Sublegals or have no access to the Internet may receive fax subscriptions by faxing their request, with their fax number to: (415) 561-5464. Thanks! ########################################################## --part1_48.340e717.29481538_boundary Content-Type: text/html; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
##########################################################
                    ~~>FISHLINK SUBLEGALS 12/07/01<~~
##########################################################
    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. 4, NO. 23                                      7 DECEMBER 2001
##########################################################

PARRAVANO PARIS SPEECH TO GLOBAL CONFERENCE
ON OCEANS AND COASTS AT RIO +10.  4:23/01.  

LEGGATT REPORT CONDEMNS BRITISH COLUMBIA SALMON
NET PEN AQUACULTURE OPERATIONS.  4:23/01.  

NMFS SETTLES ESSENTIAL FISH HABITAT LITIGATION
WITH CONSERVATION AND FISHING GROUPS.  4:23/06.

CENTRAL CALIFORNIA DUNGENESS CRAB PRICE FINALLY
SETTLED, NORTH STAYS TIED-UP. 4:23/09.  

BPA BLASTED OVER MASSIVE KILLS OF COLUMBIA
RIVER SALMON. 4:23/12.  

#########################################################

4:23/01. PARRAVANO TELLS UN CONFERENCE
COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH NEEDED FOR SUSTAINABLE
FISHERIES DEVELOPMENT: In a 5 December presentation before the
United Nations (UN)-sponsored "Global Conference on Oceans and
Coasts at Rio + 10", held this past week in France, PCFFA President
Pietro Parravano called for policies that consider fisheries "from the
ocean to the plate" in planning for sustainable development.  Convened
at the UNESCO offices in Paris, the meeting is part of the preparation
for the World Summit on Sustainable Development, scheduled for next
September in Johannesburg, South Africa. That summit will assess the
progress made in the decade since the international environmental
conference held at Rio de Janeiro in 1992.

Parravano emphasized the value of maintaining artisanal and
commercial fisheries, as part of economically diverse coastal economies,
in planning for development, and that said policies must be mindful of
the fundamentals of a healthy fishing industry: abundant fish stocks,
access to the fish, and markets for the fish.  He stressed there were no
"silver bullets" to conserving fish, and the fisheries, cultures and
communities that depend on those stocks, chiding the proponents of
"three letter solutions" and their "cure du jours."   Parravano went on to
say the protection of fisheries requires hard work and political will. "The
solutions often will require multiple actions, from sound fishing
regulations to tough habitat protections and strong pollution abatement
programs," he said in his speech that covered issues ranging from
overfishing and the threats of aquaculture to trade regulations and
seafood labeling.  Parravano, the only commercial fisherman or
representative from the fishing industry making a presentation, appeared
on the "High Seas" panel of the conference with the UN Food &
Agriculture's (FAO) Serge Garcia, Dr. Daniel Pauly with the University
of British Columbia, Matt Gianni with Greenpeace, and Professor
Moritaka Hayashi with the Waseda University School of Law, among
others.  Parravano's speech can be found on PCFFA's website at:
www.pcffa.org.

Also appearing at the Paris conference was Canada's Minister of
Fisheries & Oceans Herb Dhaliwal, who called for united global action
to protect the world's oceans. In 1997, he told the conferees, Canada
became the first country in the world to pass a national Oceans Act and
adopt the Rio vision of integrated management as a national mandate.
Canada is now in the process of finalizing a national oceans management
framework, and has launched pilot projects and a network of regional
offices to test the principles of integrated management in a variety of
real-life situations across the country.  It has also incorporated integrated
management into the National Program of Action it developed in
response to the Global Program of Action (GPA) adopted by coastal
nations in 1995 to control pollution and protect the marine environment
from the impacts of land activities.  The Minister's talk, however, came
on the heels of a scathing report on aquaculture in Canada and its
pollution of coastal waters and threat to native fish populations (see
4:23/02 below).

Minister Dhaliwal also used the Paris conference venue to announce
that the United Nations Agreement on Straddling & Highly Migratory
Fish Stocks (UNFA) would take effect 13 December with the 30 nations
required for ratification now having signed.  The agreement establishes
guiding principles for the sustainable management of straddling and
highly migratory fish stocks, such as the precautionary approach and the
minimization of pollution, waste, discards and bycatch. Canada was one
of the first countries to sign it. The text of Dhaliwal's speech can be seen
at: www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca.

4:23/02. LEGGATT REPORT OUT, CALLS FOR CONTINUED
MORATORIUM ON SALMON FARMS IN BC, REMOVAL OF ALL
NET PENS BY 2005: The findings of the Canadian investigation into
the impacts of salmon net pen aquaculture operations in British
Columbia were released this past week (see Sublegals, 4:14/09).  The
Report of the Leggatt Inquiry (named for former BC Supreme Court
Justice Stuart Leggatt, who headed the investigation)  "Clear Choices,
Clean Waters," is the result of a review of BC's salmon farm industry
and eight days of public hearings in five communities.  The report
presented findings that net-cage salmon farms are the cause of major
environmental damage to the coastal environment and pose a significant
threat to wild fish stocks.  The report lists six recommendations for
mitigating damage, including removal of net-cage salmon farms by
2005.  To the north, Alaska has a moratorium on all fish farms, and
hasn't experienced B.C.'s farm-induced pollution, parasite, or disease
problems so far. California and Oregon also prohibit salmon net pen
aquaculture operations.  Alaskan fishermen and biologists, however,
have found escaped farm fish in both ocean and rivers as far north as the
Bering Sea.  Escaped Atlantic salmon have successfully reproduced in
Canadian streams and add to the fear that this non-indigenous species
will invade wild fish habitat, spread disease, prey on and take food from
wild fish.  B.C. also raises chinook and coho salmon, and escapes of
those species could genetically weaken local Pacific salmon stocks.

"These fish have no idea if they're wrapped in Maple Leaves or Old
Glory - we are finding them in Alaskan waters and are deeply
concerned," said Alaska Trollers Association Executive Director Dale
Kelley, who had testified before the Leggatt inquiry. She pointed to
Canada's and Alaska's obligation to protect both fish and fishermen
under the Pacific Salmon Treaty.  "Leggatt's recommendations should be
acted on immediately and are right in line with the overarching
principles of the Treaty," stated Kelley.  The Leggatt Report
(http://www.leggattinquiry.com/Report/InquiryReport.asp) recommends:

1.   Remove all net-cage salmon farms from the marine environment
by 1 January 2005.
2.   Remove responsibility for promotion of aquaculture from the
Department of Fisheries & Oceans (DFO) and increase monitoring and
regulation of salmon farming by government regulators.
3.   Increase involvement of communities, especially First Nations, in
consultation, partnership and ownership of salmon farming operations.
4.   Maintain the moratorium on new farm sites with no further
expansion at existing sites; complete and update the Salmon Aquaculture
Review.
5.   Apply the precautionary principle to regulation of the salmon
farming industry.
6.   Require labeling and identification of farm salmon at the
consumer level.

4:23/03. NMFS REPORT ON SALMON NET PENS IN PACIFIC
NORTHWEST CALLED "WHITEWASH," "BLATANT PANDERING
TO AQUACULTURE INTERESTS":  The National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS) has released its report on the net-pen salmon farming
industry in the Pacific Northwest evaluating risks associated with this
form of aquaculture. In stark contrast to the extensive Leggatt Inquiry in
British Columbia, NMFS claims there is "very little to no risk" of the
escape of Atlantic salmon in the region or the impact of antibiotic
resistant bacteria on native salmonids. "It is no secret NMFS is
competing with the USDA [U.S. Department of Agriculture] over which
agency will ultimately have aquaculture and its federal subsidies under
it," said PCFFA Executive Director Zeke Grader.  "But one would have
thought there would be at least a scintilla of science and objectivity in
this report.  Instead our federal fishery agency has dished up findings
clearly in conflict with all the known facts in this blatant pandering to
aquaculture interests."  The report, "The Net-Pen Salmon Farming
Industry in the Pacific Northwest" can be found at:
http://www.nwfsc.noaa.gov/pubs/tm/tm49/TM49.htm.

4:23/04. SALMON FARMS MAJOR SOURCE OF POLLUTION IN
CHILE: On 28 November, Intrafish.com reported that new research in
Chile demonstrates that discharges from salmon farms in Regions X and
XI are equal to those which would be caused by four times the number
of human inhabitants of the zone. The study, carried out by the
Universidad de Los Lagos, also pointed out that the waste is discharged
without any kind of treatment. According to the newspaper La Tercera,
the research was commissioned by the environmental non-governmental
organization (NGO), Fundacion Terram.
The professor in charge of the survey, Alejandro Buschmann, said that
the waste from salmon farms is equivalent to that generated by a
population ranging between 2.7 and 4.1 million inhabitants. To see the
full text of the report, go to:
http://www.intrafish.com/article.php?articleID=18469.      

4:23/05. IMPACTS OF AQUACULTURE TO BE CONSIDERED
AT ASLO MEETING IN VICTORIA: Abstracts for papers are being
called for on the "Potential Impacts of Aquaculture" for the American
Society of Limnology & Oceanography's (ASLO) summer meeting
scheduled for 10-14 June in Victoria, British Columbia. The theme for
this ASLO conference is 'Inter-disciplinary Linkages in Aquatic Sciences
and Beyond'.  Known impacts of aquaculture include changes in nutrient
dynamics of sediments and water column, disease transmission, predator
control, harmful algal blooms, genetic conservation, sustainability, and
invasion biology to list only a few.  The deadline for abstracts is 20
January 2002.  For contact and submission information, go to:
http://aslo.org/victoria2002/index.html.

4:23/06.  ESSENTIAL FISH HABITAT PROTECTION SUIT
SETTLED:  Thursday, 6 December, the case American Oceans
Campaign, et. al. v. Evans, Civil No. 99-982 GK (U.S. District Court,
Washington DC) was formally settled by consent order.  This litigation
was brought in 1998 by a number of marine conservation groups and two
commercial fishing organizations (PCFFA and the Cape Cod
Commercial Hook Fishermen's Association) against the National Marine
Fisheries Service (NMFS) and all the federal fisheries management
councils to enforce the 'essential fish habitat (EFH)' provisions of the
Sustainable Fisheries Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act, 16 U.S.C. 1855(b)).
The EFH provisions were originally written by PCFFA and became law
in the 1996 Magnuson Act amendments.  Under the statute the regional
fishery councils are required to identify and protect essential fish habitat
for each species.  Rules for the implementation of the EFH provisions
were published in the 8 November 1999 Federal Register (64. Fed. Reg.
60731-66559).  Since 1977, PCFFA has been pushing for stronger
habitat protection measures, asserting that catch restrictions alone,
without measures to protect habitats, flows and water quality, would not
be sufficient for the management and conservation of fish stocks.

The court, in a previous decision September 2000, found that the
federal fisheries management councils have generally done a poor job of
either the identification of EFH or the protection of EFH, or both, and
were particularly lax in protecting habitat from the impacts of fishing
operations themselves, a requirement of the 1996 amendments to the
Act.  Though most modern fisheries avoid sea bottom habitat and thus
minimize habitat destruction, ongoing reef destruction and groundfish
nursery bed destruction by certain bottom trawl gear, excessively heavy
roller gear and other seabed dragger gear combinations still commonly
used in some federal fisheries have been of particular concern to
fisheries biologists and fishermen, and the Act's provisions were
intended also to require the agencies to fully assess and correct these
long standing problems so that all fisheries are more sustainable.  (For an
annotated bibliography on fishing impacts on habitat see:
www.gsmfc.org/fishingimpacts.html.)  The settlement provides for
enforceable deadlines for each regional management council to fully
implement the EFH provisions in each region, and for periodic reports to
the court from NMFS on implementation progress. Copies of the
settlement agreement, district court decision, and other materials are
available online at http://www.oceana.org/.

4:23/07. NMFS TO SPONSOR SYMPOSIUM ON EFFECTS OF
FISHING ON HABITATS: The National Marine Fisheries Service
(NMFS) has announced it will sponsor a national "Symposium on
Effects of Fishing on Benthic Habitats" scheduled for 12-14 November
2002 in Tampa, Florida. According to NMFS, "The goal of the
symposium is to help ensure sustainable fisheries and healthy, diverse
ecosystems by advancing the scientific knowledge available to resource
managers to evaluate and appropriately manage fishing activities that
affect benthic habitat." A call for abstracts and papers will be issued this
month. For information on sessions and registration, go to:
http://walrus.wr.usgs.gov/bh2002/.
Those wishing to be added to the symposium mailing list and receive
additional conference information, as it becomes available, should
e-mail: lori@esa.org.

4:23/08.  RUSSIAN FISHERMEN APPEAL FOR ASSISTANCE IN
FIGHTING 'FISH MAFIA' AND RUSSIAN FISH AGENCY
CORRUPTION:  The Russian-English publication Tikhookeansky
Vestnick (Northern Pacific) Magazine, the only voice of commercial
fishermen and fishing dependent communities in the Russian Far East, is
appealing worldwide for sponsors and subscribers to its publication and
to help support its ongoing efforts to rid their fisheries of rampant
government corruption and mismanagement, and to combat the
'sweetheart deals' quota system manipulated by what they call the 'Fish
Mafia' that largely still controls the Russian fisheries quota allocation
system.  The magazine's repeated exposures since its beginning in
January 2000 of cozy government-factory trawler allocation deals that
have cut local Russian fishermen off from access to their own fisheries
in favor of giant foreign-owned factory trawlers have earned it a
worldwide reputation as a protector of fishing dependent communities in
Kamchatka and throughout the Russian Far East.                                       

Fishermen in the Russian Far East are currently fighting against the
selling off of Russia's continental shelf oil and gas reserves within vitally
important fisheries areas that, if those developments proceed, are likely
to wipe out a major seafood source for the region (see Sublegals,
4:10/10). The magazine is on line in both English and Russian at:
http://npacific.kamchatka.ru. Donations to their work can be made to the
Charitable Public Fund of Bioresources Conservation of the Northern
Pacific (fund "Northern Pacific").  Since sending funds to Russia is
particularly difficult, before doing so you should contact Sergei
Vakhryn, Editor, for instructions by way of email at:
s.vakhrin@npacific.kamchatka.ru.

4:23/09. CENTRAL CALIFORNIA CRAB SEASON FINALLY
OPENS; NORTH REMAINS OUT IN PRICE DISPUTE:  On Tuesday,
3 December, seeing a break in the weather, the central California
(Sonoma County south) crab fleet agreed on a Dungeness price to settle
a tie-up that had been ongoing since 15 November (see Sublegals,
4:22/03; 4:21/01; 4:20/03; 4:19/01).  The price finally settled on at $1.88
ex-vessel per pound, the lowest opening price in five years and
considerably below last year's start of $2.25.  On Wednesday, vessels
from Bodega Bay to Monterey Bay began setting traps and the first crabs
started coming in.  Generally, production has been slow and the crabs
smaller than usual.  In the meantime, crabbers in northern California
(Mendocino County north), Oregon and Washington remain tied-up with
their own price dispute.  To date, fish processors have only been willing
to offer $1.65 per pound for those crabs; this fishery had been set to open
1 December.

4:23/10: EPA TO MOVE FORWARD WITH HUDSON
DREDGING: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
announced 4 December that the nearly $465 million project to dredge the
upper Hudson River to remove sediment contaminated with
polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) will be carried out (see Sublegals
4:6/20; 4:5/11). The agency had made an initial announcement in early
August of its decision to order the dredging.  The EPA rejected General
Electric's (GE) plea to scale back the cleanup.  GE used PCBs (an
insulating material) for more than 30 years at its factories on the Hudson,
until manufacture and use of the chemicals were banned in 1977. During
that time, an estimated 1.3 million pounds or more of PCBs leaked or
were dumped into the river, some of it under state permits. Economic
analysts have said the cost of the dredging will not harm GE earnings,
since the company had set aside reserves to pay the estimated cost.  GE,
however, is expected to continue fighting the EPA, hoping to overturn
the decision and get out from under its responsibility for the cleanup.
Since 1937, PCBs have been suspected carcinogens. The contamination
of the Hudson destroyed one of the nation's most celebrated urban
commercial fisheries - that for shad. The cleanup is expected to be one
of the biggest and most complex environmental cleanup projects in the
history of the country.  For more information go to:
http://riverkeeper.org/pcb/index.html.

4:23/11. HERRING FISHERY OFF TO SLOW START IN SAN
FRANCISCO BAY; FLAVORED ROE TO BOOST DEMAND FOR
ATLANTIC HERRING?: The San Francisco Bay herring roe fishery
opened 2 December.  Fishing during the first week was slow but not
unusual for this first herring fishery to open each year along the Pacific
Coast (see Sublegals, 4:22/03). The "DH" gillnet fishery is open until 21
December, but there is no fishing on weekends.  In January the "Odd"
and "Even" gillnet platoons begin their fishery in the Bay, and fishing
opens as well to the north in Tomales Bay, Humboldt Bay and Crescent
City.  The total gillnet quota this year for San Francisco Bay is 4,130
tons.  For more information, contact the California Department of Fish &
Game (CDFG) at: (650) 631-6758.

Demand for herring roe in Japan, the principal market for the product,
has declined due to that nation's economic recession over the past few
years.  Now, WorldCatch, in a 2 December article, reports that
companies may be turning to flavored herring roe as an alternative to the
salted roe.  Many companies turned to flavored roe for Atlantic herring
in the early 1980's to find a less expensive substitute for Pacific roe. In
the salted form, Atlantic roe was a flop, but when producers replaced the
salt with flavoring, a new Japanese market was born.  A variety of
flavored products have since been developed, including roe marinated
soy sauce, mentai (spicy Korean style) flavored roe, and even roe packed
with mayonnaise. Other products combine herring roe with vegetable
and seafood products. To see the full text of the WorldCatch report, go
to: www.worldcatch.com.

4:23/12.  BPA BLASTED OVER 2001 JUVENILE SALMON
SACRIFICE: In an economics report released 3 December by the Save
Our Wild Salmon Coalition titled "Failing Salmon, Failing People," the
total power cost savings that the Bonneville Power Administration
(BPA) actually achieved in summer 2001 by eliminating its spill
program for the Columbia has been quantified.

The termination of the spill program resulted in the worst loss of
Columbia River juvenile salmon and steelhead since any of the
Columbia river stocks have been listed under the federal Endangered
Species Act (ESA) (see Sublegals 4:01/02; 3:18/01; 3:15/10; 3:14/04).
The report, based on BPA's own numbers, concludes that if BPA had
kept the spill program going at 100 percent of required recovery plan
levels, the total additional cost to consumers would have only been about
38 cents/month for consumers in Seattle and only about 75 cents/month
for consumers in Portland over one year.  Even for utilities that are 100%
dependent on BPA power, the maximum rate impact would have been
only an additional $1.50/month maximum over a one-year period.  As a
result of BPA's decision to terminate the spill program, the juvenile
survival rates ESA listed Snake River steelhead plunged to only 16
percent, as compared to 68 percent in 2000, and chinook juvenile
survival rates were only 57 percent, nearly 20 percent lower than in
2000, both record lows.  This means threatened and endangered
Columbia River fish returning as adults in 2004 and 2005 are likely to be
at record lows numbers.  In 2001 the federal government spent hundreds
of millions of dollars in efforts to restore the 12 ESA listed salmon and
steelhead runs in the Columbia and Snake Rivers, while BPA was
simultaneously killing them in large numbers by refusal to permit the use
of water in the river as spill to help improve water quality and flush the
juveniles out to the sea.  For a copy of the report see:
www.wildsalmon.org.

4:23/13.  WASHINGTON'S GOLDSBOROUGH DAM
DISMANTLED:  More than 100 years after the once great salmon runs
on Goldsborough Creek in the State of Washington were blocked by
dams, the last of a series of these dams has now been removed, reports
the 13 November Oregonian.  The removal of the last Goldsborough
Dam in November opens up 14 miles of upstream habitat for coho,
chum, steelhead and cutthroat trout.  The Simpson Timber Company
agreed in 1996 to remove the last 32-foot high dam, which stored water
for the company's mills at Shelton, at the urging of the Squaxin Tribe.
The total project cost $4.8 million, with part of the costs paid for by the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE).  

4:23/14.  US ARMY CORPS SAYS SNAKE RIVER DAMS
SHOULD STAY:  The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE), which
operates the eight mainstem Columbia and Snake River hydropower
dams, has finally selected its preferred alternative in its lengthy Lower
Snake River Juvenile Salmon Migration Feasilibity Report and
Environmental Impact Statement issued in December 1999.  Not
surprisingly, COE recommended against the decommissioning and
partial removal of the four lower Snake River dams (Ice Harbor, Lower
Monumental, Little Goose and Lower Granite Dams) and selected 'major
system improvements' as its preferred alternative.  The Corps is thus
putting its faith in various proposed renovations and potential future
improvements to fish passage that it believes are likely to permit enough
fish to bypass the Snake River dams to prevent extinction, but which do
not require any of the existing dams to be entirely bypassed.  

Critics of the COE decision point out that: (1) the effectiveness of the
proposed 'major improvements' is highly speculative and similar
improvements in the past have not been effective; (2) at least one of
those measures, increased spill, is subject to the unilateral veto of the
Bonneville Power Administration, (see 4:23/12 above); (3) the Corps is
still ignoring its obligations under the Clean Water Act and at least one
court order that will require additional efforts to improve water quality in
the Snake River that none of the proposed 'major system improvements'
really address, and that; (4) the total costs of all the required
improvements to try to technologically fix an inherently fish-hostile dam
and reservoir system in the Snake River are likely to exceed the value of
the relatively minimal economic benefits provided by the four lower
Snake River dams and will greatly exceed any economic costs likely to
occur if those four marginal dams were decommissioned.  

COE has forwarded its recommendations to the other members of the
Federal Caucus (which includes the National Marine Fisheries Service
(NMFS), the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS), the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Bureau of Indian
Affairs (BIA), among others) for their input before the release of its final
Record of Decision (ROD) and Final Environmental Impact Statement
(FEIS), which it expects to publish in early 2002.  For a copy of their
statement as well as downloadable copies of the many other documents
in this analysis go to: http://www.nww.usace.army.mil/lsr.

4:23/15. KLAMATH RESTORATION PACKAGE PROPOSED
FOR FARM BILL: Negotiations between Oregon U.S. Senators Ron
Wyden and Gordon Smith, and California Senators Dianne Feinstein and
Barbara Boxer has resulted in draft Klamath Basin water reform
legislation to be inserted as an amendment into the Senate version of the
Farm Bill.

The Senate version, S. 1731, the "Agriculture, Conservation & Rural
Enhancement Act of 2001" is one of the more important measures still
being considered by the U.S. Congress, which is months overdue in
finalizing a federal budget.  The compromise language would create a
ten member multi-agency federal agency task force to develop a
five-year plan of action within six months of passage for reforming the
Upper Klamath Basin's greatly over-subscribed water allocation system,
and would then redirect $175 million in existing Department of
Agriculture conservation programs specifically to the Klamath Basin to
be distributed as grants under supervision of that task force to fund
measures in accordance with that plan, through fiscal year 2006.
Negotiations on final amendment language are ongoing.  The Farm Bill
is a huge undertaking, with over 900 pages, and debate on the bill is
likely to take considerable time. The fate of this amendment is uncertain.
To review the bill, go to: http://thomas.loc.gov. To view the 5 December
Oregonian supporting editorial go to:
http://www.oregonlive.com/editorials/oregonian/index.ssf?/xml/story.ssf
/html_standard.xsl?/base/editorial/10075569331534962.xml

4:23/16:  SOCIOECONOMICS SYMPOSIUM CALL FOR
PAPERS: The Socioeconomics Section of the American Fisheries
Society (AFS) has announced a special symposium proposed for the
132nd AFS Annual Meeting in Baltimore, Maryland, 18-22 August
2002. The title of this symposium is "Fisheries and Aquatic Habitat
Management: Socioeconomic Aspects."  Persons interested in presenting
a paper should send the following information by 13 December to Ray
Rhodes at: rhodesr@mrd.dnr.state.sc.us:  (1) Author Name(s); (2)
Contact Information (email, mailing address, and telephone); and (3)
Presentation title. For additional information regarding the 2002 AFS
Annual Meeting, visit the Internet site for this meeting at:
http://www.fisheries.org/annual2002/.

4:23/17: 100TH ISSUE OF SUBLEGALS; NEW WEBSITE AND
PLEDGE DRIVE: This Sublegals marks the 100th issue since PCFFA
and IFR jointly began it as a weekly Internet newsletter in January 2000.
It was designed as a replacement for PCFFA's decades old newsletter,
Friday, providing a less expensive and more timely means of getting
information out to subscribers. It has been a labor of love (sometimes
late) for the two organizations; it currently receives no advertising
revenue, grant funds, nor subscription fees.  With the next issue, we are
starting a 'pledge drive' (ala public television and public radio) for the
last two weeks of December and first two weeks of January with lots of
great gifts (with our famous 'sarcastic fringehead' logo) for readers
willing to pledge small donations.  The next issue also marks the
opening of Sublegals' very own website with printable current and past
issues and, eventually, an index of all issues and a calendar.  The new
website is: www.sublegals.net.

4:23/18. PERSONNEL CHANGES AT PCFFA/IFR: Persons
contacting the PCFFA or IFR offices or may wish to note some
personnel changes.  HELEN KIER, who served as PCFFA office
manager extraordinaire for the past 16 years has retired, or at least
partially, and has been promoted to Office Manager Emeritus.
ALLISON VOGT, who served the past year as an Americorps volunteer
in the IFR office steps in to take over administrative duties (and as
Sublegals Editor) before she leaves for graduate school next September.
NICOLE BROWN is the new development officer, serving half time for
each organization, and will be responsible for fund raising efforts.
NATASHA BENJAMIN, IFR's Fisheries Program Officer, was married
24 November and returns 13 December.  MOLLY THOMAS, the first
editor of Sublegals, who last worked on IFR's Klamath Resource
Information System (KRIS), has left for Boulder, Colorado and a change
of scenery.  Finally, KY RUSSELL and MICHELLE WALLAR are the
two new Americorps volunteers who began their year of service in the
IFR office in October.

NEWS, COMMENTS, CORRECTIONS: Submit news items,
comments or any corrections to Allison Vogt, Editor at:
ifrfish@pacbell.net or call the IFR/PCFFA office with the news and a
source at either: (415) 561-FISH (Southwest Office) or (541) 689-2000
(Northwest Office).

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can subscribe yourself automatically at:

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This publication, however, may be freely reproduced and circulated
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please feel free to pass this on to your colleagues.  Subscribers who wish
to post or circulate hard copy of Sublegals or have no access to the
Internet may receive fax subscriptions by faxing their request, with their
fax number to: (415) 561-5464.   Thanks!
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--part1_48.340e717.29481538_boundary-- From FISH1IFR@aol.com Sat Dec 15 01:46:58 2001 Received: from imo-r02.mx.aol.com (imo-r02.mx.aol.com [152.163.225.98]) by straylight.primelogic.com (8.11.6/8.11.1) with ESMTP id fBF9kvA81064 for ; Sat, 15 Dec 2001 01:46:57 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from FISH1IFR@aol.com) Received: from FISH1IFR@aol.com by imo-r02.mx.aol.com (mail_out_v31_r1.9.) id e.32.1fa6596f (3702) for ; Sat, 15 Dec 2001 04:41:39 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: <32.1fa6596f.294c74d2@aol.com> Date: Sat, 15 Dec 2001 04:41:38 EST To: fishlink@straylight.primelogic.com MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="part1_32.1fa6596f.294c74d2_boundary" X-Mailer: AOL 6.0 for Windows US sub 10536 From: fishlink-admin@straylight.primelogic.com Subject: [Fishlink] ~~>FISHLINK SUBLEGALS 12/14/01<~~ Sender: fishlink-admin@straylight.primelogic.com Errors-To: fishlink-admin@straylight.primelogic.com X-BeenThere: fishlink@straylight.primelogic.com X-Mailman-Version: 2.0.6 Precedence: bulk Reply-To: bit-bucket@straylight.primelogic.com X-Reply-To: fishlink@straylight.primelogic.com List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Fishlink is a joint fisheries information news service of Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations (PCFFA) and the Institute for Fisheries Resources (IFR). List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: --part1_32.1fa6596f.294c74d2_boundary Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ########################################################## ~~>FISHLINK SUBLEGALS 12/14/01<~~ ########################################################## 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. 4, NO. 24 14 DECEMBER 2001 ########################################################## Welcome to the new and improved Sublegals! If you would like you can go to our new web site at www.sublegals.net which provides a PDF version (via Adobe Acrobat) of Sublegals, which is much easier to read and print out. We have also pasted the text below for those that still wish to read it through your email. In addition to the new look this officially kicks off our Sublegals Fundraiser to support the Institute for Fisheries Resources and the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations in publishing this weekly newsletter free of charge. We have recently passed our 100th issue, with very little funding, and we are looking forward to building our support to continue and expand on this effort. Please go to www.sublegals.net and click on DONATE NOW to view our sponsorship levels and thank you gifts as well. Then click on the link to today's issue if you want to try our PDF format version. Thank you for your continued support! ######################################################### IN THIS ISSUE....... SEAFOOD LABELING ISSUE SQUARELY BEFORE CONGRESS. 4:24/01. PAYING ATTENTION? NEW FORMAT AND CONTEST FOR SUBLEGALS READERS. 4:24/02. CRAB PRICE SETTLED FOR NORTHERN CALIFORNIA, OREGON, WASHINGTON. 4:24/03. SCIENCE REVIEW PANEL CALLS ALL FOUR COLUMBIA SALMON PLANS INADEQUATE. 4:24/05. OREGON COHO ESA PROTECTIONS REINSTATED ON APPEAL. 4:24/19. AND MORE....... ######################################################### 4:24/01: SEAFOOD LABELING ISSUE SQUARELY BEFORE CONGRESS: Following action earlier this year by the European Union (EU) mandating seafood labeling throughout its member nations beginning in January (see Sublegals, 4:17/01), seafood labeling language was inserted on 4 December into the Trade Adjustment Assistance Act by U.S. Senator Frank Murkowski (R-AK) in the Senate Finance Committee. The trade bill with the Murkwoski amendment, requested by the Alaskan fishing industry, is now before the full Senate. The House version of the trade act contained no similar provision, meaning the bills will have to be reconciled in Conference Committee if the Senate approves Murkowski's language. That language would require the labeling of fish, shellfish and other perishable agricultural products by country of origin and, although exempting certain food service establishments, would require information to be provided consumers "by means of a label, stamp, mark, placard, or other clear and visible sign on the covered commodity or on the package, display, holding unit, or bin containing the commodity at the final point of sale to consumers." It thus allows domestic seafood producers to label their product "Made in the U.S.A." Enforcement would be through the Secretary of Agriculture. There is also labeling language in the Senate farm bill by U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone (D-MN), requiring labeling by country of origin, but this is not as extensive as the Murkowski language. Neither provision, however, goes as far as requiring labeling to inform consumers how the fish was caught, produced (wild or farmed), or whether the seafood was genetically modified. Comprehensive labeling of fish and seafood products is commonplace within the wholesale distribution system, but retailers and restaurant associations, as well as the distributors and importers supplying them fish, have vehemently opposed providing the same details about seafood to the public. The refusal of the domestic seafood supply industry to fully and accurately label seafood at the consumer level has hurt domestic fishermen and those within the fishing industry working to fish in a responsible and sustainable manner. As expected, the National Fisheries Institute (NFI), representing fish importers and many in the distribution and shoreside sector of the U.S. fishing industry, is opposing the Murkowski language, maintaining that sector of the U.S. fishing industry's caveat emptor position. Most products sold in the U.S. do contain consumer information at least stating the country of origin or manufacture of most products. Seafood has been a glaring exception. For a full discussion on the issue, see the article "Informational Seafood Labeling" by Natasha Benjamin, Nicole Brown and Allison Vogt in the December issue of The Fishermen's News (pp.22-23); that article can also be viewed at: www.pcffa.org/fn-dec01.htm. For more information on Senator Murkowski's labeling language, contact his office at: (202) 224-6665. In Europe, meanwhile, WorldCatch News Network reported on 7 December that consumers at a Banbury, UK supermarket, Morrisons, will be confronted with the Latin genus names for various seafood products, including salmo salar, scomber japonicus and callinectes sapidus instead of their usual names when they visit the fish counter. According to WorldCatch, managers want customers to take part in a contest identifying the fish from their Latin names to mark National Seafish Day and illustrate how retailers can use fully descriptive labeling under the new EU legislation. Winners will receive a hamper of fresh seafood and Rick Stein's book Fruits of the Sea. The challenge aims to raise cash for the Fishermen's Mission, which supports partners and children of fishermen lost at sea. The supermarket is making a donation from all sales from its fish counters and of fish and chip meals at its cafe on National Seafish Day. To see full WorldCatch report, go to: www.worldcatch.com. 4:24/02. PAYING ATTENTION? NEW FORMAT AND CONTEST FOR SUBLEGALS READERS: Although Sublegals is a serious publication aimed at giving those in fisheries a quick briefing on what's happening in the fisheries world ("for those who'd rather fish than surf"), the staff at Sublegals felt that some levity, perhaps via sarcasm, is needed. Striving for accuracy and objectivity can be daunting at times when the world seems mad, and refraining from comment is often difficult. Additionally, something might be needed to keep the attention of our readers who also feel sometimes overwhelmed by the events of the day. So dear readers, for you, beginning with this issue, the Sublegals staff brings you "Search for the Sarcasm, Find the Fringe" (our apologies to The Onion). The goal of the contest is to identify the fictitious article in the current issue that has been fabricated by Sublegals staff (and occasionally some outside contributors). (HINT: it will never be one of the first two articles in each issue, nor any of those mentioned at the beginning index of what's in that week's issue, and the fictitious article will contain the word "fringe" somewhere in its text) The contest is named for Sublegals' mascot, that pesky and precocious Sarcastic Fringehead (Neoclinus blanchardi). Contestants should submit their guess by emailing av_ifr@pacbell.net with Sarcastic Fringehead Contest in the subject line. The winner will be chosen at random weekly and eligible for 'fabulous prizes.' For the many readers who do use articles for reference and may be unsure if a report is true or not ("Truth is stranger than fiction" -Mark Twain), they can e-mail or call the IFR offices; however, they will not then be eligible for that week's drawing of correct answers to determine the winner. In addition to that week's gift selection the winner will also become a member of the "Fellowship of the Fringehead" with a signed certificate, suitable for framing. Good luck! Accompanying the kick-off of the new contest, this issue also marks the opening of Sublegals very own website, www.sublegals.net, where our current and back issues are available in PDF format. This issue also opens the winter pledge drive intended to raise funds to keep Sublegals coming. Go to www.sublegals.net and click on Donate Now to help us keep up this effort. 4:24/03. CRAB PRICE SETTLED FOR NORTHERN CALIFORNIA, OREGON, WASHINGTON: On Monday, 10 December, a price agreement was reached between fishermen's marketing associations and fish processors on a market order price for Dungeness crab for northern California (Mendocino County north), Oregon and Washington (see Sublegals, 4:23/09; 4:22/03; 4:21/01; 4:20/03; 4:19/01). The ex-vessel price settled on was $1.60 per pound. The fleet had been tied-up since 1 December wrangling with processors on a price. Crab boats started getting out on Tuesday, but, to date, production has been slow. The opening was also met with tragedy when a crab boat out of Newport, Oregon, the Nesika, rolled over and the four fishermen on board are believed lost. In Fort Bragg, California, one boat hauling crab gear hit the Noyo jetty, but there were no injuries. Crabbers in the central California fishery (Sonoma County south), which had opened earlier, saw their prices jump from the $1.88 market order, to $2.25 and are now at around $2.00 following the northern opening. 4:24/04. BPA INCREASES SALMON SPENDING, BUT FUNDING CALLED 'TOO LITTLE TOO LATE': The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), the federal agency that funds much of the salmon recovery efforts in the Columbia Basin, plans to increase its salmon recovery funding next year from $127 million to $186 million, and its spending on dam improvements from $125 million to $159 million. This would be a total increase in BPA salmon-related spending of 37%. However, the increased spending comes far too late to save this year's salmon migration, which was devastated by BPA's own decision to terminate the Columbia River spill program for this summer, and as a result the region unnecessarily suffered record juvenile salmon losses (see Sublegals 4:23/12; 4:01/02). Even including all other federal funding sources, however, the salmon recovery program in the Columbia is still several hundred million dollars short of the estimated funds for fully implementing the current salmon recovery plan (see Sublegals 4:22/12). 4:24/05. SCIENCE REVIEW PANEL CALLS ALL FOUR COLUMBIA SALMON PLANS INADEQUATE: The 13 December Oregonian carried a story on the Independent Science Advisory Board's (ISAB) report 12 December to the Northwest Power Planning Council on the scientific adequacy of the four current plans for salmon restoration and recovery in the Columbia Basin. The ISAB review, though not entirely negative, concluded that all four plans were seriously lacking in detail, none had clear plans for implementation, and that each was flawed in different ways. The one-year review covered a plan by the Governors of Oregon, Washington, Montana and Idaho; the Power Council's own Fish & Wildlife Program; the National Marine Fisheries Service's 2000 Biological Opinion, and; the multi-agency strategy know as the 'All-H Paper.' The ISAB review, dated 22 August, is posted on the Power Council's ISAB web site at: http://www.nwcouncil.org/library/isab/Default.htm. 4:24/06. KLAMATH BASIN DEAL REACHED IN FARM BILL: A Klamath Basin funding deal has been reached between California Senator Barbara Boxer and Oregon Senators Ron Wyden and Gordon Smith that will become part of the 'manager's amendment' in the Senate version of the Farm Bill (S. 1731), and could be voted on by as early as 17 December (see Sublegals 4:23/15). The amendment would direct up to $175 million in existing federal conservation and restoration funds to the Klamath Basin to fund a five-year restoration program to be formulated by a federal inter-agency task force. Demand reduction through willing seller purchases and purchase of voluntary water easements would be one of many tools that may be used, as well as water conservation measures and feasibility studies for additional water storage. The amendment, a substitute for Sec. 262 of the Daschle substitute language, has already gained broad support and has been endorsed by PCFFA. However, even if adopted in the Senate version of the Farm Bill, the amendment would have to be defended in the Conference Committee that would reconcile the differences between the House and Senate versions of the Farm Bill. Senator Harkin, S. 1731's original sponsor, has pledged to defend the amendment and keep it intact, if at all possible, in Conference Committee. For current information on S. 1731 see: http://thomas.loc.gov. 4:24/07. KLAMATH TRIBES CONTEST OREGON KLAMATH WATER ADJUDICATION IN FEDERAL COURT: The 30 November Capital Press reports on the resumption of the water claims case U.S. v. Adair (Civil Case No. 75-914-PA (District of Oregon, filed 9 August 2001)). In that case the U.S., on behalf of the Klamath Tribes, is challenging the water adjudication process being conducted by the State of Oregon that is attempting to quantify the Tribes' federally guaranteed water rights pursuant to their Treaty of 1864, as well as the 673 other water rights claims, for the Upper Klamath Basin. A previous case, U.S. v. Adair (723 F.2d 1394, Ninth Circuit 1983) made it clear that this Treaty, which guarantees certain hunting and fishing rights to the Klamath Tribes, also gives the Tribes a sufficient quantity of water necessary to protect these rights and make them a reality. This is the basis for the Klamath Tribes' claim to more water to be retained in Upper Klamath Lake and elsewhere in the Klamath Irrigation Project for the two lake fish species they historically depended upon. However, though the Ninth Circuit ruling made it clear that the Tribes' water rights date from "time immemorial," and thus are the most senior water right in the basin, the Court left the final quantification of these rights to the State of Oregon. In the fall of 2000, the state proposed a quantity for these Tribal rights, which was, however, found unacceptable by the Tribes and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. At stake is the entire water rights system of the Klamath Water Irrigation Project. The Tribes' claims are an entirely separate basis for major water reforms within the Klamath Basin, and are independent of any claims under the Endangered Species Act, frequently use by the Klamath Project irrigators as their media whipping boy during last summer's drought (see Sublegals 4:15/07; 4:14/04; 410/06; 4:09/04; 4:08/05; 4:07/02; 4:04/11; 4:03/05; 4:02/01; 4:01/01: 3:26/05; 3:25/05; 3:24/01; 3:20/01; 3:17/02; 3:15/07; 3:14/01; 3:13/02). Completion of the briefing in the new water rights case is scheduled for this December, with a hearing on the merits of the case currently scheduled for the 20 December. An article on the Klamath Tribes' water rights claims by Bud Ullman, Attorney for the Klamath Tribes' Water Rights Project, also appears in Oregon Insider Issue #284 (15 November 2001), including a list of the many relevant federal cases that now apply to the Klamath Project. A copy of the Oregon Insider issue can be obtained by calling (541) 343-8504. 4:24/08. OREGON STATE'S MPA PROCESS SEEKING COMMENTS: A new website hosted by National Fisheries Conservation Center (NFCC) for the Oregon Ocean Policy Advisory Council is inviting dialogue, feedback and participation from fishing men and women, local officials in Oregon communities, scientists and the public on the topic of marine protected areas off the Oregon coast. A Policy Advisory Council working group will prepare an assessment for the Oregon Governor by August 2002. Oregon, unlike California, has no current marine protected areas nor marine sanctuaries, but is considering them as a tool for groundfish restoration and protection of key fishery nursery areas. To find out more or provide comments see: http://www.oregonocean.org. 4:24/09. OCEAN FERTILIZATION CO2 INJECTION CONCEPTS DISCREDITED: The 12 October issue of Science (Vol. 294, pp. 309-310) includes an article, "Dis-Crediting Ocean Fertilization," debunking the various schemes to cure problems with global warming by sequestering huge amounts of atmospheric carbon in the ocean by way of massive ocean iron fertilization projects, a techno-fix concept being pushed heavily by certain industrial groups and by some countries engaged in Kyoto Protocol global warming treaty negotiations, as a way to obtain commercially valuable carbon credits through proposed carbon trading systems. The authors note that, "If implemented on a large scale, ocean fertilization would, by design, change the ecology of the oceans. The potential long-term consequences of this purposeful eutrophication strategy are cause for great concern.... The proponents' claim that fertilization for carbon sequestration would be environmentally benign is inconsistent with almost everything we know about aquatic ecosystems." Another article in the same issue, "Potential Impacts of CO2 Injection on Deep-Sea Biota," (at pp. 319-320) looks at similar carbon sequestration schemes based on injecting massive quantities of atmospheric carbon dioxide into highly stable deep sea cold water layers, concluding that these too would mean drastic and highly unpredictable, and also potentially disastrous, changes in the entire ocean ecology. For more information go to this issue at: www.sciencemag.org. 4:24/10. 'CLEAN WATER FOR SALMON' CAMPAIGN LAUNCHED IN NORTHWEST: The Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides (NCAP) and the Washington Toxics Coalition (WTC) have kicked-off their 'Clean Water for Salmon' Campaign, aimed at addressing the problem of pesticides in waterways, with the goal of cleaning up water bodies in the Pacific Northwest and reducing overall exposure of salmonids to toxic chemicals in important spawning and rearing areas. Recent studies have found pesticides in many west coast waterways at levels that can harm salmon. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), for instance, has detected 15 pesticides in Northwest waters at levels exceeding standards designed to protect aquatic life. PCFFA is part of the campaign, and has also joined both organizations in suing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to require consultation under Section 7 of the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) on ways to reduce impacts of pesticides on ESA listed salmonids (see Sublegals 4:22/14). For more information on the impact of pesticides on salmonids, see the report at: http://www.ifrfish.org/salpest.htm. 4:24/11. PEW COMMISSION HEARS TESTIMONY ON IMPLICATIONS OF AGRICULTURAL RUNOFF IN GULF OF MEXICO: The Pollution Committee of the Pew Oceans Commission met this week in Des Moines, Iowa to hear public testimony regarding the issue of nutrients from fertilizer runoff contributing to the "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico. The dead zone, an anoxic region of the Gulf incapable of supporting most marine life, reached a record size this year when heavy rains flushed through the Mississippi Basin (see Sublegals 4:4/02). The Des Moines Register reported on 12 December that the Bush Administration plans to launch another study of fertilizer pollution in the Gulf after the Clinton Administration's panel recommended installing 24 million acres of wetlands, riparian trees and plants. Additionally, Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) is introducing the Conservation Security Act (S. 932) to provide financial incentives for adopting environmentally sensitive farming practices. To read the full text of the article go to: http://desmoinesregister.com/news/stories/c5903220/16727204.html and for an editorial on the same issue go to: http://desmoinesregister.com/news/stories/c5917686/16728841.html 4:24/12. SHRIMP AQUACULTURE IN THE ARIZONA DESERT: A shrimp aquaculture operation, located at Gila Bend, in the Arizona desert an hour's drive from Phoenix, has reportedly produced a half million pounds of crustaceans in 2001, according to a recent article by Lee Allen, a freelance writer. The Wood Brothers Shrimp Farm harvested 36 million shrimp, Paneais vannamei, from their ponds this year, doubling last year's crop. "Traditional production sources along the coasts of third world countries are polluted. Our desert farm ponds, fed by underground water that was once an ancient sea, are as clean as you can get," claims owner Gary Wood. Another plus, according to Wood, is the absence of herbicides, pesticides and antibiotics commonly used at operations involving ocean waters. "We don't use any chemicals because we don't have to, and we intend to maintain that purity of production." Shrimp aquaculture operations throughout the world have destroyed mangroves, polluted and destroyed waterways and displaced traditional fisheries in order to produce a luxury item for first world nations. Wood says his operation is different and attributes part of his success to the incorporation of multi-use agriculture on his 1,000 acres, an aquaculture concept dating back to the mid-1970s when the University of Arizona began raising shrimp with other crops in Puerto Penasco, Mexico. "There's a synergy of our traditional farming of wheat and olives and the introduction of shrimp production. It's a closed-loop ecosystem where very little goes to waste. Nutrient-rich waters from more than 50 shrimp-growing ponds are siphoned off to irrigate field crops. The process ties itself together because everything is used more than once." Not only does the water grow the shrimp, wheat and olive trees before returning to the water table, wheat byproducts are used for livestock forage and unusable olive tree shoots are ground up and sold as compost. For more information, or to see the complete Allen article, go to: www.DesertSweetShrimp.com. 4:24/13. SEIZURE OF SHRIMP FARMS ASSETS HAS RIPPLE EFFECT IMPACTING SEAFOOD DISTRIBUTION SECTOR: The seizure by the U.S. Justice Department of the financial assets of some shrimp farm operations with ties to Saudi terrorist Osama bin Laden has had a severe impact on farmed shrimp availability in the United States and has financially impacted some seafood importers, according to a 13 December report by AquacultureWatch NewsNet. Last month, the Justice Department froze bank accounts and seized assets belonging to shrimp farms thought to be part of bin Laden's funding sources. The financial woes of a least one major southern California-based shrimp importer are believed the result of the U.S. government's action against businesses accused of being the money source for bin Laden's operations. In a joint announcement, Attorney General John Ashcroft and the Office of Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge said Thursday that the video of bin Laden, discovered in Jalalabad, clearly implicates bin Laden in the farmed shrimp operations. A number of guests at the event, as well as bin Laden, filmed in the video, are seen eating what are believed to be farmed shrimp. It is not clear whether the world-wide network of shrimp farms in Burma, Sudan, Guatemala, Bora Bora, Tora Tora and Utah with alleged ties to the Saudi terrorist are part of the al-Qaeda network or another bin Laden subsidiary, al-Caito, a fringe financial money laundering operation linked to the seafood industry. U.S. President George W. Bush pledged to eliminate the shrimp farms and other bin Laden funding sources. "We'll hunt them down like prairie dogs, smoke them out and bombicate them back to the old ages," said the President. "They can run, but they can't hang out." A spokesman for the American Fisheries Institute, meanwhile, was reported as saying "this is just another reason why we don't need seafood labeling, if people know their seafood is produced by firms with links to terrorism, they might not buy it." According to the AWNN report, the board of the U.S. seafood lobby is preparing a policy that "terrorism should be fought on the battlefield and by rounding up miscreants, not by labeling fish or giving out seafood guides." To see the full AWNN report, go to: www.aquaculturewatch_newsnetwork.net/12.13.01/shrimp/fringe/htm. 4:24/14. FAST TRACK PASSES HOUSE AND SENATE FINANCE COMMITTEE: Both the House and the Senate Finance Committees approved fast track legislation in the previous week, sending the bill to the Senate floor early next year to determine if President Bush will have exclusive trade negotiating authority. Fast Track (officially named Trade Promotion Authority) limits Congressional and public input and oversight into trade negotiations, as well as associated labor and environmental regulations. Congress has a limited time period to either approve or reject a trade agreement but cannot make amendments or have lengthy debate. The Senate panel approved the Baucus-Grassley version of the bill with minor changes in language with regard to investor-state disputes where investors could sue to overturn U.S. laws if they hindered trade. The Senate version seeks to establish "a single appellate body to review decisions in investor-to-government disputes and thereby provide coherence to interpretations of investment provisions in trade agreements." Many environmental and labor groups feel this does not go far nearly enough. If the Senate passes the bill it will return to the House to reconcile the differences between the two bills. For more information on fast track visit: www.globalexchange.org/ftaa. To read comments from the Senate Finance Committee visit: http://www.senate.gov/~finance/ 4:24/15. FOOD SECURITY ISSUE PART OF BIOTERRORISM BILL: The Bush Administration recently sent to Congress legislation entitled the 'Bioterrorism Preparedness Act of 2001' (S.1715). Sponsored by Sens. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and Bill Frist (R-TN), the bill would give $61 million to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) earmarked specifically for food safety and food security. According to WorldCatch, the National Fisheries Institute (NFI) opposes the bill. Among new authorities the FDA would have under the bill is the authority to mark imported foods with `United States: Refused Entry'. WorldCatch reported that though many agree that FDA actions to ensure food safety have been inadequate, "NFI is vehemently opposed to this 'Refused Entry' provision." The provision is designed to defend against the practice of 'port shopping,' by which a rejected product is simply taken to another port in hopes of avoiding inspection. NFI's Justin LeBlanc says that 'port shopping' makes less economic sense than simply re-exporting. He argues that even if 'port shopping' were common, the immediate devaluation of a product marked 'Refused Entry' may make it economically viable to simply repackage the product and try another port. To see the bill, visit: http://thomas.loc.gov. 4:24/16. NORTH AMERICAN CRAYFISH THREATENED BY HYBRIDIZATION WITH NON-NATIVE STOCKS: A 30 November article by Environmental News Service reported new research results indicating that hybridization between introduced and native crayfish is threatening "almost a third of North America's 390 crayfish species." The research in the December issue of Conservation Biology finds that an introduced species "genetically assimilates and morphologically extirpates" native ones, a problem when the species play "different ecological roles," creating changes that have "severe impacts on lakes and streams." Commercial aquaculture operations are one of the largest sources of non-native fish and shellfish invasions in the wild. 4:24/17. DUNNIGAN NEW HEAD OF NMFS SUSTAINABLE FISHERIES OFFICE: Jack Dunnigan, who has served as Executive Director of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission for the past 10 years, has been named the new head of the National Marine Fisheries Service's (NMFS) Office of Sustainable Fisheries. Dunnigan worked for NMFS in Washington for a number of years before joining the Commission, and is no stranger to the federal fishery agency's operations. The Sustainable Fisheries office was formerly headed by Gary Mattlock, who was re-assigned last year. For the past year and a half, Bruce Morehead has been serving as Acting Director. 4:24/18. RESTORATION FUNDS AVAILABLE: The Department of Fish and Game (DFG) is requesting proposals for coho restoration projects, due January 11, 2002. Projects throughout the coho range are eligible (see Sublegals, 4:22/09). To see the application guidelines visit http://www.dfg.ca.gov/nafwb/fishgrant.html. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) also announced the availability of funding in 2001/2002 for individual community-based habitat restoration projects under the Community-Based Restoration Program (CRP). For more information about this and other grant monies please visit http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/habitat/restoration/funding.html 4:24/19. OREGON COHO ESA PROTECTIONS REINSTATED BY NINTH CIRCUIT: Late in the day 14 December, the Federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated protections under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) for central Oregon coho salmon, suspending an order by U.S. District Court Judge Michael Hogan in the Alsea Valley Alliance vs. Evans case (US Dist. of OR, No. 99-6265-HO) issued 10 September that stripped the Central Oregon coho of federal ESA protections. The stay will last at least until the matter can be heard on appeal. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) refused to appeal, instead beginning a review of their ESA policy toward hatcheries generally. However, a number of nongovernmental organizations, including PCFFA and IFR, were allowed to intervene in the case after the original decisions to appeal, and asked the Ninth Circuit for the stay on appeal just granted (see Sublegals 4:20/08; 4:19/05; 4:18/02; 4:11/02). For more information contact Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund, Patti Goldman, at: (206)343-7340. NEWS, COMMENTS, CORRECTIONS: Submit your news items, comments or any corrections to Allison Vogt, Editor at: ifrfish@pacbell.net or call the IFR/PCFFA office with the news and a source at either: (415) 561-FISH (Southwest Office) or (541) 689-2000 (Northwest Office). ########################################################## "Sublegals" are a weekly fisheries news bulletin service of Fishlink. To find out more about Fishlink, list information can be viewed and you can subscribe yourself automatically at: http://straylight.primelogic.com/mailman/listinfo/fishlink If you have any trouble subscribing or unsubscribing, contact PCFFA/IFR directly at: . ########################################################## "Fishlink" is a registered trademark of the Institute for Fisheries Resources. All rights to the use of this trademark are reserved to IFR. This publication, however, may be freely reproduced and circulated without copyright restriction. Don't forget to go to our new website at: www.sublegals.net for the PDF version of this newsletter! ########################################################## --part1_32.1fa6596f.294c74d2_boundary Content-Type: text/html; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ##########################################################
                 ~~>FISHLINK SUBLEGALS 12/14/01<~~
##########################################################
     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. 4, NO. 24                                           14 DECEMBER 2001
##########################################################
Welcome to the new and improved Sublegals!

If you would like you can go to our new web site at www.sublegals.net
which provides a PDF version (via Adobe Acrobat) of Sublegals, which
is much easier to read and print out. We have also pasted the text below
for those that still wish to read it through your email. In addition to the
new look this officially kicks off our Sublegals Fundraiser to support the
Institute for Fisheries Resources and the Pacific Coast Federation of
Fishermen's Associations in publishing this weekly newsletter free of
charge. We have recently passed our 100th issue, with very little
funding, and we are looking forward to building our support to continue
and expand on this effort. Please go to www.sublegals.net and click on
DONATE NOW to view our sponsorship levels and thank you gifts as
well. Then click on the link to today's issue if you want to try our PDF
format version.  Thank you for your continued support!
#########################################################

IN THIS ISSUE.......

SEAFOOD LABELING ISSUE SQUARELY BEFORE
CONGRESS.  4:24/01.  

PAYING ATTENTION? NEW FORMAT AND
CONTEST FOR SUBLEGALS READERS.  4:24/02.

CRAB PRICE SETTLED FOR NORTHERN CALIFORNIA,
OREGON, WASHINGTON.  4:24/03.

SCIENCE REVIEW PANEL CALLS ALL FOUR COLUMBIA
SALMON PLANS INADEQUATE. 4:24/05.

OREGON COHO ESA PROTECTIONS REINSTATED
ON APPEAL. 4:24/19.

AND MORE.......
#########################################################
4:24/01: SEAFOOD LABELING ISSUE SQUARELY BEFORE
CONGRESS:  Following action earlier this year by the European Union
(EU) mandating seafood labeling throughout its member nations
beginning in January (see Sublegals, 4:17/01), seafood labeling
language was inserted on 4 December into the Trade Adjustment
Assistance Act by U.S. Senator Frank Murkowski (R-AK) in the Senate
Finance Committee.  The trade bill with the Murkwoski amendment,
requested by the Alaskan fishing industry, is now before the full Senate.
The House version of the trade act contained no similar provision,
meaning the bills will have to be reconciled in Conference Committee if
the Senate approves Murkowski's language.  That language would
require the labeling of fish, shellfish and other perishable agricultural
products by country of origin and, although exempting certain food
service establishments, would require information to be provided
consumers "by means of a label, stamp, mark, placard, or other clear and
visible sign on the covered commodity or on the package, display,
holding unit, or bin containing the commodity at the final point of sale
to consumers."  It thus allows domestic seafood producers to label their
product "Made in the U.S.A." Enforcement would be through the
Secretary of Agriculture.  There is also labeling language in the Senate
farm bill by U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone (D-MN), requiring labeling by
country of origin, but this is not as extensive as the Murkowski
language. Neither provision, however, goes as far as requiring labeling
to inform consumers how the fish was caught, produced (wild or
farmed), or whether the seafood was genetically modified.

Comprehensive labeling of fish and seafood products is
commonplace within the wholesale distribution system, but retailers and
restaurant associations, as well as the distributors and importers
supplying them fish, have vehemently opposed providing the same
details about seafood to the public.  The refusal of the domestic seafood
supply industry to fully and accurately label seafood at the consumer
level has hurt domestic fishermen and those within the fishing industry
working to fish in a responsible and sustainable manner.  As expected,
the National Fisheries Institute (NFI), representing fish importers and
many in the distribution and shoreside sector of the U.S. fishing
industry, is opposing the Murkowski language, maintaining that sector
of the U.S. fishing industry's caveat emptor position.  Most products
sold in the U.S. do contain consumer information at least stating the
country of origin or manufacture of most products.  Seafood has been a
glaring exception.  For a full discussion on the issue, see the article
"Informational Seafood Labeling" by Natasha Benjamin, Nicole Brown
and Allison Vogt in the December issue of The Fishermen's News
(pp.22-23); that article can also be viewed at:
www.pcffa.org/fn-dec01.htm.  For more information on Senator
Murkowski's labeling language, contact his office at: (202) 224-6665.

In Europe, meanwhile, WorldCatch News Network reported on 7
December that consumers at a Banbury, UK supermarket, Morrisons,
will be confronted with the Latin genus names for various seafood
products, including salmo salar, scomber japonicus and callinectes
sapidus instead of their usual names when they visit the fish counter.
According to WorldCatch, managers want customers to take part in a
contest identifying the fish from their Latin names to mark National
Seafish Day and illustrate how retailers can use fully descriptive
labeling under the new EU legislation. Winners will receive a hamper of
fresh seafood and Rick Stein's book Fruits of the Sea.  The challenge
aims to raise cash for the Fishermen's Mission, which supports partners
and children of fishermen lost at sea. The supermarket is making a
donation from all sales from its fish counters and of fish and chip meals
at its cafe on National Seafish Day.  To see full WorldCatch report, go
to: www.worldcatch.com.                                 

4:24/02. PAYING ATTENTION? NEW FORMAT AND CONTEST
FOR SUBLEGALS READERS:  Although Sublegals is a serious
publication aimed at giving those in fisheries a quick briefing on what's
happening in the fisheries world ("for those who'd rather fish than surf"),
the staff at Sublegals felt that some levity, perhaps via sarcasm, is
needed. Striving for accuracy and objectivity can be daunting at times
when the world seems mad, and refraining from comment is often
difficult. Additionally, something might be needed to keep the attention
of our readers who also feel sometimes overwhelmed by the events of
the day.  So dear readers, for you, beginning with this issue, the
Sublegals staff brings you "Search for the Sarcasm, Find the Fringe"
(our apologies to The Onion). The goal of the contest is to identify the
fictitious article in the current issue that has been fabricated by
Sublegals staff (and occasionally some outside contributors). (HINT: it
will never be one of the first two articles in each issue, nor any of those
mentioned at the beginning index of what's in that week's issue, and the
fictitious article will contain the word "fringe" somewhere in its text)

The contest is named for Sublegals' mascot, that pesky and
precocious Sarcastic Fringehead (Neoclinus blanchardi). Contestants
should submit their guess by emailing av_ifr@pacbell.net with Sarcastic
Fringehead Contest in the subject line. The winner will be chosen at
random weekly and eligible for 'fabulous prizes.'  For the many readers
who do use articles for reference and may be unsure if a report is true or
not ("Truth is stranger than fiction" -Mark Twain), they can e-mail or
call the IFR offices; however, they will not then be eligible for that
week's drawing of correct answers to determine the winner. In addition
to that week's gift selection the winner will also become a member of
the "Fellowship of the Fringehead" with a signed certificate, suitable for
framing.  Good luck!

Accompanying the kick-off of the new contest, this issue also marks
the opening of Sublegals very own website, www.sublegals.net, where
our current and back issues are available in PDF format. This issue also
opens the winter pledge drive intended to raise funds to keep Sublegals
coming.  Go to www.sublegals.net and click on Donate Now to help us
keep up this effort.

4:24/03. CRAB PRICE SETTLED FOR NORTHERN
CALIFORNIA, OREGON, WASHINGTON:  On Monday, 10
December, a price agreement was reached between fishermen's
marketing associations and fish processors on a market order price for
Dungeness crab for northern California (Mendocino County north),
Oregon and Washington (see Sublegals, 4:23/09; 4:22/03; 4:21/01;
4:20/03; 4:19/01). The ex-vessel price settled on was $1.60 per pound.
The fleet had been tied-up since 1 December wrangling with processors
on a price. Crab boats started getting out on Tuesday, but, to date,
production has been slow. The opening was also met with tragedy when
a crab boat out of Newport, Oregon, the Nesika, rolled over and the four
fishermen on board are believed lost.  In Fort Bragg, California, one
boat hauling crab gear hit the Noyo jetty, but there were no injuries.
Crabbers in the central California fishery (Sonoma County south), which
had opened earlier, saw their prices jump from the $1.88 market order,
to $2.25 and are now at around $2.00 following the northern opening.  

4:24/04.  BPA INCREASES SALMON SPENDING, BUT
FUNDING CALLED 'TOO LITTLE TOO LATE':  The Bonneville
Power Administration (BPA), the federal agency that funds much of the
salmon recovery efforts in the Columbia Basin, plans to increase its
salmon recovery funding next year from $127 million to $186 million,
and its spending on dam improvements from $125 million to $159
million.  This would be a total increase in BPA salmon-related spending
of 37%.  However, the increased spending comes far too late to save this
year's salmon migration, which was devastated by BPA's own decision
to terminate the Columbia River spill program for this summer, and as a
result the region unnecessarily suffered record juvenile salmon losses
(see Sublegals 4:23/12; 4:01/02).  Even including all other federal
funding sources, however, the salmon recovery program in the
Columbia is still several hundred million dollars short of the estimated
funds for fully implementing the current salmon recovery plan (see
Sublegals 4:22/12).

4:24/05. SCIENCE REVIEW PANEL CALLS ALL FOUR
COLUMBIA SALMON PLANS INADEQUATE:  The 13 December
Oregonian carried a story on the Independent Science Advisory Board's
(ISAB) report 12 December to the Northwest Power Planning Council
on the scientific adequacy of the four current plans for salmon
restoration and recovery in the Columbia Basin.  The ISAB review,
though not entirely negative, concluded that all four plans were seriously
lacking in detail, none had clear plans for implementation, and that each
was flawed in different ways.  The one-year review covered a plan by
the Governors of Oregon, Washington, Montana and Idaho; the Power
Council's own Fish & Wildlife Program; the National Marine Fisheries
Service's 2000 Biological Opinion, and; the multi-agency strategy know
as the 'All-H Paper.'  The ISAB review, dated 22 August, is posted on
the Power Council's ISAB web site at:
http://www.nwcouncil.org/library/isab/Default.htm.

4:24/06.  KLAMATH BASIN DEAL REACHED IN FARM BILL:
A Klamath Basin funding deal has been reached between California
Senator Barbara Boxer and Oregon Senators Ron Wyden and Gordon
Smith that will become part of the 'manager's amendment' in the Senate
version of the Farm Bill (S. 1731), and could be voted on by as early as
17 December (see Sublegals 4:23/15).  The amendment would direct up
to $175 million in existing federal conservation and restoration funds to
the Klamath Basin to fund a five-year restoration program to be
formulated by a federal inter-agency task force.  Demand reduction
through willing seller purchases and purchase of voluntary water
easements would be one of many tools that may be used, as well as
water conservation measures and feasibility studies for additional water
storage.  The amendment, a substitute for Sec. 262 of the Daschle
substitute language, has already gained broad support and has been
endorsed by PCFFA.  However, even if adopted in the Senate version of
the Farm Bill, the amendment would have to be defended in the
Conference Committee that would reconcile the differences between the
House and Senate versions of the Farm Bill.  Senator Harkin, S. 1731's
original sponsor, has pledged to defend the amendment and keep it
intact, if at all possible, in Conference Committee.  For current
information on S. 1731 see: http://thomas.loc.gov.

4:24/07.  KLAMATH TRIBES CONTEST OREGON KLAMATH
WATER ADJUDICATION IN FEDERAL COURT: The 30 November
Capital Press reports on the resumption of the water claims case U.S. v.
Adair (Civil Case No. 75-914-PA (District of Oregon, filed 9 August
2001)).  In that case the U.S., on behalf of the Klamath Tribes, is
challenging the water adjudication process being conducted by the State
of Oregon that is attempting to quantify the Tribes' federally guaranteed
water rights pursuant to their Treaty of 1864, as well as the 673 other
water rights claims, for the Upper Klamath Basin.  A previous case, U.S.
v. Adair (723 F.2d 1394, Ninth Circuit 1983) made it clear that this
Treaty, which guarantees certain hunting and fishing rights to the
Klamath Tribes, also gives the Tribes a sufficient quantity of water
necessary to protect these rights and make them a reality.  This is the
basis for the Klamath Tribes' claim to more water to be retained in
Upper Klamath Lake and elsewhere in the Klamath Irrigation Project for
the two lake fish species they historically depended upon.  However,
though the Ninth Circuit ruling made it clear that the Tribes' water rights
date from "time immemorial," and thus are the most senior water right in
the basin, the Court left the final quantification of these rights to the
State of Oregon.  In the fall of 2000, the state proposed a quantity for
these Tribal rights, which was, however, found unacceptable by the
Tribes and the Bureau of Indian Affairs.  

At stake is the entire water rights system of the Klamath Water
Irrigation Project.  The Tribes' claims are an entirely separate basis for
major water reforms within the Klamath Basin, and are independent of
any claims under the Endangered Species Act, frequently use by the
Klamath Project irrigators as their media whipping boy during last
summer's drought (see Sublegals 4:15/07; 4:14/04; 410/06; 4:09/04;
4:08/05; 4:07/02; 4:04/11; 4:03/05; 4:02/01; 4:01/01: 3:26/05; 3:25/05;
3:24/01; 3:20/01; 3:17/02; 3:15/07; 3:14/01; 3:13/02). Completion of the
briefing in the new water rights case is scheduled for this December,
with a hearing on the merits of the case currently scheduled for the 20
December.

An article on the Klamath Tribes' water rights claims by Bud Ullman,
Attorney for the Klamath Tribes' Water Rights Project, also appears in
Oregon Insider Issue #284 (15 November 2001), including a list of the
many relevant federal cases that now apply to the Klamath Project.  A
copy of the Oregon Insider issue can be obtained by calling (541)
343-8504.

4:24/08.  OREGON STATE'S MPA PROCESS SEEKING
COMMENTS: A new website hosted by National Fisheries
Conservation Center (NFCC) for the Oregon Ocean Policy Advisory
Council is inviting dialogue, feedback and participation from fishing
men and women, local officials in Oregon communities, scientists and
the public on the topic of marine protected areas off the Oregon coast. A
Policy Advisory Council working group will prepare an assessment for
the Oregon Governor by August 2002. Oregon, unlike California, has no
current marine protected areas nor marine sanctuaries, but is considering
them as a tool for groundfish restoration and protection of key fishery
nursery areas.  To find out more or provide comments see:
http://www.oregonocean.org.

4:24/09.  OCEAN FERTILIZATION CO2 INJECTION CONCEPTS
DISCREDITED:  The 12 October issue of Science (Vol. 294, pp.
309-310) includes an article, "Dis-Crediting Ocean Fertilization,"
debunking the various schemes to cure problems with global warming
by sequestering huge amounts of atmospheric carbon in the ocean by
way of massive ocean iron fertilization projects, a techno-fix concept
being pushed heavily by certain industrial groups and by some countries
engaged in Kyoto Protocol global warming treaty negotiations, as a way
to obtain commercially valuable carbon credits through proposed carbon
trading systems.  The authors note that, "If implemented on a large
scale, ocean fertilization would, by design, change the ecology of the
oceans.  The potential long-term consequences of this purposeful
eutrophication strategy are cause for great concern....  The proponents'
claim that fertilization for carbon sequestration would be
environmentally benign is inconsistent with almost everything we know
about aquatic ecosystems."  

Another article in the same issue, "Potential Impacts of CO2
Injection on Deep-Sea Biota," (at pp. 319-320) looks at similar carbon
sequestration schemes based on injecting massive quantities of
atmospheric carbon dioxide into highly stable deep sea cold water
layers, concluding that these too would mean drastic and highly
unpredictable, and also potentially disastrous, changes in the entire
ocean ecology.  For more information go to this issue at:
www.sciencemag.org.

4:24/10.  'CLEAN WATER FOR SALMON' CAMPAIGN
LAUNCHED IN NORTHWEST: The Northwest Coalition for
Alternatives to Pesticides (NCAP) and the Washington Toxics Coalition
(WTC) have kicked-off their 'Clean Water for Salmon' Campaign, aimed
at addressing the problem of pesticides in waterways, with the goal of
cleaning up water bodies in the Pacific Northwest and reducing overall
exposure of salmonids to toxic chemicals in important spawning and
rearing areas. Recent studies have found pesticides in many west coast
waterways at levels that can harm salmon. The U.S. Geological Survey
(USGS), for instance, has detected 15 pesticides in Northwest waters at
levels exceeding standards designed to protect aquatic life.  PCFFA is
part of the campaign, and has also joined both organizations in suing the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to require consultation
under Section 7 of the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) on ways to
reduce impacts of pesticides on ESA listed salmonids (see Sublegals
4:22/14).  For more information on the impact of pesticides on
salmonids, see the report at: http://www.ifrfish.org/salpest.htm.

4:24/11. PEW COMMISSION HEARS TESTIMONY ON
IMPLICATIONS OF AGRICULTURAL RUNOFF IN GULF OF
MEXICO: The Pollution Committee of the Pew Oceans Commission
met this week in Des Moines, Iowa to hear public testimony regarding
the issue of nutrients from fertilizer runoff contributing to the "dead
zone" in the Gulf of Mexico.  The dead zone, an anoxic region of the
Gulf incapable of supporting most marine life, reached a record size this
year when heavy rains flushed through the Mississippi Basin (see
Sublegals 4:4/02).  The Des Moines Register reported on 12 December
that the Bush Administration plans to launch another study of fertilizer
pollution in the Gulf after the Clinton Administration's panel
recommended installing 24 million acres of wetlands, riparian trees and
plants. Additionally, Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) is introducing the
Conservation Security Act (S. 932) to provide financial incentives for
adopting environmentally sensitive farming practices.  To read the full
text of the article go to:
http://desmoinesregister.com/news/stories/c5903220/16727204.html and
for an editorial on the same issue go to:
http://desmoinesregister.com/news/stories/c5917686/16728841.html  

4:24/12. SHRIMP AQUACULTURE IN THE ARIZONA DESERT:
A shrimp aquaculture operation, located at Gila Bend, in the Arizona
desert an hour's drive from Phoenix, has reportedly produced a half
million pounds of crustaceans in 2001, according to a recent article by
Lee Allen, a freelance writer. The Wood Brothers Shrimp Farm
harvested 36 million shrimp, Paneais vannamei, from their ponds this
year, doubling last year's crop. "Traditional production sources along the
coasts of third world countries are polluted.  Our desert farm ponds, fed
by underground water that was once an ancient sea, are as clean as you
can get," claims owner Gary Wood.  Another plus, according to Wood,
is the absence of herbicides, pesticides and antibiotics commonly used at
operations involving ocean waters.  "We don't use any chemicals
because we don't have to, and we intend to maintain that purity of
production."

Shrimp aquaculture operations throughout the world have destroyed
mangroves, polluted and destroyed waterways and displaced traditional
fisheries in order to produce a luxury item for first world nations.  Wood
says his operation is different and attributes part of his success to the
incorporation of multi-use agriculture on his 1,000 acres, an aquaculture
concept dating back to the mid-1970s when the University of Arizona
began raising shrimp with other crops in Puerto Penasco, Mexico.
"There's a synergy of our traditional farming of wheat and olives and the
introduction of shrimp production.  It's a closed-loop ecosystem where
very little goes to waste.  Nutrient-rich waters from more than 50
shrimp-growing ponds are siphoned off to irrigate field crops.  The
process ties itself together because everything is used more than once."
Not only does the water grow the shrimp, wheat and olive trees before
returning to the water table, wheat byproducts are used for livestock
forage and unusable olive tree shoots are ground up and sold as
compost. For more information, or to see the complete Allen article, go
to: www.DesertSweetShrimp.com.

4:24/13. SEIZURE OF SHRIMP FARMS ASSETS HAS RIPPLE
EFFECT IMPACTING SEAFOOD DISTRIBUTION SECTOR:  The
seizure by the U.S. Justice Department of the financial assets of some
shrimp farm operations with ties to Saudi terrorist Osama bin Laden has
had a severe impact on farmed shrimp availability in the United States
and has financially impacted some seafood importers, according to a 13
December report by AquacultureWatch NewsNet. Last month, the
Justice Department froze bank accounts and seized assets belonging to
shrimp farms thought to be part of bin Laden's funding sources. The
financial woes of a least one major southern California-based shrimp
importer are believed the result of the U.S. government's action against
businesses accused of being the money source for bin Laden's
operations.

In a joint announcement, Attorney General John Ashcroft and the
Office of Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge said Thursday that the
video of bin Laden, discovered in Jalalabad, clearly implicates bin
Laden in the farmed shrimp operations. A number of guests at the event,
as well as bin Laden, filmed in the video, are seen eating what are
believed to be farmed shrimp.  It is not clear whether the world-wide
network of shrimp farms in Burma, Sudan, Guatemala, Bora Bora, Tora
Tora and Utah with alleged ties to the Saudi terrorist are part of the
al-Qaeda network or another bin Laden subsidiary, al-Caito, a fringe
financial money laundering operation linked to the seafood industry.
U.S. President George W. Bush pledged to eliminate the shrimp farms
and other bin Laden funding sources. "We'll hunt them down like prairie
dogs, smoke them out and bombicate them back to the old ages," said
the President.  "They can run, but they can't hang out."  A spokesman for
the American Fisheries Institute, meanwhile, was reported as saying
"this is just another reason why we don't need seafood labeling, if people
know their seafood is produced by firms with links to terrorism, they
might not buy it."  According to the AWNN report, the board of the U.S.
seafood lobby is preparing a policy that "terrorism should be fought on
the battlefield and by rounding up miscreants, not by labeling fish or
giving out seafood guides."  To see the full AWNN report, go to:
www.aquaculturewatch_newsnetwork.net/12.13.01/shrimp/fringe/htm.

4:24/14. FAST TRACK PASSES HOUSE AND SENATE FINANCE
COMMITTEE:  Both the House and the Senate Finance Committees
approved fast track legislation in the previous week, sending the bill to
the Senate floor early next year to determine if President Bush will have
exclusive trade negotiating authority. Fast Track (officially named Trade
Promotion Authority) limits Congressional and public input and
oversight into trade negotiations, as well as associated labor and
environmental regulations. Congress has a limited time period to either
approve or reject a trade agreement but cannot make amendments or
have lengthy debate. The Senate panel approved the Baucus-Grassley
version of the bill with minor changes in language with regard to
investor-state disputes where investors could sue to overturn U.S. laws if
they hindered trade. The Senate version seeks to establish "a single
appellate body to review decisions in investor-to-government disputes
and thereby provide coherence to interpretations of investment
provisions in trade agreements." Many environmental and labor groups
feel this does not go far nearly enough. If the Senate passes the bill it
will return to the House to reconcile the differences between the two
bills. For more information on fast track visit:
www.globalexchange.org/ftaa.  To read comments from the Senate
Finance Committee visit: http://www.senate.gov/~finance/

4:24/15. FOOD SECURITY ISSUE PART OF BIOTERRORISM
BILL: The Bush Administration recently sent to Congress legislation
entitled the 'Bioterrorism Preparedness Act of 2001' (S.1715).
Sponsored by Sens. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and Bill Frist (R-TN), the bill
would give $61 million to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) earmarked specifically for food safety and food security.

According to WorldCatch, the National Fisheries Institute (NFI)
opposes the bill.  Among new authorities the FDA would have under the
bill is the authority to mark imported foods with `United States: Refused
Entry'.  WorldCatch reported that though many agree that FDA actions
to ensure food safety have been inadequate, "NFI is vehemently opposed
to this 'Refused Entry' provision."  The provision is designed to defend
against the practice of 'port shopping,' by which a rejected product is
simply taken to another port in hopes of avoiding inspection.  NFI's
Justin LeBlanc says that 'port shopping' makes less economic sense than
simply re-exporting.  He argues that even if 'port shopping' were
common, the immediate devaluation of a product marked 'Refused
Entry' may make it economically viable to simply repackage the product
and try another port. To see the bill, visit: http://thomas.loc.gov.

4:24/16. NORTH AMERICAN CRAYFISH THREATENED BY
HYBRIDIZATION WITH NON-NATIVE STOCKS:  A 30 November
article by Environmental News Service reported new research results
indicating that hybridization between introduced and native crayfish is
threatening "almost a third of North America's 390 crayfish species."
The research in the December issue of Conservation Biology finds that
an introduced species "genetically assimilates and morphologically
extirpates" native ones, a problem when the species play "different
ecological roles," creating changes that have "severe impacts on lakes
and streams."  Commercial aquaculture operations are one of the largest
sources of non-native fish and shellfish invasions in the wild.

4:24/17. DUNNIGAN NEW HEAD OF NMFS SUSTAINABLE
FISHERIES OFFICE: Jack Dunnigan, who has served as Executive
Director of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission for the past
10 years, has been named the new head of the National Marine Fisheries
Service's (NMFS) Office of Sustainable Fisheries.  Dunnigan worked for
NMFS in Washington for a number of years before joining the
Commission, and is no stranger to the federal fishery agency's
operations.  The Sustainable Fisheries office was formerly headed by
Gary Mattlock, who was re-assigned last year.  For the past year and a
half, Bruce Morehead has been serving as Acting Director.

4:24/18. RESTORATION FUNDS AVAILABLE: The Department
of Fish and Game (DFG) is requesting proposals for coho restoration
projects, due January 11, 2002. Projects throughout the coho range are
eligible (see Sublegals, 4:22/09). To see the application guidelines visit
http://www.dfg.ca.gov/nafwb/fishgrant.html.  The National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) also announced the availability of
funding in 2001/2002 for individual community-based habitat
restoration projects under the Community-Based Restoration Program
(CRP). For more information about this and other grant monies please
visit http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/habitat/restoration/funding.html

4:24/19.  OREGON COHO ESA PROTECTIONS REINSTATED BY
NINTH CIRCUIT:  Late in the day 14 December, the Federal Ninth
Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated protections under the federal
Endangered Species Act (ESA) for central Oregon coho salmon,
suspending an order by U.S. District Court Judge Michael Hogan in the
Alsea Valley Alliance vs. Evans case (US Dist. of OR, No.
99-6265-HO) issued 10 September that stripped the Central Oregon
coho of federal ESA protections. The stay will last at least until the
matter can be heard on appeal. The National Marine Fisheries Service
(NMFS) refused to appeal, instead beginning a review of their ESA
policy toward hatcheries generally. However, a number of
nongovernmental organizations, including PCFFA and IFR, were
allowed to intervene in the case after the original decisions to appeal,
and asked the Ninth Circuit for the stay on appeal just granted (see
Sublegals 4:20/08; 4:19/05; 4:18/02; 4:11/02).  For more information
contact Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund, Patti Goldman, at:
(206)343-7340.

NEWS, COMMENTS, CORRECTIONS: Submit your news items,
comments or any corrections to Allison Vogt, Editor at:
ifrfish@pacbell.net or call the IFR/PCFFA office with the news and a
source at either: (415) 561-FISH (Southwest Office) or (541) 689-2000
(Northwest Office).

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########################################################## --part1_32.1fa6596f.294c74d2_boundary-- From FISH1IFR@aol.com Mon Dec 24 10:41:30 2001 Received: from imo-r07.mx.aol.com (imo-r07.mx.aol.com [152.163.225.103]) by straylight.primelogic.com (8.11.6/8.11.1) with ESMTP id fBOIfRU08559 for ; Mon, 24 Dec 2001 10:41:27 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from FISH1IFR@aol.com) Received: from FISH1IFR@aol.com by imo-r07.mx.aol.com (mail_out_v31_r1.9.) id e.d0.1fb9c908 (30971) for ; Mon, 24 Dec 2001 13:35:45 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: Date: Mon, 24 Dec 2001 13:35:44 EST To: fishlink@straylight.primelogic.com MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="part1_d0.1fb9c908.2958cf80_boundary" X-Mailer: AOL 6.0 for Windows US sub 10536 From: fishlink-admin@straylight.primelogic.com Subject: [Fishlink] ~~>FISHLINK SUBLEGALS 12/21/01<~~ Sender: fishlink-admin@straylight.primelogic.com Errors-To: fishlink-admin@straylight.primelogic.com X-BeenThere: fishlink@straylight.primelogic.com X-Mailman-Version: 2.0.6 Precedence: bulk Reply-To: bit-bucket@straylight.primelogic.com X-Reply-To: fishlink@straylight.primelogic.com List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Fishlink is a joint fisheries information news service of Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations (PCFFA) and the Institute for Fisheries Resources (IFR). List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: --part1_d0.1fb9c908.2958cf80_boundary Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ########################################################## ~~>FISHLINK SUBLEGALS 12/21/01<~~ ########################################################## 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. 4, NO. 25 21 DECEMBER 2001 ########################################################## DISCLAIMER: As part of our new "Search for the Sacrasm, Find the Fringe" contest, one article in this week's Sublegals is fictitious, a creation of the Sublegals staff to bring some levity to the usually grave fisheries news we must report to our readers. The challenge to our readers is to locate the decoy article and submit your guess to av_ifr@pacbell.net for a chance to be this week's winner. The fabricated article will never be one featured in the table of contents and will always contain the word "fringe" in the body of the article. Congratulations to Michael Evanson of the Mattole Salmon Group who correctly identified last week's fringe article, "Seizure of Shrimp Assets Has Ripple Effect Impacting Seafood Distribution Sector: (Sublegals 4:24/13). ########################################################## IN THIS ISSUE....... NO SENATE FARM BILL THIS YEAR. 4:25/01. BOXER INTRODUCES SALMON RESTORATION FUNDING BILL FOR WEST COAST. 4:25/04 TILIPIA FROM NORWEGIAN FISH FARM THREATEN NICARAGUAN LAKE. 4:24/09. ALL THE NEWS ON SEA TURTLES. 4:25/11. U.N. AGREEMENT ON STRADDLING & MIGRATORY FISH STOCKS RATIFIED. 4:25/13. AND MORE... ######################################################## 4:25/01. NO ACTION ON FARM BILL BEFORE CONGRESSIONAL RECESS: The U.S. Congress went out for its winter recess on 21 December with no action on the Senate version of the Farm Bill, S.1731, which was pulled off the Senate floor just the day before. In its current form, Republicans oppose the bill, principally over the issue of agricultural subsidies. It is expected to be taken up again when Congress reconvenes on 19 January. The House earlier passed its version of the farm bill, H.R. 2646. The legislation is to replace a 1996 Act that will expire in September 2002. Tied up in it is relief for Klamath Basin farmers (see 4:24/03). Although an agricultural bill, S.1731 has had a number of amendments proposed to it that would affect the nation's fisheries. Those amendments include: * An amendment proposed by Senator Michael Crapo (R-ID) to delete a provision in the bill allowing the government under the Conservation Reserve Program to acquire water rights from farmers for conservation purposes. An amendment requiring authorization by the governor of the state where such a transfer was to occur had earlier been added to the bill. The National Farm Bureau opposes the conservation language and is lobbying for the Crapo amendment. * An amendment (SA 2513) proposed by Senator Christopher Bond (R-MO) would have given the President broad authority to waive environmental laws, including those necessary for the protection of fish stocks and, consequently, fishing jobs. The Bond amendment would have directed the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to review all proposed agency actions to see whether a proposed agency action, such as protecting listed species, would have a significant adverse economic impact on farmers or jeopardize the safety of farmers, as well as give the President the power to override virtually any federal law. It failed by a vote of 54-43. * An amendment (SA 2514) by Senator Gordon Smith (R-OR) containing "takings" language is still pending; it would compensate farmers with disaster relief funds by broadening "disaster" to include any financial impacts of complying with federal laws such as the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The rider would take money from farmers who desperately need compensation from crop loss due to true natural disasters. The takings compensation's high cost would weaken enforcement of environmental laws, including those to conserve fish resources. * An amendment (SA 2471) by Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) would transfer authority for organic fish standards to the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) and direct the agency, which contains the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), to establish regulations for organic certification of fish. The Stevens amendment is in response to the USDA's National Organics Standards Board (NOSB) action in October denying organic certification for wild fish, but allowing aquaculture products to be certified as organic (see Sublegals, 4:16/08; 4:14/06; 4:14/07). Stevens is pushing his language at the behest of Alaskan and other U.S. fishermen concerned with USDA's current double standard on organic labeling, i.e., honey from wild bees and free range beef can be labeled as organic, but wild fish are ineligible. PCFFA has suggested USDA either make its labeling requirements consistent or allow for an "organic equivalent" type of label that could be used by any aquatic products - wild, cultured or farmed. The Alaskan Senator has indicated that he will not bring up his amendment for a floor vote in the Senate if the bill managers insert statutory language in the final bill concerning the establishment by the Secretary of Agriculture of organic standards for wild caught fish. The Senate bill also contains a requirement for "country of origin" labeling of farm and fish products, but that language is not as comprehensive as that inserted by Senator Frank Murkowski (R-AK) in the Trade Adjustment Assistance Act (see Sublegals, 4:24/01) that will be taken up next year. 4:25/02 HOUSE ACTS ON ONE FISHERY BILL; MAGNUSON-STEVENS ACT DEBATE WAITS UNTIL NEXT YEAR: On 11 December, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 1989, the Fisheries Conservation Act, which extends funding for six of the nation's fishery laws. The measure, by Congressman Wayne Gilchrest (R-MD), authorizes $14.88 million in 2002 and will provide up to $16.395 million through the 2003-2006 period in gradual steps. The bill extends authority or appropriations for: the Anadromous Fish Conservation Act; the Atlantic Striped Bass Conservation Act; the Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative Management Act; the Atlantic Tunas Convention Act; the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Convention Act; and the Interjurisdictional Fisheries Act of 1986. For more information, contact Representative Gilchrest's office at www.house.gov/gilchrest or see: http://thomas.loc.gov. Action, meanwhile, on reauthorizing the nation's major fisheries statute, the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation & Management Act, 16 USC 1801, et seq., will not be taken up until after Congress reconvenes next year. Most of the focus is expected to be on Congressman Sam Farr's (D-CA) Fisheries Recovery Act, H.R. 2570, that strengthens existing language on the prevention of overfishing, reducing bycatch and protecting habitat. It also would redirect Saltonstall-Kennedy Act (S-K) funds to assist fishermen to modify or develop more selective fishing gear and gear that does not harm fish habitat. For more information, contact Representative Farr's office at: samfarr@mail.house.gov. 4:25/03. KLAMATH AID PACKAGE FIZZLES AS FARM BILL DERAILED BY RIDERS: The carefully crafted funding compromise (see Sublegals 4:24/06), that would have directed $175 million in restoration funds to the Klamath Basin over the next five years, is now included in the Manager's Amendment to the Senate version of the federal Farm Bill, S.1731. The bill itself, however, was tabled by inability to get the required 60 votes for "cloture" to end debate and to overcome a filibuster threat (see Sublegals 4:25/01 above). The Klamath Water Users' Association objected to the language, which otherwise had broad support, because it failed to contain any guarantees of water deliveries. Federal agencies have taken the position that such guarantees would be illegal and make it impossible to meet other federal government obligations to fisheries and Tribes in dry years. The whole controversy now moves over to next year, with long promised Senate Environment & Public Works Committee hearings on these issues not yet scheduled. For the full bill and amendment language see: http://thomas.loc.gov. 4:25/04. BOXER INTRODUCES SENATE SALMON FUNDING BILL: On 13 December, U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) formally filed a separate Senate alternative version of the salmon recovery funding bill by Representative Mike Thompson Bill (D-CA), H.R. 1157, which passed the House of Representatives on 13 June by a vote of 418 to 6. The Boxer bill, slightly different from Thompson's bill (now also in the Senate), is also called the "Pacific Salmon Recovery Act," S. 1825, and would allocate 85 percent of up to $350 million/year for five years to five west coast states (Alaska, California, Oregon, Washington and Idaho), with the additional 15 percent divided among many Tribes, as a federal share of state-based salmon restoration efforts in those states. The bill was co-sponsored by Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Gordon Smith (R-OR), Larry Craig (R-OR) and Mike Crapo (R-ID). Idaho wants some of the salmon restoration money to deal with its Snake River salmon issues. Currently Congress is appropriating these funds on an ad hoc basis (omitting Idaho) and, though independent statutory authority is technically not required, putting authority on record with a strong vote in Congress would institutionalize the federal salmon recovery funding program and give it an advantage in future budgeting conflicts, likely if current projections that the U.S. federal budget will slide into deficits over the next few years are correct. The bill can be reviewed by bill number search at: http://thomas.loc.gov. 4:25/05. FRAGMENTATION, MISMANAGEMENT AND RACISM BLAMED FOR DEEP SEATED KLAMATH WATER WARS: In a new report, "Water Allocation in the Klamath Basin: An Assessment of Natural Resource, Economic, Social and Institutional Issues," jointly prepared by scientists from Oregon State University (OSU) and the University of California, researchers looked at this summer's water disputes in context, and blamed a long history of geographic and agency fragmentation, decades of federal and state agency mismanagement and deep polarization exacerbated by racism toward the Klamath Tribes (and further inflamed by this year's sensationalist media coverage) as among the driving causes for Upper Klamath Basin water allocation disputes during this year's record drought. The OSU report also estimated the total economic damages from this year's Klamath Basin drought and the consequent water cutbacks, some mandated by the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and Tribal rights obligations of the federal government, and concluded that only about 2,000 jobs were affected (about 3.5 percent of Upper Klamath Basin total employment), and about $71 million in total farm income was actually lost, a figure that is less than one-third of claims by the agricultural community. Klamath Irrigation Project water deliveries this year were actually in excess of 245,000 acre-feet, or about 57% of the 30-year average. However, the OSU damages figure still exceeds estimates published in an earlier report by the natural resource economics firm ECONorthwest, which pointed out that a long history of worldwide agricultural market commodities declines and wasteful water practices within the Upper Klamath Basin have also lead to most farms in Klamath County being only marginally profitable, with a total farm income now averaging only $35/acre (see Sublegals 4:19/06). The two reports have yet to be reconciled, and use very different methodologies. (Also see Sublegals 4:24/07; 4:15/07; 4:14/04; 410/06; 4:09/04; 4:08/05; 4:07/02; 4:04/11; 4:03/05; 4:02/01; 4:01/01; 3:26/05; 3:25/05; 3:24/01; 3:20/01; 3:17/02; 3:15/07; 3:14/01; 3:13/02). The 20 December Oregonian carried an extensive story on the report, available online at: http://www.oregonlive.com/printer/printer.ssf?/ xml/story.ssf/html_standard.xsl?/base/news/100885296326534220.xml or by a search in their archives from: http://www.oregonlive.com. The 301 page OSU report is at: http://eesc.orst.edu/klamath. Public comments on the OSU report will be taken as part of a draft review process until 25 January 2002, with the final report anticipated to be released 25 March 2002. By way of comparison, the ECONorthwest report is at: http://www.salmonandeconomy.org/pdf/KlamathWater.pdf. 4:25/06. NEW CALIFORNIA DEEPWATER PORTS PROPOSED: Stand alone legislation, or perhaps a floor amendment to Representative Ken Calvert's (R-CA) CALFED bill, H.R. 1985 (see Sublegals 4:12/08) is expected to be introduced by a bi-partisan coalition of California House members (reported to be Republicans John Doolittle, Wally Herger and George Radanovich, and Democrats Gary Condit and Calvin Dooley) to provide the authorization and appropriations for the study and preliminary work toward creating inland deepwater ports at Shasta and Friant dams as well as necessary dredging below and above the dams. A spokesman for one of the Congressional offices, speaking off the record, said new transportation modes were desperately needed both to serve commute traffic with ferries to far-off suburbs as well as remove some large trucking from the highways by shipping more of California's agricultural products from the Central Valley by tug and barge. "Lewiston, Idaho has been our inspiration for all of this and, who knows, it could even allow us to build more dams, just like those on the Snake," said the spokesman. "Let's see those FRINGE environmental and fishing groups stop that." PCFFA Executive Director, Zeke Grader, said that given CALFED's intent to destroy the San Francisco Bay estuary with more freshwater diversions, his group might not object if the estuary were relocated to the eastern part of the Delta and eel grass beds and oyster reefs were established and a Dungeness crab hatchery built. To see the Calvert CALFED bill, H.R. 1985, go to: http://thomas.loc.gov. 4:25/07. SALMON FOOD COLORING AND DRUGS: WorldCatch News Network reported on 6 December that the demand for the carotenoid astaxanthin, a food coloring used in salmon farming, is uncertain as the salmon industry undergoes a serious downturn. The problems of the fish faming industry are having a direct effect on the astaxanthin market, since the aquaculture feed industry is by far the largest market for the carotenoid. Astaxanthin is primarily used to give farm-bred salmon a 'natural' pink color, but as farmers come under cost of production pressures, they may choose to greatly reduce use of the carotenoid. Leo Hepner of UK-based L. Hepner & Associates says that "Astaxanthin represents a significant portion of fish feed costs, so unless a customer insists on having it, it is the first to go." The poor health of the fish market stems from a host of factors. There is an oversupply of farmed salmon that has pushed salmon prices to an industry low. The rising cost of raw ingredients for the feed is adding to farmers' pain. Further, a viral disease plagues the fish farming industry. WorldCatch also reported 10 December that the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has issued Import Alert #16-124, which calls for "Detention without physical examination of aquaculture seafood products due to unapproved drugs." "There has been an extensive commercialization and an increased consumption rate of aquaculture seafood products," the Alert read. "As this industry grows, the use of unapproved new animal drugs and the misuse of approved new animal drugs in seafood raised through aquaculture also grows. [This] will have an impact on the safety of aquaculture products for consumers," the Alert warned. Similarly, on 10 August, the FDA proposed a regulation in the Federal Register to establish drug residue tolerances (import tolerances) for imported food products of animal origin for drugs that are used in other countries, but that are unapproved new animal drugs in the United States. For more information go to: www.worldcatch.com, also see: www.fda.gov. 4:25/08. UNITED NATIONS RELEASES REPORT ON AQUACULTURE: A United Nations' Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO) report entitled "Aquaculture in the Third Millennium," released 10 December by the FAO headquarters in Rome, concludes that aquaculture's contribution towards global fisheries landings continues to grow, dominating all other animal food producing sectors. The percentage of seafood caught in wild fisheries is decreasing, and fish farming is the source of an increasing percentage of seafood in the United States and worldwide. The value of U.S. aquaculture production has grown by five to ten percent each year over the past decade, and aquaculture is regarded as the fastest growing segment of U.S. agriculture, according to a 1997 report by Environmental Defense on the environmental consequences of aquaculture, "Murky Waters: Environmental Effects of Aquaculture in the United States." http://www.ed.org/pubs/Reports/Aquaculture/. The FAO report, "Aquaculture in the Third Millennium," is the result of the Conference on Aquaculture held last February in Bangkok, Thailand, and organized by the FAO, the Network of Aquaculture Centre in Asia-Pacific (NACA), and the Government of Thailand. The report represents a comprehensive review of the status of aquaculture development in the world and is positive about fish farming despite many objections that fish escaping from net pens contaminate the wild fish gene pool, and that fish waste contaminates the ocean floor beneath the pens with chemicals fed to keep the fish healthy. 4:25/09. TILIPIA FROM NORWEGIAN FISH FARM THREATEN NICARAGUAN LAKE ECOSYSTEM: The Norwegian company NICANOR, together with Nicaraguan Patrick Bolaflos (a member of the current Nicaraguan President's family) are preparing to establish a Tilapia mass rearing aquaculture operation in Granada Lake, the main lake of Nicaragua, that threatens native species. Although tilipia is considered one of the "cleaner" forms of aquaculture, it, too, has problems. To date, three species of tilapia have been introduced into Nicaraguan waters, all of which have become established, but have been economic failures and are causing major damage to the ecosystem and harm to the local fishing economy. The tilapia are: 1) displacing natives species and may soon lead to the extinction of several native fish species; 2) they have already completely eliminated aquatic plants from one ecosystem and may do so in several others; 3) have resulted in a net loss of biomass both in the lakes where they were introduced and in the commercial fishery; 4) have been responsible for the introduction of eye flukes disease in one ecosystem which have spread to native species and are transmissible to humans; 5) their eating quality is inferior to native species which they threaten; 6) potential economic benefits of tilapia aquaculture are greatly exaggerated given the complete economic failure of tilapia ventures in Nicaragua to date. It is being recommended that all tilapia culture in Nicaragua be confined to closed ponds with no possibility of escapes and that cage culture in open water be confined to native species only. Recommended also is that importation of live tilapia eggs, fry or adults of any species should be strictly prohibited as should the introduction of any tilapia into lakes or rivers in the country, including those where tilapia have already become established. This is because different varieties or breeds of tilapia may accelerate and worsen damage as they did in Lake Apoyo. For more information on the NICANOR tilipia project and what fishing groups can do to stop it, contact Jean-Michel Maes at: jmmaes@ibw.com.ni. 4:25/10. FISH FARM MORATORIUM DEBATE BEFORE SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT: On 12 December, the Scottish Parliamentary Committee held a hearing where they heard conflicting testimony on a proposed moratorium on fish farms in Scottish waters. According to a 14 December, WorldCatch News Network report, Dick Shelton, an expert in wild fish and shellfish, told the Environment Committee he backed a freeze on the growth of the industry, as he saw the environmental effects of its unchecked expansion, particularly the spread of sea lice from caged salmon to wild salmon and sea trout, as "the biggest single threat to wild salmon fishing in the North of Scotland." He said Scottish fisheries should play to their strengths and focus on their domestic markets, rather than pursuing the "world salmon prize." Two aquaculture scientists, however, told the committee that a moratorium would hurt the fish farming industry. To see the complete article, go to: www.worldcatch.com. 4:24/11. TURTLES: Measures aimed at protecting endangered sea turtles have had major impacts on fisheries along the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf Coasts and in the Pacific. Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs) have been mandated for use on shrimp trawls in the Southeast. Along the coast of California, and in Hawaii and the western Pacific in the swordfish fisheries (both longline and driftnet), and the longline tuna fishery have suffered extensive closures in order to avoid any bycatch of sea turtles. Four of seven sea turtle species are considered in danger of extinction worldwide. Here is some of what has been happening: On 14 December, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) announced in the Federal Register (Vol. 66, No. 241, p.64793) it is extending the public comment period for receipt of comments on the proposed rule to amend the regulations protecting sea turtles to enhance their effectiveness in reducing sea turtle mortality resulting from shrimp trawling in the Atlantic and Gulf Areas of the southeastern United States, originally published in the Federal Register on 2 October. Written comments should be received by NMFS on or before 15 February 2002. Comments should be addressed to the Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office of Protected Resources, NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910. For information regarding the proposed rule, contact either: Robert Hoffman at: Robert.Hoffman@noaa.gov, or Therese A. Conant at: Therese.Conant@noaa.gov. Also on 14 December, an emergency rule requiring shrimp trawlers operating in Atlantic waters from the shoreline out to 10 nautical miles between Melboune, Florida and the Florida/Georgia border to use TEDs with escape openings modified to exclude leatherback turtles was issued by the NMFS and will remain in effect until 13 January, according to a 19 December WorldCatch News Network report. The rule was put in place after reports came out in November of a high number of strandings of endangered leatherbacks along northeast Florida beaches. Leatherbacks are the world's largest species of sea turtle. Adults weigh between 600 and 1300 pounds and have carapaces (shells) five to six feet long. They are also the world's most wide-ranging sea turtle species, often migrating from the tropics to sub-Arctic waters to feed. The hard TED and Parker soft TED specifications are posted on NMFS' Southeast Regional website: http://caldera.sero.nmfs.gov/fishery/pannounc.gen/protann.99/newb999. htm. To see the complete WorldCatch article, go to: www.worldcatch.com. On 10 December, NMFS published notice in the Federal Register (Vol. 66, No. 237, pp 63630-63632) that it was extending an emergency interim rule, now in effect, applicable to vessels registered for use under a Hawaii longline limited access permit (Hawaii longline vessels) and allows the use of basket-style longline gear as an alternative method for deep-set tuna longline fishing. This emergency interim rule: prohibits the targeting of swordfish north of the equator by Hawaii longline vessels; prohibits longline fishing by Hawaii longline vessels in waters south of the Hawaiian Islands (from 15 deg. N. lat. to the equator, and from 145 deg. W. long. to 180 deg. long.) during the months of April and May; allows re-registration of vessels to Hawaii longline limited access permits only in October; imposes additional sea turtle handling and resuscitation measures; and requires all Hawaii longline vessel operators to attend an annual protected species workshop. This emergency interim rule implements an order issued by the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii in March to reduce the number of sea turtles believed injured and killed incidental to longline fishing. Other parts of this emergency interim rule implement the terms and conditions contained in an amended November 2000 Biological Opinion (BiOp) issued by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) on the impacts of the Hawaii longline fleet on the endangered short-tailed albatross. In October, USFWS amended its BiOp on the short-tailed albatross allowing longline vessels to use basket-style longline gear as an alternative method for deep-set tuna longline fishing. The rule extends until 8 June 2002. Copies of the environmental assessment and regulatory impact review prepared for this emergency interim rule may be obtained from Dr. Charles Karnella, Administrator, Pacific Islands Area Office (PIAO), NMFS, 1601 Kapiolani Blvd., Suite 1110, Honolulu, HI, 96814-4700, or telephone: (808) 973-2937. In addition to the restrictions being placed on U.S. fishermen by their government, the government of Vietnam is being asked to develop a turtle-protection program. WorldCatch reported 14 December scientists are urging that nation to develop action plan for the protection of sea turtles. Participants in a 12 December round-table conference on the issue, sponsored by Vietnam's Ministry of Fisheries, agreed that the creation of more reserves for turtles and the zoning of breeding areas are a must. The representative from the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) said Vietnam should conduct research on the current state of turtles and promote closer links between relevant bodies and communities in protecting them. Participants at this first-ever conference were also told the operation of the Department for Seafood Resource Protection under the Ministry of Fisheries is currently ineffective due to insufficient staff and funding. Vietnam is home to five species of sea turtles, which live along the coastline stretching from Quang Ninh to Kien Giang province. The country has two reserves for turtles in the Con Dao National Park in southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau province, and in the Nui Chua Natural Reserve in central Ninh Thuan province. To see the complete article, go to: www.worldcatch.com. Finally, the Turtle Island Rescue Network's (TIRN) Sea Turtle Restoration Project is advertising for a Marine Species Campaigner to "implement grassroots and media campaigns regarding threatened marine species and fisheries, with an emphasis on sea turtles and marine mammals. This position involves the development and implementation of campaign strategies that involve the public in influencing policy. The qualified candidate must have the skills to research thoroughly the effects of fisheries, communicate those findings to the public effectively, and become directly involved in campaign work to reform fisheries." TIRN, which has been involved in litigation in the western Pacific restricting fisheries, has been criticized by fishing groups for its unwillingness to consider gear modifications and other experimentation by the fleet aimed at reducing or eliminating any potential turtle bycatch while still allowing fishing to continue. For more information on the position, go to: www.seaturtles.org. 4:25/12. YUKON RIVER DRAINAGE FISHERIES ASSOCIATION EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR SOUGHT: Formed in 1991, the Yukon River Drainage Fisheries Association (YRDFA), based in Anchorage, Alaska, is seeking an Executive Director. The YRDFA represents U.S. commercial, subsistence and sport salmon fishermen in the 42 communities in the Alaska portion of the Yukon River drainage. Skills desired include five years minimum experience working with diverse constituencies and agencies, public speaking, advocacy and assertiveness in policy arenas, cross-cultural consensus building/mediation, staff management and working with a diverse board. For more information, go to: yrdfa@alaska.com. 4:25/13. INTERNATIONAL FISHERIES AGREEMENT ESTABLISHED: A United Nations (UN) global oceans treaty, which establishes the first-ever framework for dealing with overfishing on the high seas, became effective last week (see Sublegals 4:23/01). The U.S. is among thirty nations to ratify this binding agreement, which sets new, compulsory standards for managing highly migratory and shared fishery resources. The agreement, an offshoot of the 1982 United Nation's Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), establishes guiding principles for nations to undertake the sustainable management of straddling and migratory fish stocks, including requiring them to use "the precautionary approach" and minimizing pollution, waste, discards and by-catch. By ratifying this agreement, partner nations have agreed to be more cautious in managing fisheries when scientific information is uncertain, unreliable or inadequate. The absence of adequate scientific information can no longer be used as a reason for postponing or failing to take conservation and management measures. Partner nations will also cooperate in the collection and exchange of fishery data and give enforcement agents increased authority to board and inspect fishing vessels on the high seas to ensure compliance with conservation measures. A spokesperson for the Canadian Department of Fisheries & Oceans (DFO) said the U.N. Agreement on Straddling & Migratory Fish Stocks (UNFA) originated out of concern by Canada that foreign vessels were having a serious impact on Canadian fish stocks. The dispute between Canada and Spain over Spanish vessels' detrimental effects on Atlantic cod stocks from the west coast of Canada was a particular point of contention. Those cod stocks were so heavily depleted that the entire cod fishery off the Canadian west coast collapsed earlier last decade, putting an estimated 30,000 people out of work. To access or review a copy of the full UNFA agreement, visit the United Nations website at: www.un.org/Depts/los/convention_agreements/ convention_overview_fish_stocks.htm. NEWS, COMMENTS, CORRECTIONS: Submit your news items, comments or any corrections to Allison Vogt, Editor at: ifrfish@pacbell.net or call the IFR/PCFFA office with the news and a source at either: (415) 561-FISH (Southwest Office) or (541) 689-2000 (Northwest Office). ########################################################## To find out more about Fishlink, list information can be viewed and you can subscribe yourself automatically at: http://straylight.primelogic.com/mailman/listinfo/fishlink ########################################################## --part1_d0.1fb9c908.2958cf80_boundary Content-Type: text/html; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ##########################################################
                 ~~>FISHLINK SUBLEGALS 12/21/01<~~
##########################################################
     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. 4, NO. 25                                             21 DECEMBER 2001
##########################################################
DISCLAIMER: As part of our new "Search for the Sacrasm, Find the
Fringe" contest, one article in this week's Sublegals is fictitious, a
creation of the Sublegals staff to bring some levity to the usually grave
fisheries news we must report to our readers.  The challenge to our
readers is to locate the decoy article and submit your guess to
av_ifr@pacbell.net for a chance to be this week's winner.  The
fabricated article will never be one featured in the table of contents and
will always contain the word "fringe" in the body of the article.
Congratulations to Michael Evanson of the Mattole Salmon Group who
correctly identified last week's fringe article, "Seizure of Shrimp Assets
Has Ripple Effect Impacting Seafood Distribution Sector: (Sublegals
4:24/13).
##########################################################
IN THIS ISSUE.......

NO SENATE FARM BILL THIS YEAR.  4:25/01.  

BOXER INTRODUCES SALMON RESTORATION
FUNDING BILL FOR WEST COAST. 4:25/04  

TILIPIA FROM NORWEGIAN FISH FARM THREATEN
NICARAGUAN  LAKE. 4:24/09.

ALL THE NEWS ON SEA TURTLES. 4:25/11.  

U.N. AGREEMENT ON STRADDLING & MIGRATORY FISH
STOCKS RATIFIED. 4:25/13.  

AND MORE...
########################################################
4:25/01. NO ACTION ON FARM BILL BEFORE
CONGRESSIONAL RECESS:  The U.S. Congress went out for its
winter recess on 21 December with no action on the Senate version of
the Farm Bill, S.1731, which was pulled off the Senate floor just the day
before.  In its current form, Republicans oppose the bill, principally over
the issue of agricultural subsidies.  It is expected to be taken up again
when Congress reconvenes on 19 January.  The House earlier passed its
version of the farm bill, H.R. 2646. The legislation is to replace a 1996
Act that will expire in September 2002.  Tied up in it is relief for
Klamath Basin farmers (see 4:24/03). Although an agricultural bill,
S.1731 has had a number of amendments proposed to it that would
affect the nation's fisheries. Those amendments include:

* An amendment proposed by Senator Michael Crapo (R-ID) to delete a
provision in the bill allowing the government under the Conservation
Reserve Program to acquire water rights from farmers for conservation
purposes.  An amendment requiring authorization by the governor of the
state where such a transfer was to occur had earlier been added to the
bill.  The National Farm Bureau opposes the conservation language and
is lobbying for the Crapo amendment.  

* An amendment (SA 2513) proposed by Senator Christopher Bond
(R-MO) would have given the President broad authority to waive
environmental laws, including those necessary for the protection of fish
stocks and, consequently, fishing jobs. The Bond amendment would
have directed the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to review all
proposed agency actions to see whether a proposed agency action, such
as protecting listed species, would have a significant adverse economic
impact on farmers or jeopardize the safety of farmers, as well as give the
President the power to override virtually any federal law. It failed by a
vote of 54-43.

* An amendment (SA 2514) by Senator Gordon Smith (R-OR)
containing "takings" language is still pending; it would compensate
farmers with disaster relief funds by broadening "disaster" to include
any financial impacts of complying with federal laws such as the
Endangered Species Act (ESA).  The rider would take money from
farmers who desperately need compensation from crop loss due to true
natural disasters.   The takings compensation's high cost would weaken
enforcement of environmental laws, including those to conserve fish
resources.

* An amendment (SA 2471) by Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) would
transfer authority for organic fish standards to the U.S. Department of
Commerce (DOC) and direct the agency, which contains the National
Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), to establish regulations for organic
certification of fish. The Stevens amendment is in response to the
USDA's National Organics Standards Board (NOSB) action in October
denying organic certification for wild fish, but allowing aquaculture
products to be certified as organic (see Sublegals, 4:16/08; 4:14/06;
4:14/07).

Stevens is pushing his language at the behest of Alaskan and other
U.S. fishermen concerned with USDA's current double standard on
organic labeling, i.e., honey from wild bees and free range beef can be
labeled as organic, but wild fish are ineligible.  PCFFA has suggested
USDA either make its labeling requirements consistent or allow for an
"organic equivalent" type of label that could be used by any aquatic
products - wild, cultured or farmed. The Alaskan Senator has indicated
that he will not bring up his amendment for a floor vote in the Senate if
the bill managers insert statutory language in the final bill concerning
the establishment by the Secretary of Agriculture of organic standards
for wild caught fish. The Senate bill also contains a requirement for
"country of origin" labeling of farm and fish products, but that language
is not as comprehensive as that inserted by Senator Frank Murkowski
(R-AK) in the Trade Adjustment Assistance Act (see Sublegals,
4:24/01) that will be taken up next year.

4:25/02 HOUSE ACTS ON ONE FISHERY BILL;
MAGNUSON-STEVENS ACT DEBATE WAITS UNTIL NEXT
YEAR: On 11 December, the U.S. House of Representatives passed
H.R. 1989, the Fisheries Conservation Act, which extends funding for
six of the nation's fishery laws.  The measure, by Congressman Wayne
Gilchrest (R-MD), authorizes $14.88 million in 2002 and will provide
up to $16.395 million through the 2003-2006 period in gradual steps.
The bill extends authority or appropriations for: the Anadromous Fish
Conservation Act; the Atlantic Striped Bass Conservation Act; the
Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative Management Act; the Atlantic
Tunas Convention Act; the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Convention
Act; and the Interjurisdictional Fisheries Act of 1986.  For more
information, contact Representative Gilchrest's office at
www.house.gov/gilchrest or see: http://thomas.loc.gov.

Action, meanwhile, on reauthorizing the nation's major fisheries
statute, the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation & Management
Act, 16 USC 1801, et seq., will not be taken up until after Congress
reconvenes next year.  Most of the focus is expected to be on
Congressman Sam Farr's (D-CA) Fisheries Recovery Act, H.R. 2570,
that strengthens existing language on the prevention of overfishing,
reducing bycatch and protecting habitat.  It also would redirect
Saltonstall-Kennedy Act (S-K) funds to assist fishermen to modify or
develop more selective fishing gear and gear that does not harm fish
habitat.  For more information, contact Representative Farr's office at:
samfarr@mail.house.gov.

4:25/03. KLAMATH AID PACKAGE FIZZLES AS FARM BILL
DERAILED BY RIDERS:  The carefully crafted funding compromise
(see Sublegals 4:24/06), that would have directed $175 million in
restoration funds to the Klamath Basin over the next five years, is now
included in the Manager's Amendment to the Senate version of the
federal Farm Bill, S.1731.  The bill itself, however, was tabled by
inability to get the required 60 votes for "cloture" to end debate and to
overcome a filibuster threat (see Sublegals 4:25/01 above).  The
Klamath Water Users' Association objected to the language, which
otherwise had broad support, because it failed to contain any guarantees
of water deliveries.  Federal agencies have taken the position that such
guarantees would be illegal and make it impossible to meet other federal
government obligations to fisheries and Tribes in dry years.  The whole
controversy now moves over to next year, with long promised Senate
Environment & Public Works Committee hearings on these issues not
yet scheduled.  For the full bill and amendment language see:
http://thomas.loc.gov.

4:25/04. BOXER INTRODUCES SENATE SALMON FUNDING
BILL:  On 13 December, U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) formally
filed a separate Senate alternative version of the salmon recovery
funding bill by Representative Mike Thompson Bill (D-CA), H.R. 1157,
which passed the House of Representatives on 13 June by a vote of 418
to 6.   The Boxer bill, slightly different from Thompson's bill (now also
in the Senate), is also called the "Pacific Salmon Recovery Act," S.
1825, and would allocate 85 percent of up to $350 million/year for five
years to five west coast states (Alaska, California, Oregon, Washington
and Idaho), with the additional 15 percent divided among many Tribes,
as a federal share of state-based salmon restoration efforts in those
states.  The bill was co-sponsored by Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA),
Ron Wyden (D-OR), Gordon Smith (R-OR), Larry Craig (R-OR) and
Mike Crapo (R-ID). Idaho wants some of the salmon restoration money
to deal with its Snake River salmon issues. Currently Congress is
appropriating these funds on an ad hoc basis (omitting Idaho) and,
though independent statutory authority is technically not required,
putting authority on record with a strong vote in Congress would
institutionalize the federal salmon recovery funding program and give it
an advantage in future budgeting conflicts, likely if current projections
that the U.S. federal budget will slide into deficits over the next few
years are correct.  The bill can be reviewed by bill number search at:
http://thomas.loc.gov.

4:25/05.  FRAGMENTATION, MISMANAGEMENT AND
RACISM BLAMED FOR DEEP SEATED KLAMATH WATER
WARS:  In a new report, "Water Allocation in the Klamath Basin: An
Assessment of Natural Resource, Economic, Social and Institutional
Issues," jointly prepared by scientists from Oregon State University
(OSU) and the University of California, researchers looked at this
summer's water disputes in context, and blamed a long history of
geographic and agency fragmentation, decades of federal and state
agency mismanagement and deep polarization exacerbated by racism
toward the Klamath Tribes (and further inflamed by this year's
sensationalist media coverage) as among the driving causes for Upper
Klamath Basin water allocation disputes during this year's record
drought.  

The OSU report also estimated the total economic damages from this
year's Klamath Basin drought and the consequent water cutbacks, some
mandated by the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and Tribal rights
obligations of the federal government, and concluded that only about
2,000 jobs were affected (about 3.5 percent of Upper Klamath Basin
total employment), and about $71 million in total farm income was
actually lost, a figure that is less than one-third of claims by the
agricultural community. Klamath Irrigation Project water deliveries this
year were actually in excess of 245,000 acre-feet, or about 57% of the
30-year average. However, the OSU damages figure still exceeds
estimates published in an earlier report by the natural resource
economics firm ECONorthwest, which pointed out that a long history of
worldwide agricultural market commodities declines and wasteful water
practices within the Upper Klamath Basin have also lead to most farms
in Klamath County being only marginally profitable, with a total farm
income now averaging only $35/acre (see Sublegals 4:19/06).  The two
reports have yet to be reconciled, and use very different methodologies.  
(Also see Sublegals 4:24/07; 4:15/07; 4:14/04; 410/06; 4:09/04; 4:08/05;
4:07/02; 4:04/11; 4:03/05; 4:02/01; 4:01/01; 3:26/05; 3:25/05; 3:24/01;
3:20/01; 3:17/02; 3:15/07; 3:14/01; 3:13/02).

The 20 December Oregonian carried an extensive story on the report,
available online at: http://www.oregonlive.com/printer/printer.ssf?/
xml/story.ssf/html_standard.xsl?/base/news/100885296326534220.xml
or by a search in their archives from: http://www.oregonlive.com. The
301 page OSU report is at: http://eesc.orst.edu/klamath. Public
comments on the OSU report will be taken as part of a draft review
process until 25 January 2002, with the final report anticipated to be
released 25 March 2002.  By way of comparison, the ECONorthwest
report is at: http://www.salmonandeconomy.org/pdf/KlamathWater.pdf.

4:25/06.  NEW CALIFORNIA DEEPWATER PORTS PROPOSED:
Stand alone legislation, or perhaps a floor amendment to Representative
Ken Calvert's (R-CA) CALFED bill, H.R. 1985 (see Sublegals 4:12/08)
is expected to be introduced by a bi-partisan coalition of California
House members (reported to be Republicans John Doolittle, Wally
Herger and George Radanovich, and Democrats Gary Condit and Calvin
Dooley) to provide the authorization and appropriations for the study
and preliminary work toward creating inland deepwater ports at Shasta
and Friant dams as well as necessary dredging below and above the
dams.  A spokesman for one of the Congressional offices, speaking off
the record, said new transportation modes were desperately needed both
to serve commute traffic with ferries to far-off suburbs as well as
remove some large trucking from the highways by shipping more of
California's agricultural products from the Central Valley by tug and
barge.  "Lewiston, Idaho has been our inspiration for all of this and, who
knows, it could even allow us to build more dams, just like those on the
Snake," said the spokesman.  "Let's see those FRINGE environmental
and fishing groups stop that."  PCFFA Executive Director, Zeke Grader,
said that given CALFED's intent to destroy the San Francisco Bay
estuary with more freshwater diversions, his group might not object if
the estuary were relocated to the eastern part of the Delta and eel grass
beds and oyster reefs were established and a Dungeness crab hatchery
built. To see the Calvert CALFED bill, H.R. 1985, go to:
http://thomas.loc.gov.

4:25/07.  SALMON FOOD COLORING AND DRUGS: WorldCatch
News Network reported on 6 December that the demand for the
carotenoid astaxanthin, a food coloring used in salmon farming, is
uncertain as the salmon industry undergoes a serious downturn. The
problems of the fish faming industry are having a direct effect on the
astaxanthin market, since the aquaculture feed industry is by far the
largest market for the carotenoid. Astaxanthin is primarily used to give
farm-bred salmon a 'natural' pink color, but as farmers come under cost
of production pressures, they may choose to greatly reduce use of the
carotenoid. Leo Hepner of UK-based L. Hepner & Associates says that
"Astaxanthin represents a significant portion of fish feed costs, so unless
a customer insists on having it, it is the first to go."  The poor health of
the fish market stems from a host of factors. There is an oversupply of
farmed salmon that has pushed salmon prices to an industry low. The
rising cost of raw ingredients for the feed is adding to farmers' pain.
Further, a viral disease plagues the fish farming industry.

WorldCatch also reported 10 December that the U.S. Food & Drug
Administration (FDA) has issued Import Alert #16-124, which calls for
"Detention without physical examination of aquaculture seafood
products due to unapproved drugs." "There has been an extensive
commercialization and an increased consumption rate of aquaculture
seafood products," the Alert read. "As this industry grows, the use of
unapproved new animal drugs and the misuse of approved new animal
drugs in seafood raised through aquaculture also grows. [This] will have
an impact on the safety of aquaculture products for consumers," the
Alert warned. Similarly, on 10 August, the FDA proposed a regulation
in the Federal Register to establish drug residue tolerances (import
tolerances) for imported food products of animal origin for drugs that
are used in other countries, but that are unapproved new animal drugs in
the United States. For more information go to: www.worldcatch.com,
also see: www.fda.gov.

4:25/08. UNITED NATIONS RELEASES REPORT ON
AQUACULTURE: A United Nations' Food & Agriculture Organization
(FAO) report entitled "Aquaculture in the Third Millennium," released
10 December by the FAO headquarters in Rome, concludes that
aquaculture's contribution towards global fisheries landings continues to
grow, dominating all other animal food producing sectors.  The
percentage of seafood caught in wild fisheries is decreasing, and fish
farming is the source of an increasing percentage of seafood in the
United States and worldwide. The value of U.S. aquaculture production
has grown by five to ten percent each year over the past decade, and
aquaculture is regarded as the fastest growing segment of U.S.
agriculture, according to a 1997 report by Environmental Defense on the
environmental consequences of aquaculture, "Murky Waters:
Environmental Effects of Aquaculture in the United States."
http://www.ed.org/pubs/Reports/Aquaculture/. The FAO report,
"Aquaculture in the Third Millennium," is the result of the Conference
on Aquaculture held last February in Bangkok, Thailand, and organized
by the FAO, the Network of Aquaculture Centre in Asia-Pacific
(NACA), and the Government of Thailand. The report represents a
comprehensive review of the status of aquaculture development in the
world and is positive about fish farming despite many objections that
fish escaping from net pens contaminate the wild fish gene pool, and
that fish waste contaminates the ocean floor beneath the pens with
chemicals fed to keep the fish healthy.

4:25/09. TILIPIA FROM NORWEGIAN FISH FARM THREATEN
NICARAGUAN LAKE ECOSYSTEM: The Norwegian company
NICANOR, together with Nicaraguan Patrick Bolaflos (a member of the
current Nicaraguan President's family) are preparing to establish a
Tilapia mass rearing aquaculture operation in Granada Lake, the main
lake of Nicaragua, that threatens native species.
Although tilipia is considered one of the "cleaner" forms of aquaculture,
it, too, has problems. To date, three species of tilapia have been
introduced into Nicaraguan waters, all of which have become
established, but have been economic failures and are causing major
damage to the ecosystem and harm to the local fishing economy.

The tilapia are: 1) displacing natives species and may soon lead to
the extinction of several native fish species; 2) they have already
completely eliminated aquatic plants from one ecosystem and may do so
in several others; 3) have resulted in a net loss of biomass both in the
lakes where they were introduced and in the commercial fishery; 4) have
been responsible for the introduction of eye flukes disease in one
ecosystem which have spread to native species and are transmissible to
humans; 5) their eating quality is inferior to native species which they
threaten; 6) potential economic benefits of tilapia aquaculture are greatly
exaggerated given the complete economic failure of tilapia ventures in
Nicaragua to date.  It is being recommended that all tilapia culture in
Nicaragua be confined to closed ponds with no possibility of escapes
and that cage culture in open water be confined to native species only.
Recommended also is that importation of live tilapia eggs, fry or adults
of any species should be strictly prohibited as should the introduction of
any tilapia into lakes or rivers in the country, including those where
tilapia have already become established. This is because different
varieties or breeds of tilapia may accelerate and worsen damage as they
did in Lake Apoyo.  For more information on the NICANOR tilipia
project and what fishing groups can do to stop it, contact Jean-Michel
Maes at: jmmaes@ibw.com.ni.

4:25/10. FISH FARM MORATORIUM DEBATE BEFORE
SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT:  On 12 December, the Scottish
Parliamentary Committee held a hearing where they heard conflicting
testimony on a proposed moratorium on fish farms in Scottish waters.
According to a 14 December, WorldCatch News Network report, Dick
Shelton, an expert in wild fish and shellfish, told the Environment
Committee he backed a freeze on the growth of the industry, as he saw
the environmental effects of its unchecked expansion, particularly the
spread of sea lice from caged salmon to wild salmon and sea trout, as
"the biggest single threat to wild salmon fishing in the North of
Scotland."  He said Scottish fisheries should play to their strengths and
focus on their domestic markets, rather than pursuing the "world salmon
prize."

Two aquaculture scientists, however, told the committee that a
moratorium would hurt the fish farming industry.  To see the complete
article, go to: www.worldcatch.com.

4:24/11. TURTLES: Measures aimed at protecting endangered sea
turtles have had major impacts on fisheries along the U.S. Atlantic and
Gulf Coasts and in the Pacific.  Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs) have
been mandated for use on shrimp trawls in the Southeast.  Along the
coast of California, and in Hawaii and the western Pacific in the
swordfish fisheries (both longline and driftnet), and the longline tuna
fishery have suffered extensive closures in order to avoid any bycatch of
sea turtles.  Four of seven sea turtle species are considered in danger of
extinction worldwide. Here is some of what has been happening:

On 14 December, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)
announced in the Federal Register (Vol. 66, No. 241, p.64793) it is
extending the public comment period for receipt of comments on the
proposed rule to amend the regulations protecting sea turtles to enhance
their effectiveness in reducing sea turtle mortality resulting from shrimp
trawling in the Atlantic and Gulf Areas of the southeastern United
States, originally published in the Federal Register on 2 October.
Written comments should be received by NMFS on or before 15
February 2002. Comments should be addressed to the Chief,
Endangered Species Division, Office of Protected Resources, NMFS,
1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910. For information
regarding the proposed rule, contact either: Robert Hoffman at:
Robert.Hoffman@noaa.gov, or Therese A. Conant at:
Therese.Conant@noaa.gov.

Also on 14 December, an emergency rule requiring shrimp trawlers
operating in Atlantic waters from the shoreline out to 10 nautical miles
between Melboune, Florida and the Florida/Georgia border to use TEDs
with escape openings modified to exclude leatherback turtles was issued
by the NMFS and will remain in effect until 13 January, according to a
19 December WorldCatch News Network report.  The rule was put in
place after reports came out in November of a high number of strandings
of endangered leatherbacks along northeast Florida beaches.
Leatherbacks are the world's largest species of sea turtle. Adults weigh
between 600 and 1300 pounds and have carapaces (shells) five to six
feet long. They are also the world's most wide-ranging sea turtle species,
often migrating from the tropics to sub-Arctic waters to feed. The hard
TED and Parker soft TED specifications are posted on NMFS' Southeast
Regional website:
http://caldera.sero.nmfs.gov/fishery/pannounc.gen/protann.99/newb999.
htm. To see the complete WorldCatch article, go to:
www.worldcatch.com.

On 10 December, NMFS published notice in the Federal Register
(Vol. 66, No. 237, pp 63630-63632) that it was extending an emergency
interim rule, now in effect, applicable to vessels registered for use under
a Hawaii longline limited access permit (Hawaii longline vessels) and
allows the use of basket-style longline gear as an alternative method for
deep-set tuna longline fishing. This emergency interim rule: prohibits
the targeting of swordfish north of the equator by Hawaii longline
vessels; prohibits longline fishing by Hawaii longline vessels in waters
south of the Hawaiian Islands (from 15 deg. N. lat. to the equator, and
from 145 deg. W. long. to 180 deg. long.) during the months of April
and May; allows re-registration of vessels to Hawaii longline limited
access permits only in October; imposes additional sea turtle handling
and resuscitation measures; and requires all Hawaii longline vessel
operators to attend an annual protected species workshop. This
emergency interim rule implements an order issued by the U.S. District
Court for the District of Hawaii in March to reduce the number of sea
turtles believed injured and killed incidental to longline fishing. Other
parts of this emergency interim rule implement the terms and conditions
contained in an amended November 2000 Biological Opinion (BiOp)
issued by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) on the impacts of
the Hawaii longline fleet on the endangered short-tailed albatross. In
October, USFWS amended its BiOp on the short-tailed albatross
allowing longline vessels to use basket-style longline gear as an
alternative method for deep-set tuna longline fishing. The rule extends
until 8 June 2002.  Copies of the environmental assessment and
regulatory impact review prepared for this emergency interim rule may
be obtained from Dr. Charles Karnella, Administrator, Pacific Islands
Area Office (PIAO), NMFS, 1601 Kapiolani Blvd., Suite 1110,
Honolulu, HI, 96814-4700, or telephone: (808) 973-2937.

In addition to the restrictions being placed on U.S. fishermen by their
government, the government of Vietnam is being asked to develop a
turtle-protection program.  WorldCatch reported 14 December scientists
are urging that nation to develop action plan for the protection of sea
turtles.

Participants in a 12 December round-table conference on the issue,
sponsored by Vietnam's Ministry of Fisheries, agreed that the creation of
more reserves for turtles and the zoning of breeding areas are a must.
The representative from the International Union for the Conservation of
Nature (IUCN) said Vietnam should conduct research on the current
state of turtles and promote closer links between relevant bodies and
communities in protecting them. Participants at this first-ever
conference were also told the operation of the Department for Seafood
Resource Protection under the Ministry of Fisheries is currently
ineffective due to insufficient staff and funding. Vietnam is home to five
species of sea turtles, which live along the coastline stretching from
Quang Ninh to Kien Giang province. The country has two reserves for
turtles in the Con Dao National Park in southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau
province, and in the Nui Chua Natural Reserve in central Ninh Thuan
province. To see the complete article, go to: www.worldcatch.com.

Finally, the Turtle Island Rescue Network's (TIRN) Sea Turtle
Restoration Project is advertising for a Marine Species Campaigner to
"implement grassroots and media campaigns regarding threatened
marine species and fisheries, with an emphasis on sea turtles and marine
mammals. This position involves the development and implementation
of campaign strategies that involve the public in influencing policy. The
qualified candidate must have the skills to research thoroughly the
effects of fisheries, communicate those findings to the public
effectively, and become directly involved in campaign work to reform
fisheries."  TIRN, which has been involved in litigation in the western
Pacific restricting fisheries, has been criticized by fishing groups for its
unwillingness to consider gear modifications and other experimentation
by the fleet aimed at reducing or eliminating any potential turtle bycatch
while still allowing fishing to continue.  For more information on the
position, go to: www.seaturtles.org.

4:25/12.  YUKON RIVER DRAINAGE FISHERIES
ASSOCIATION EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR SOUGHT:  Formed in
1991, the Yukon River Drainage Fisheries Association (YRDFA), based
in Anchorage, Alaska, is seeking an Executive Director. The YRDFA
represents U.S. commercial, subsistence and sport salmon fishermen in
the 42 communities in the Alaska portion of the Yukon River drainage.
Skills desired include five years minimum experience working with
diverse constituencies and agencies, public speaking, advocacy and
assertiveness in policy arenas, cross-cultural consensus
building/mediation, staff management and working with a diverse board.
For more information, go to: yrdfa@alaska.com.

4:25/13. INTERNATIONAL FISHERIES AGREEMENT
ESTABLISHED:  A United Nations (UN) global oceans treaty, which
establishes the first-ever framework for dealing with overfishing on the
high seas, became effective last week (see Sublegals 4:23/01).  The U.S.
is among thirty nations to ratify this binding agreement, which sets new,
compulsory standards for managing highly migratory and shared fishery
resources. The agreement, an offshoot of the 1982 United Nation's
Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), establishes guiding
principles for nations to undertake the sustainable management of
straddling and migratory fish stocks, including requiring them to use
"the precautionary approach" and minimizing pollution, waste, discards
and by-catch. By ratifying this agreement, partner nations have agreed to
be more cautious in managing fisheries when scientific information is
uncertain, unreliable or inadequate. The absence of adequate scientific
information can no longer be used as a reason for postponing or failing
to take conservation and management measures.  Partner nations will
also cooperate in the collection and exchange of fishery data and give
enforcement agents increased authority to board and inspect fishing
vessels on the high seas to ensure compliance with conservation
measures.

A spokesperson for the Canadian Department of Fisheries & Oceans
(DFO) said the U.N. Agreement on Straddling & Migratory Fish Stocks
(UNFA) originated out of concern by Canada that foreign vessels were
having a serious impact on Canadian fish stocks. The dispute between
Canada and Spain over Spanish vessels' detrimental effects on Atlantic
cod stocks from the west coast of Canada was a particular point of
contention. Those cod stocks were so heavily depleted that the entire
cod fishery off the Canadian west coast collapsed earlier last decade,
putting an estimated 30,000 people out of work. To access or review a
copy of the full UNFA agreement, visit the United Nations website at:
www.un.org/Depts/los/convention_agreements/
convention_overview_fish_stocks.htm.

NEWS, COMMENTS, CORRECTIONS: Submit your news items,
comments or any corrections to Allison Vogt, Editor at:
ifrfish@pacbell.net or call the IFR/PCFFA office with the news and a
source at either: (415) 561-FISH (Southwest Office) or (541) 689-2000
(Northwest Office).

##########################################################
To find out more about Fishlink, list information can be viewed and you
can subscribe yourself automatically at:

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########################################################## --part1_d0.1fb9c908.2958cf80_boundary-- From FISH1IFR@aol.com Thu Jan 3 02:26:05 2002 Received: from imo-r10.mx.aol.com (imo-r10.mx.aol.com [152.163.225.106]) by straylight.primelogic.com (8.11.6/8.11.1) with ESMTP id g03AQ4j40209 for ; Thu, 3 Jan 2002 02:26:04 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from FISH1IFR@aol.com) Received: from FISH1IFR@aol.com by imo-r10.mx.aol.com (mail_out_v31_r1.9.) id e.40.16f5762f (4396) for ; Thu, 3 Jan 2002 05:20:10 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: <40.16f5762f.29658a5a@aol.com> Date: Thu, 3 Jan 2002 05:20:10 EST To: fishlink@straylight.primelogic.com MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="part1_40.16f5762f.29658a5a_boundary" X-Mailer: AOL 6.0 for Windows US sub 10556 From: fishlink-admin@straylight.primelogic.com Subject: [Fishlink] ~~>FISHLINK SUBLEGALS 12/28/01<~~ Sender: fishlink-admin@straylight.primelogic.com Errors-To: fishlink-admin@straylight.primelogic.com X-BeenThere: fishlink@straylight.primelogic.com X-Mailman-Version: 2.0.6 Precedence: bulk Reply-To: bit-bucket@straylight.primelogic.com X-Reply-To: fishlink@straylight.primelogic.com List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Fishlink is a joint fisheries information news service of Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations (PCFFA) and the Institute for Fisheries Resources (IFR). List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: --part1_40.16f5762f.29658a5a_boundary Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ########################################################## ~~>FISHLINK SUBLEGALS 12/28/01<~~ ########################################################## 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. 4, NO. 26 28 DECEMBER 2001 ########################################################## DISCLAIMER: As part of our new "Search for the Sacrasm, Find the Fringe" contest, one article in this week's Sublegals is fictitious, a creation of the Sublegals staff to bring some levity to the usually grave fisheries news we must report to our readers. The challenge to our readers is to locate the decoy article and submit your guess to av_ifr@pacbell.net for a chance to be this week's winner. The fabricated article will never be one featured in the table of contents and will always contain the word "fringe" in the body of the article. Congratulations to Patricia Clay of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute whose name was drawn from those correcting identifying last week's Fringe article, "New Deepwater Ports Proposed" (4:25/06). ########################################################## IN THIS ISSUE....... SAN FRANCISCO BAY THREATENED BY DEVELOPMENT, DREDGING AND DIVERSIONS. 4:26/01. CORPS OF ENGINEERS PLANS TO DUMP DREDGE SPOILS IN MOUTH OF COLUMBIA IN CRITICAL CRAB FISHERY. 4:26/03 KLAMATH RELIEF GRABBED BY BASIN'S RICHEST GROWERS. 4:26/06. ESA PETITION DISPUTES LISTING OF HATCHERY SALMON. 4:26/08. SACRAMENTO RIVER WINTER-RUN CHINOOK NUMBERS WAY UP. 4:26/10. AND MORE....... ########################################################## 4:26/01. MOST IMPORTANT ESTUARY ON AMERICAN WEST COAST THREATENED BY DEVELOPMENT, DREDGING AND DIVERSIONS SAYS PCFFA: San Francisco Bay, regarded by scientists as the most biologically important estuary on the west coast of North and South America, is threatened by proposals for more diversion of freshwater inflows, sand dredging, new port dredging and dredge spoil disposal, a massive fill to accommodate the expansion of San Francisco International Airport, and the retro-fitting and rebuilding of the Bay Bridge, said Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations (PCFFA) President Pietro Parravano on 28 December. "Our highest priority in the new year has to be the protection of San Francisco Bay, along with other coastal estuaries, if we are to save most of the fish stocks that support our west coast fishing industry. Salmon, Dungeness crab, herring, oysters, halibut, and many species of sole all depend on the Bay and our other coastal estuaries for spawning or nursery habitat or both," declared Parravano. "And no estuary is more threatened than our largest and most important -- San Francisco Bay." Parravano ticked off the threats to San Francisco Bay, which is the gateway between the Sierras and the sea of one of the west coast's largest chinook salmon runs and supports the largest herring fishery south of British Columbia along with being a major nursery area on the west coast for Dungeness crab, to include: * Diversions. More than half of the fresh water that historically flowed into San Francisco Bay is now taken in most years by diversions in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and upstream. New reservoirs and water storage facilities being proposed under CALFED (the state-federal consortium charged with restoring the Bay-Delta ecosystem and providing California a "secure" water supply) will, if built, further and significantly reduce the fresh water available for maintaining an estuary. CALFED has steadfastly refused to consider other sources of water, such as desalinization, that would not wreak havoc on the Bay ecosystem, according to the PCFFA. * Airport Expansion. Present plans for expanding San Francisco International Airport call for 1,000 to 1,400 acres of new fill in the Bay, the biggest fill program proposed since passage of the Petris-McAteer Act in 1965. The massive nature of the fill proposal would directly affect wetland and Bay habitats utilized by fish and also change flow patterns in the Bay. * Dredging and Dumping. Plans are afoot for large scale dredging operations to accommodate the newest classes of larger tankers and container ships. Despite the designation of a deepwater offshore dredge disposal site, much of the material dredged from the Bay is still being dumped in the Bay, where important habitats such as reefs and eelgrass are being impacted by both dredge operations and dumping. Moreover, there are proposals to level (dynamite) many of the rocky reefs in the Bay that provide fish habitat to accommodate merchant shipping. * Sand Dredging. San Francisco Bay is now site of large-scale sand dredging operations to provide aggregate sand and gravel for new development. Much of this dredging is in areas of essential fish habitat designated by the National Marine Fisheries Service. * Bay Bridge Retrofit/Reconstruction. The proposal for a new span for the Bay Bridge to replace the eastern section that was damaged in the 1989 earthquake will, under current plans, destroy a large area of San Francisco Bay's remaining eelgrass habitat. Eelgrass is critical habitat for herring and other fish species. "NMFS [National Marine Fisheries Service] has to begin paying attention. Here we have essential fish habitat [EFH] that is supposed to be protected under the Magnuson-Stevens Act as well as ESA [Endangered Species Act] listed fish that are supposed to be getting protection and nothing is happening," said an exasperated Parravano. "We don't even know the status of eelgrass in the Bay. It may very well qualify in itself for listing as threatened or endangered." San Francisco Bay is also believed to host the greatest number of invasive species of any waterway in the world, in part because of its weakened ecosystem. Parravano is calling for a meeting of the responsible agencies with fishing representatives to develop a plan of action for protecting the San Francisco Bay estuary and the fisheries that depend upon it. For more information, e-mail: ifrfish@pacbell.net. 4:26/02. PCFFA AND IFR BOARD MEETINGS SLATED FOR BODEGA BAY: The Board of Directors of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations (PCFFA) will meet 8-9 January at the University of California's Bodega Marine Laboratory. The meeting will coincide with the scoping hearing at the Lab for the management plan review of the Gulf of the Farallones, Cordell Bank and Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuaries (see Sublegals, 4:21/08). The Institute for Fisheries Resources (IFR) Board of Trustees will also meet at the Bodega Marine Laboratory on Wednesday, the 9th. For more information, e-mail: PCFFAfish@aol.com or IFRfish@pacbell.net. Upcoming meetings of the PCFFA Board have tentatively been scheduled for Eureka in February and Sacramento in March. 4:26/03. CORPS ANNOUNCES PLANS TO DUMP DREDGE SPOILS NEAR MOUTH OF COLUMBIA IN CRAB FISHING GROUNDS: On 21 December, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE) announced plans to designate new ocean dump sites near the mouth of the Columbia River. The sites are primarily intended for disposal of dredged material from annual maintenance of the river's entrance channel. Among the new sites is a 49,000,000 square foot section of the hotly-contested Deep Water Site, previously proposed in conjunction with plans to deepen the Columbia River shipping channel over one hundred miles to Portland. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), responsible for permanent designation of ocean dredged material disposal sites, had included the 14-square-mile Deep Water Site in the channel deepening plan. The site is about six miles from the mouth of the river, directly in the path of the biologically unique Columbia River plume. The 50-year capacity of this site would exceed 250 million cubic yards. (175 million cubic yards were excavated to build the Panama Canal). Crab fishermen and coastal residents have condemned the Deep Water Site as excessively large and detrimental to ocean resources and local economies (see Sublegals, 4:15/01). Both the states of Oregon and Washington have criticized the location and size of the site and the lack of mitigation for the impacts of its use. In the notice COE says it intends to start using a 1.75 square mile (7000 by 7000 feet) section of the Deep Water Site under a so-called "emergency" procedure, thereby circumventing some of the public involvement and environmental protections afforded by the permanent EPA process. EPA will need to concur with the emergency designation. (This action is specified under Section 103 of the Marine Resources, Protection & Sanctuaries Act. COE has previously used this authority, which allows a site to be used for up to 10 years without the more formal EPA action, for other sites near the Columbia River mouth. For more information, contact Peter Huhtala at: huhtala@teleport.com. 4:26/04. CORPS SUED FOR ALLEGED DUMPING OF TOXIC DREDGE SPOILS IN SAN FRANCISCO BAY WETLAND: A lawsuit was filed on 18 December against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE) by San Francisco BayKeeper and Friends of Suisun Marsh, charging that the federal agency unlawfully permitted plans for a toxic sediment disposal facility at the eastern reach of Suisun Marsh. Suisun Marsh is located on the northern end of Suisun Bay in the upper reaches of San Francisco Bay and provides habitat for both waterfowl and fish. The litigation follows the 24 September approval by COE of the Levine-Fricke Restoration Corporation's plans to deposit 17 million cubic yards of dredged Bay sediment, including contaminated mud, on a 2,400-acre parcel of wetlands along the Montezuma Slough. Contaminated wastewater used to slurry the sediments throughout the site would be discharged back to San Francisco Bay without legally required permit controls, according to the suit. The sediments proposed for deposition at the site are known to contain some 65 different toxic contaminants, according to the plaintiffs. Sediment that is too toxic to be allowed for aquatic disposal must be "contained" at the site underneath cleaner sediment. However, erosion from runoff, erosive tidal action and burrowing animals all create risks of re-exposing the buried contaminants. In addition to that risk, millions of gallons of water would be used to slurry the contaminated sediment and pump it through holding cells throughout the site. Approximately one to three million gallons per day of the contaminated slurry water would then be discharged back to the San Francisco Bay estuary. Mobilizing the slurried sediment would also require the daily extraction of two and half to five million gallons of fresh groundwater. For more information, contact Jonathan Kaplan at: jonathan@sfbaykeeper.org. 4:26/05. OREGON KLAMATH WATER QUALITY PLAN OUT FOR COMMENTS: The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has released a draft state plan for improving the water quality of the Upper Klamath Basin's highly polluted lakes and rivers, particularly for cutting back the input of phosphorus by about 40 percent. Water quality in the Upper Klamath Lake is so poor that it ranks as the most polluted water body in Oregon. Large quantities of phosphorus coming primarily from agricultural lands in the area are the major cause of widespread lake alkalinity and destructive algae blooms which are devastating for most aquatic life forms. Water pollution problems caused by elevated phosphorus levels has thus contributed greatly to the decline of lake fish in the Upper Klamath Basin and created serious water quality problems for coho and chinook salmon for many river miles below Iron Gate Dam. It is hoped that increasing the overall water quality in the system could ease restrictions on water levels in the Upper Klamath Basin, which in 2001 had to be held high to ease water quality problems for endangered lake fish. The state DEQ plan, required under the federal Clean Water Act, would establish TMDLs ('total maximum daily loads') of phosphorus in the water at no more than 120 tons/year, down from the current 200 tons/year, but leaves the details on how this might be accomplished to a vague and open ended 'adaptive management' process to come up with measures in the future. Public notice of the plan is available by going to www.deq.state.or.us/wq/TMDLs/TMDLs.htm and scrolling down to "Upper Klamath Lake Sub-basin." A public hearing on the draft TMDL plan will be held in Klamath Falls, Oregon, on 24 January at the Oregon Institute of Technology Student Union, Mt. Shasta Room. Comments must be received by 4 February 2002. 4:26/06. KLAMATH DISASTER RELIEF GRABBED BY THE RICHEST FARMERS?: An economics report commissioned by the Klamath Forest Alliance critically examines the claims of economic hardship in the Upper Klamath Basin attributed to irrigation water cutbacks in summer 2001 caused by record drought and shifting water allocation priorities. The report, "Crisis Profiteering: Inequities and Excesses of the Klamath Project Bailout," concludes that Klamath Irrigation Project farms are now receiving disaster assistance on average considerably in excess of actual farm sales even in past high water years, but that the majority of this disaster assistance is actually going to the wealthiest growers. The report cited examples of Tule Lake Wildlife Refuge lands being leased this year from the Bureau of Reclamation for only $1 per year, then not irrigated, and then leaseholders receiving a per acre "drought bailout" which netted them $60/acre in direct disaster payments, plus refunded all their irrigation district fees, plus gave them an additional $129/acre under the federal government's Section 2014 Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2001 (from the $20 million designated for Klamath Project farmers, Sublegals 4:19/06), and will additionally allow them to share in an additional $900,000 in direct farm aid appropriated by the California Legislature. Much of the farm aid program is being diverted to the wealthiest few farmers by similar means, instead of directed toward those farmers who genuinely suffered economic distress, the report concludes. The report is available at: www.klamathforestalliance.org. Additional relief for family farmers in the Klamath Basin was included in this year's farm bill. The Senate version of that measure, S.1731, however, was tabled before Congress' winter recess (see Sublegals, 4:25/01; 4:25/03; 4:24/06). At the last minute, the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) had stepped in opposing the Senate bill citing its concern about an amendment by Senator Harry Reid (D-NV), that would create a water conservation program intended to help farmers such as those in the Klamath Basin whose use of water competed with tribes, fishermen and wildlife. For more information, go to: http://www.familyfarmer.org/sections/meet.html. 4:26/07. CATFISH LABELING CAUGHT UP IN SENATE FARM BILL DEBATE: Among the provisions of the Senate Farm Bill, S.1731, was language to permanently ban fish imports labeled wholly or in part as catfish (see Sublegals, 4:25/01). WorldCatch News Network reported on 21 December that this amendment was supported by Senators from southern catfish producing states, but faced strong opposition from Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Phil Graham (R-TX). A temporary, one-year ban, signed into law by U.S. President George W. Bush late last month, remains in place (see Sublegals, 4:22/02). The new law, the Agricultural Appropriations Act (H.R. 2330), prohibits the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) from allowing any catfish to be imported into the U.S. market labeled as catfish unless it comes from the North American Ictaluridae family, which is produced largely in the U.S. southeast. For the full WorldCatch article, go to: www.worldcatch.com. 4:26/08. ESA PETITION DISPUTES LISTING OF HATCHERY FISH: A coalition of fisheries and conservation organizations led by Trout Unlimited that includes both PCFFA and IFR filed a detailed biological briefing with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) on 19 December disputing the current NMFS policy of even including hatchery fish in the genetic conservation unit (or "ESU," for "evolutionarily significant unit") which the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) is then used to protect. Currently NMFS sometimes includes them and sometimes does not. The result of this confusing inclusion policy was the recent decision by U.S. Federal Court Judge Michael Hogan in the Alsea Valley Alliance case that threw out ESA protections for the Oregon Coastal Coho ESU, a ruling then appealed by many of these same organizations (but not by NMFS), and then ESA protections were reinstated by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals pending the appeal (Sublegals 4:11/02; 4:13/01; 4:18/02, 4:20/08; 4:24/19). The group's briefing questions whether hatchery fish should be included in an ESU at all except in the rarest of circumstances. Originally intended to be a petition for relisting of the Oregon coastal coho, the timely reinstatement of ESA protections by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals made such a petition unnecessary. The petition was submitted instead as part of the record for the review of its hatchery stock inclusion policy that NMFS is undertaking in lieu of an appeal. For more information see Item 9 in the 21 December issue of the Columbia Basin Bulletin, available from: http://www.cbbulletin.com. Landowner and inland industry groups have sought to apply the Hogan ruling to nearly every ESA listing for salmon and steelhead coastwide, hoping thereby to invalidate all federal protections for these fish so as to relieve themselves of any responsibility for contributing toward their recovery. The first wave of landowner delisting lawsuits based on the Hogan ruling are expected to be filed in mid-January 2002. 4:26/09. WHIRLING DISEASE HITS OREGON'S CLACKAMAS RIVER: The parasite causing whirling disease in salmon and trout has again broken out in Oregon State. This time it's in the Clackamas River, the first outbreak of the parasitic disease since 1987. The probable source, according to agency investigators, is a nearby trout farm on the Clear Creek tributary of the Clackamas. Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife (ODFW), which routinely monitors hatcheries and fish farms for the disease, found the long-lived spores of the parasite at the Clear Creek Rainbow Ranch fish farm. Whirling disease has decimated trout and some salmonid populations in Montana, Idaho and other western states, though many wild populations appear resistant. Hatchery fish, however, are more susceptible due to crowded and stressful conditions and because of genetic inbreeding. The parasite causes spinal deformities that make fish swim in circles until they die of starvation. An article on the problem appears in the 17 December Oregonian available from their archives of that date at: http://www.oregonlive.com. 4:26/10. SACRAMENTO WINTER-RUN CHINOOK NUMBERS UP: While scientists have called into question the efficacy of plans for restoring salmon populations in the Columbia River Basin (see Sublegals, 4:24/05), efforts at restoring the Sacramento River's winter-run chinook, the first Pacific salmon listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), appear to be succeeding. The San Francisco Chronicle, in a 19 December article, confirmed earlier reports in Sublegals of a substantial increase in the number of winter-run returning to spawn in a reach of the Sacramento below Keswick Dam (a flow regulating dam below Shasta reservoir). According to the Chronicle report, the number of winter-run spawners has increased from 800 in 1996 to 11,000 this year, a 14-fold increase in the past five years. Winter-run chinook were first petitioned for ESA listing in 1986 by the American Fisheries Society (AFS) when the number of adult spawners had fallen to 2,000 fish (down from 120,000 in 1969). The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) fought the listing, choosing to go with its "10-point handshake" a voluntary and unenforceable agreement that ultimately did nothing but restrict fishing (AFS made clear in its petition that fishing was not contributing to the run's decline). In 1989, however, when the numbers were down to 400, the California Fish & Game Commission listed the run under California's Endangered Species Act (CESA) and NMFS then had no choice but to follow with a federal listing. In 1991, when numbers fell to 191 fish and the run appeared on the verge of extinction, PCFFA's late President Nat Bingham brought the responsible agencies together with scientists and fishing groups to form the Winter-Run Captive Broodstock Committee and initiated actions to protect the fish in river. Although there have been some restrictions placed on commercial and recreational salmon fisheries, actions responsible for the winter-run turn-around undertaken pursuant to the ESA include: cold water releases from Shasta Dam; installation of effective fish screens at the Glen-Colusa and Anderson-Cottonwood Irrigation Districts; lifting of the gates at the Red Bluff Diversion Dam during migration; controlling toxic mine tailing waste water from the Iron Mountain mine site; and curtailment of state and federal water pumps during migration through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. To see the San Francisco Chronicle article, go to: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/ 2001/12/19/SP122063.DTL. 4:26/11. SCRAMBLE OVER FATE OF TWO UPPER COLUMBIA DAMS: The Oregonian reported on 28 December that the Grant County Public Utility District (PUD) might have to sell its two large hydroelectric dams on the upper Columbia River for a fraction of their current value if it loses its operating license in 2005. The Priest Rapids and the Wanapum Dams are being sought instead by a joint venture between PacifiCorp and the Yakima Nation in a competing licensing application to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) that, if successful, would put the Yakima Tribe in charge of the dams. If the utility cannot renew its 50 year FERC license, a federal law would require Grant PUD to sell the dams, which they value at several billion dollars, at their "net book value" of only about $400 million in original construction costs. The PUD built the dams in the 1950's and 60's. The Yakima Tribe is interested in restructuring and operating the dams to open up fish passage for Columbia River salmon, which has been very poor and for which they are currently poorly designed. The Tribe also created Yakima Power Company in 2000 to supply power to its reservation, but does not yet have a source of cheap hydropower, which the dams would provide. For more information see Item 8 of the 2 November Columbia Basin Bulletin, available from their archives from their home page at: http://www.cbbulletin.com. 4:26/12. FIRST MPA SITE SELECTED FOR "BAJA-TO-BERING" INITIATIVE: A spokesperson for the Canadian Parks & Wilderness Society announced 18 December that the waters around Amchitka Island, located at the tip of the Aleutian chain, has been nominated as the first marine protected area (MPA) site under the Baja-to-Bering initiative, a Canada-US-Mexico cooperative program involving both governmental and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). According to Ecosystem Defenders (ED), a U.S. based environmental organization that is one of the Baja-to-Bering partners, the waters around Amchitka were chosen because of some extremely large fish and other marine animals there, as well as some highly unique species seen nowhere else in the world. The waters around Amchitka are believed to be the spawning grounds for the new species of giant squid that was recently discovered in the Pacific. In the 1950's the U.S. Government used the island as a nuclear bomb testing site. Under the proposal, approximately 25 percent of the Bering Sea would be put into a "no-take" MPA and an equivalent amount of water in the North Pacific to the south of Amchitka would also be made a reserve. The proposal is expected to have the blessing of the Bush Administration after Vice-President Dick Cheney met with leading oil executives who told him oil and gas reserves in the proposed area are marginal at best, with some potential on the FRINGE of the proposed MPA. The petroleum companies prefer to concentrate on developing known reserves off Sakalin Island and in Bristol Bay. The proposal also would not interfere with military acoustic testing (at-sea acoustic testing is already allowed in places such as the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary), nor cruise ship traffic since a "no-take" designation does not prevent disposing of materials. Some Alaskan native groups have raised concerns about the impact on their aboriginal hunting and fishing rights. There was also a large protest from the head of a Russian Far East regional fishery agency in Petropavlovsk, objecting to the inclusion of Russian territorial waters in the proposal, calling it "blatant imperialism.... an initiative based on 'theme-park science' intended solely to raise money for NGOs and give more power to stupid little bureaucrats." For more information on Amchitka Island, see the report in the 17 December San Francisco Chronicle at: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/ 2001/12/17/MN12230.DTL. 4:26/13. SYMPOSIUM ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: "The Role of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Achieving Sustainable Development" is the title of a symposium scheduled for Tuesday, 8 January, at Fort Mason Center (Building A) in San Francisco. The event, which begins at 1200 HRS, features, among others, Victor Menotti, an IFR Associate who has written and spoken extensively on the impacts of WTO rules and globalization on fisheries. For more information, go to: http://www.globalexchange.org. NEWS, COMMENTS, CORRECTIONS: Submit your news items, comments or any corrections to Allison Vogt, Editor at: ifrfish@pacbell.net or call the IFR/PCFFA office with the news and a source at either: (415) 561-FISH (Southwest Office) or (541) 689-2000 (Northwest Office). ########################################################## "Sublegals" are a weekly fisheries news bulletin service of Fishlink. To find out more about Fishlink, list information can be viewed and you can subscribe yourself automatically at: http://straylight.primelogic.com/mailman/listinfo/fishlink If you have any trouble subscribing or unsubscribing, contact PCFFA/IFR directly at: . ########################################################## "Fishlink" is a registered trademark of the Institute for Fisheries Resources. All rights to the use of this trademark are reserved to IFR. This publication, however, may be freely reproduced and circulated without copyright restriction. If you are receiving this as a subscriber, please feel free to pass this on to your colleagues. Subscribers who wish to post or circulate hard copy of Sublegals or have no access to the Internet may receive fax subscriptions by faxing their request, with their fax number to: (415) 561-5464. Thanks! ########################################################## NOTICE In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107 this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving it for research and educational purposes. The Institute for Fisheries Resources, a nonprofit organization, provides the Fishlink News Service free of charge even though it costs the organization considerable time and money to produce it. We would like to continue to provide this service free. You could help by making a tax-deductible contribution (anything you can afford, whether $5.00 or $500.00) to keep this effort going and growing. Please send your tax-deductible contribution to: Institute for Fisheries Resources, PO Box 29370, San Francisco, CA 94129-0370. Please do not send credit card information via E-mail. For further information about making tax-deductible contributions to IFR please phone us at: (541) 689-2000, or fax us at: (541)689-2500. -- Your Dedicated Editors ########################################################## --part1_40.16f5762f.29658a5a_boundary Content-Type: text/html; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ##########################################################
                    ~~>FISHLINK SUBLEGALS 12/28/01<~~
##########################################################
    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. 4, NO. 26                                    28 DECEMBER 2001
##########################################################
DISCLAIMER: As part of our new "Search for the Sacrasm, Find the
Fringe" contest, one article in this week's Sublegals is fictitious, a
creation of the Sublegals staff to bring some levity to the usually grave
fisheries news we must report to our readers.  The challenge to our
readers is to locate the decoy article and submit your guess to
av_ifr@pacbell.net for a chance to be this week's winner.  The
fabricated article will never be one featured in the table of contents and
will always contain the word "fringe" in the body of the article.
Congratulations to Patricia Clay of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute
whose name was drawn from those correcting identifying last week's
Fringe article, "New Deepwater Ports Proposed" (4:25/06).

##########################################################

IN THIS ISSUE.......

SAN FRANCISCO BAY THREATENED BY DEVELOPMENT,
DREDGING AND DIVERSIONS.  4:26/01.  

CORPS OF ENGINEERS PLANS TO DUMP DREDGE SPOILS IN
MOUTH OF COLUMBIA IN CRITICAL CRAB FISHERY.  4:26/03  

KLAMATH RELIEF GRABBED BY BASIN'S RICHEST
GROWERS.  4:26/06.

ESA PETITION DISPUTES LISTING OF HATCHERY
SALMON.  4:26/08.  

SACRAMENTO RIVER WINTER-RUN CHINOOK NUMBERS
WAY UP.  4:26/10.  

AND MORE.......

##########################################################

4:26/01. MOST IMPORTANT ESTUARY ON AMERICAN WEST
COAST THREATENED BY DEVELOPMENT, DREDGING AND
DIVERSIONS SAYS PCFFA: San Francisco Bay, regarded by
scientists as the most biologically important estuary on the west coast of
North and South America, is threatened by proposals for more diversion
of freshwater inflows, sand dredging, new port dredging and dredge
spoil disposal, a massive fill to accommodate the expansion of San
Francisco International Airport, and the retro-fitting and rebuilding of
the Bay Bridge, said Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's
Associations (PCFFA) President Pietro Parravano on 28 December.
"Our highest priority in the new year has to be the protection of San
Francisco Bay, along with other coastal estuaries, if we are to save most
of the fish stocks that support our west coast fishing industry.  Salmon,
Dungeness crab, herring, oysters, halibut, and many species of sole all
depend on the Bay and our other coastal estuaries for spawning or
nursery habitat or both," declared Parravano.  "And no estuary is more
threatened than our largest and most important -- San Francisco Bay."

Parravano ticked off the threats to San Francisco Bay, which is the
gateway between the Sierras and the sea of one of the west coast's
largest chinook salmon runs and supports the largest herring fishery
south of British Columbia along with being a major nursery area on the
west coast for Dungeness crab, to include:

* Diversions. More than half of the fresh water that historically flowed
into San Francisco Bay is now taken in most years by diversions in the
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and upstream.  New reservoirs and water
storage facilities being proposed under CALFED (the state-federal
consortium charged with restoring the Bay-Delta ecosystem and
providing California a "secure" water supply) will, if built, further and
significantly reduce the fresh water available for maintaining an estuary.
CALFED has steadfastly refused to consider other sources of water,
such as desalinization, that would not wreak havoc on the Bay
ecosystem, according to the PCFFA.

* Airport Expansion. Present plans for expanding San Francisco
International Airport call for 1,000 to 1,400 acres of new fill in the Bay,
the biggest fill program proposed since passage of the Petris-McAteer
Act in 1965. The massive nature of the fill proposal would directly
affect wetland and Bay habitats utilized by fish and also change flow
patterns in the Bay.

* Dredging and Dumping. Plans are afoot for large scale dredging
operations to accommodate the newest classes of larger tankers and
container ships.  Despite the designation of a deepwater offshore dredge
disposal site, much of the material dredged from the Bay is still being
dumped in the Bay, where important habitats such as reefs and eelgrass
are being impacted by both dredge operations and dumping.  Moreover,
there are proposals to level (dynamite) many of the rocky reefs in the
Bay that provide fish habitat to accommodate merchant shipping.             

* Sand Dredging. San Francisco Bay is now site of large-scale sand
dredging operations to provide aggregate sand and gravel for new
development.  Much of this dredging is in areas of essential fish habitat
designated by the National Marine Fisheries Service.

* Bay Bridge Retrofit/Reconstruction.  The proposal for a new span for
the Bay Bridge to replace the eastern section that was damaged in the
1989 earthquake will, under current plans, destroy a large area of San
Francisco Bay's remaining eelgrass habitat.  Eelgrass is critical habitat
for herring and other fish species.

"NMFS [National Marine Fisheries Service] has to begin paying
attention.  Here we have essential fish habitat [EFH] that is supposed to
be protected under the Magnuson-Stevens Act as well as ESA
[Endangered Species Act] listed fish that are supposed to be getting
protection and nothing is happening," said an exasperated Parravano.
"We don't even know the status of eelgrass in the Bay.  It may very well
qualify in itself for listing as threatened or endangered."  San Francisco
Bay is also believed to host the greatest number of invasive species of
any waterway in the world, in part because of its weakened ecosystem.
Parravano is calling for a meeting of the responsible agencies with
fishing representatives to develop a plan of action for protecting the San
Francisco Bay estuary and the fisheries that depend upon it.  For more
information, e-mail: ifrfish@pacbell.net.

4:26/02.  PCFFA AND IFR BOARD MEETINGS SLATED FOR
BODEGA BAY: The Board of Directors of the Pacific Coast Federation
of Fishermen's Associations (PCFFA) will meet 8-9 January at the
University of California's Bodega Marine Laboratory.  The meeting will
coincide with the scoping hearing at the Lab for the management plan
review of the Gulf of the Farallones, Cordell Bank and Monterey Bay
National Marine Sanctuaries (see Sublegals, 4:21/08).  The Institute for
Fisheries Resources (IFR) Board of Trustees will also meet at the
Bodega Marine Laboratory on Wednesday, the 9th. For more
information, e-mail: PCFFAfish@aol.com or IFRfish@pacbell.net.
Upcoming meetings of the PCFFA Board have tentatively been
scheduled for Eureka in February and Sacramento in March.

4:26/03. CORPS ANNOUNCES PLANS TO DUMP DREDGE
SPOILS NEAR MOUTH OF COLUMBIA IN CRAB FISHING
GROUNDS:  On 21 December, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
(COE) announced plans to designate new ocean dump sites near the
mouth of the Columbia River.  The sites are primarily intended for
disposal of dredged material from annual maintenance of the river's
entrance channel.  Among the new sites is a 49,000,000 square foot
section of the hotly-contested Deep Water Site, previously proposed in
conjunction with plans to deepen the Columbia River shipping channel
over one hundred miles to Portland.  The U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA), responsible for permanent designation of ocean dredged
material disposal sites, had included the 14-square-mile Deep Water Site
in the channel deepening plan.  The site is about six miles from the
mouth of the river, directly in the path of the biologically unique
Columbia River plume.  The 50-year capacity of this site would exceed
250 million cubic yards. (175 million cubic yards were excavated to
build the Panama Canal).                                                                          

Crab fishermen and coastal residents have condemned the Deep
Water Site as excessively large and detrimental to ocean resources and
local economies (see Sublegals, 4:15/01).  Both the states of Oregon and
Washington have criticized the location and size of the site and the lack
of mitigation for the impacts of its use.  In the notice COE says it
intends to start using a 1.75 square mile (7000 by 7000 feet) section of
the Deep Water Site under a so-called "emergency" procedure, thereby
circumventing some of the public involvement and environmental
protections afforded by the permanent EPA process.  EPA will need to
concur with the emergency designation. (This action is specified under
Section 103 of the Marine Resources, Protection & Sanctuaries Act.
COE has previously used this authority, which allows a site to be used
for up to 10 years without the more formal EPA action, for other sites
near the Columbia River mouth. For more information, contact Peter
Huhtala at: huhtala@teleport.com.

4:26/04. CORPS SUED FOR ALLEGED DUMPING OF TOXIC
DREDGE SPOILS IN SAN FRANCISCO BAY WETLAND:  A lawsuit
was filed on 18 December against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
(COE) by San Francisco BayKeeper and Friends of Suisun Marsh,
charging that the federal agency unlawfully permitted plans for a toxic
sediment disposal facility at the eastern reach of Suisun Marsh.  Suisun
Marsh is located on the northern end of Suisun Bay in the upper reaches
of San Francisco Bay and provides habitat for both waterfowl and fish.
The litigation follows the 24 September approval by COE of the
Levine-Fricke Restoration Corporation's plans to deposit 17 million
cubic yards of dredged Bay sediment, including contaminated mud, on a
2,400-acre parcel of wetlands along the Montezuma Slough.
Contaminated wastewater used to slurry the sediments throughout the
site would be discharged back to San Francisco Bay without legally
required permit controls, according to the suit.

The sediments proposed for deposition at the site are known to
contain some 65 different toxic contaminants, according to the plaintiffs.
Sediment that is too toxic to be allowed for aquatic disposal must be
"contained" at the site underneath cleaner sediment.  However, erosion
from runoff, erosive tidal action and burrowing animals all create risks
of re-exposing the buried contaminants.  In addition to that risk, millions
of gallons of water would be used to slurry the contaminated sediment
and pump it through holding cells throughout the site.  Approximately
one to three million gallons per day of the contaminated slurry water
would then be discharged back to the San Francisco Bay estuary.
Mobilizing the slurried sediment would also require the daily extraction
of two and half to five million gallons of fresh groundwater. For more
information, contact Jonathan Kaplan at: jonathan@sfbaykeeper.org.

4:26/05. OREGON KLAMATH WATER QUALITY PLAN OUT
FOR COMMENTS:  The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality
(DEQ) has released a draft state plan for improving the water quality of
the Upper Klamath Basin's highly polluted lakes and rivers, particularly
for cutting back the input of phosphorus by about 40 percent.  Water
quality in the Upper Klamath Lake is so poor that it ranks as the most
polluted water body in Oregon.  Large quantities of phosphorus coming
primarily from agricultural lands in the area are the major cause of
widespread lake alkalinity and destructive algae blooms which are
devastating for most aquatic life forms.  Water pollution problems
caused by elevated phosphorus levels has thus contributed greatly to the
decline of lake fish in the Upper Klamath Basin and created serious
water quality problems for coho and chinook salmon for many river
miles below Iron Gate Dam.

It is hoped that increasing the overall water quality in the system
could ease restrictions on water levels in the Upper Klamath Basin,
which in 2001 had to be held high to ease water quality problems for
endangered lake fish.  The state DEQ plan, required under the federal
Clean Water Act, would establish TMDLs ('total maximum daily loads')
of phosphorus in the water at no more than 120 tons/year, down from
the current 200 tons/year, but leaves the details on how this might be
accomplished to a vague and open ended 'adaptive management' process
to come up with measures in the future.  Public notice of the plan is
available by going to www.deq.state.or.us/wq/TMDLs/TMDLs.htm and
scrolling down to "Upper Klamath Lake Sub-basin."  A public hearing
on the draft TMDL plan will be held in Klamath Falls, Oregon, on 24
January at the Oregon Institute of Technology Student Union, Mt.
Shasta Room. Comments must be received by 4 February 2002.

4:26/06.  KLAMATH DISASTER RELIEF GRABBED BY THE
RICHEST FARMERS?:  An economics report commissioned by the
Klamath Forest Alliance critically examines the claims of economic
hardship in the Upper Klamath Basin attributed to irrigation water
cutbacks in summer 2001 caused by record drought and shifting water
allocation priorities.  The report, "Crisis Profiteering: Inequities and
Excesses of the Klamath Project Bailout," concludes that Klamath
Irrigation Project farms are now receiving disaster assistance on average
considerably in excess of actual farm sales even in past high water years,
but that the majority of this disaster assistance is actually going to the
wealthiest growers.  The report cited examples of Tule Lake Wildlife
Refuge lands being leased this year from the Bureau of Reclamation for
only $1 per year, then not irrigated, and then leaseholders receiving a
per acre "drought bailout" which netted them $60/acre in direct disaster
payments, plus refunded all their irrigation district fees, plus gave them
an additional $129/acre under the federal government's Section 2014
Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2001 (from the $20 million
designated for Klamath Project farmers, Sublegals 4:19/06), and will
additionally allow them to share in an additional $900,000 in direct farm
aid appropriated by the California Legislature.  Much of the farm aid
program is being diverted to the wealthiest few farmers by similar
means, instead of directed toward those farmers who genuinely suffered
economic distress, the report concludes.  The report is available at:
www.klamathforestalliance.org.

Additional relief for family farmers in the Klamath Basin was
included in this year's farm bill.  The Senate version of that measure,
S.1731, however, was tabled before Congress' winter recess (see
Sublegals, 4:25/01; 4:25/03; 4:24/06).  At the last minute, the American
Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) had stepped in opposing the Senate bill
citing its concern about an amendment by Senator Harry Reid (D-NV),
that would create a water conservation program intended to help farmers
such as those in the Klamath Basin whose use of water competed with
tribes, fishermen and wildlife. For more information, go to:
http://www.familyfarmer.org/sections/meet.html.   

4:26/07. CATFISH LABELING CAUGHT UP IN SENATE FARM
BILL DEBATE: Among the provisions of the Senate Farm Bill, S.1731,
was language to permanently ban fish imports labeled wholly or in part
as catfish (see Sublegals, 4:25/01).  WorldCatch News Network reported
on 21 December that this amendment was supported by Senators from
southern catfish producing states, but faced strong opposition from
Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Phil Graham (R-TX). A temporary,
one-year ban, signed into law by U.S. President George W. Bush late
last month, remains in place (see Sublegals, 4:22/02). The new law, the
Agricultural Appropriations Act (H.R. 2330), prohibits the U.S. Food &
Drug Administration (FDA) from allowing any catfish to be imported
into the U.S. market labeled as catfish unless it comes from the North
American Ictaluridae family, which is produced largely in the U.S.
southeast. For the full WorldCatch article, go to: www.worldcatch.com.

4:26/08.  ESA PETITION DISPUTES LISTING OF HATCHERY
FISH: A coalition of fisheries and conservation organizations led by
Trout Unlimited that includes both PCFFA and IFR filed a detailed
biological briefing with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)
on 19 December disputing the current NMFS policy of even including
hatchery fish in the genetic conservation unit (or "ESU," for
"evolutionarily significant unit") which the federal Endangered Species
Act (ESA) is then used to protect.  Currently NMFS sometimes includes
them and sometimes does not. The result of this confusing inclusion
policy was the recent decision by U.S. Federal Court Judge Michael
Hogan in the Alsea Valley Alliance case that threw out ESA protections
for the Oregon Coastal Coho ESU, a ruling then appealed by many of
these same organizations (but not by NMFS), and then ESA protections
were reinstated by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals pending the
appeal (Sublegals 4:11/02; 4:13/01; 4:18/02, 4:20/08; 4:24/19).  The
group's briefing questions whether hatchery fish should be included in
an ESU at all except in the rarest of circumstances.  Originally intended
to be a petition for relisting of the Oregon coastal coho, the timely
reinstatement of ESA protections by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
made such a petition unnecessary.  The petition was submitted instead as
part of the record for the review of its hatchery stock inclusion policy
that NMFS is undertaking in lieu of an appeal.  For more information
see Item 9 in the 21 December issue of the Columbia Basin Bulletin,
available from: http://www.cbbulletin.com.

Landowner and inland industry groups have sought to apply the
Hogan ruling to nearly every ESA listing for salmon and steelhead
coastwide, hoping thereby to invalidate all federal protections for these
fish so as to relieve themselves of any responsibility for contributing
toward their recovery.  The first wave of landowner delisting lawsuits
based on the Hogan ruling are expected to be filed in mid-January 2002.  

4:26/09.  WHIRLING DISEASE HITS OREGON'S CLACKAMAS
RIVER:  The parasite causing whirling disease in salmon and trout has
again broken out in Oregon State. This time it's in the Clackamas River,
the first outbreak of the parasitic disease since 1987.  The probable
source, according to agency investigators, is a nearby trout farm on the
Clear Creek tributary of the Clackamas.  Oregon Department of Fish &
Wildlife (ODFW), which routinely monitors hatcheries and fish farms
for the disease, found the long-lived spores of the parasite at the Clear
Creek Rainbow Ranch fish farm.  Whirling disease has decimated trout
and some salmonid populations in Montana, Idaho and other western
states, though many wild populations appear resistant.  Hatchery fish,
however, are more susceptible due to crowded and stressful conditions
and because of genetic inbreeding.  The parasite causes spinal
deformities that make fish swim in circles until they die of starvation.
An article on the problem appears in the 17 December Oregonian
available from their archives of that date at: http://www.oregonlive.com.

4:26/10. SACRAMENTO WINTER-RUN CHINOOK NUMBERS
UP:  While scientists have called into question the efficacy of plans for
restoring salmon populations in the Columbia River Basin (see
Sublegals, 4:24/05), efforts at restoring the Sacramento River's
winter-run chinook, the first Pacific salmon listed under the Endangered
Species Act (ESA), appear to be succeeding.  The San Francisco
Chronicle, in a 19 December article, confirmed earlier reports in
Sublegals of a substantial increase in the number of winter-run returning
to spawn in a reach of the Sacramento below Keswick Dam (a flow
regulating dam below Shasta reservoir). According to the Chronicle
report, the number of winter-run spawners has increased from 800 in
1996 to 11,000 this year, a 14-fold increase in the past five years.

Winter-run chinook were first petitioned for ESA listing in 1986 by
the American Fisheries Society (AFS) when the number of adult
spawners had fallen to 2,000 fish (down from 120,000 in 1969). The
National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) fought the listing, choosing
to go with its "10-point handshake" a voluntary and unenforceable
agreement that ultimately did nothing but restrict fishing (AFS made
clear in its petition that fishing was not contributing to the run's decline).
In 1989, however, when the numbers were down to 400, the California
Fish & Game Commission listed the run under California's Endangered
Species Act (CESA) and NMFS then had no choice but to follow with a
federal listing.  In 1991, when numbers fell to 191 fish and the run
appeared on the verge of extinction, PCFFA's late President Nat
Bingham brought the responsible agencies together with scientists and
fishing groups to form the Winter-Run Captive Broodstock Committee
and initiated actions to protect the fish in river.  Although there have
been some restrictions placed on commercial and recreational salmon
fisheries, actions responsible for the winter-run turn-around undertaken
pursuant to the ESA include: cold water releases from Shasta Dam;
installation of effective fish screens at the Glen-Colusa and
Anderson-Cottonwood Irrigation Districts; lifting of the gates at the Red
Bluff Diversion Dam during migration; controlling toxic mine tailing
waste water from the Iron Mountain mine site; and curtailment of state
and federal water pumps during migration through the Sacramento-San
Joaquin Delta. To see the San Francisco Chronicle article, go to:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/
2001/12/19/SP122063.DTL.

4:26/11.  SCRAMBLE OVER FATE OF TWO UPPER COLUMBIA
DAMS:  The Oregonian reported on 28 December that the Grant County
Public Utility District (PUD) might have to sell its two large
hydroelectric dams on the upper Columbia River for a fraction of their
current value if it loses its operating license in 2005.  The Priest Rapids
and the Wanapum Dams are being sought instead by a joint venture
between PacifiCorp and the Yakima Nation in a competing licensing
application to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) that,
if successful, would put the Yakima Tribe in charge of the dams.  If the
utility cannot renew its 50 year FERC license, a federal law would
require Grant PUD to sell the dams, which they value at several billion
dollars, at their "net book value" of only about $400 million in original
construction costs.  The PUD built the dams in the 1950's and 60's.          

The Yakima Tribe is interested in restructuring and operating the
dams to open up fish passage for Columbia River salmon, which has
been very poor and for which they are currently poorly designed. The
Tribe also created Yakima Power Company in 2000 to supply power to
its reservation, but does not yet have a source of cheap hydropower,
which the dams would provide.  For more information see Item 8 of the
2 November Columbia Basin Bulletin, available from their archives
from their home page at: http://www.cbbulletin.com.

4:26/12. FIRST MPA SITE SELECTED FOR "BAJA-TO-BERING"
INITIATIVE: A spokesperson for the Canadian Parks & Wilderness
Society announced 18 December that the waters around Amchitka
Island, located at the tip of the Aleutian chain, has been nominated as
the first marine protected area (MPA) site under the Baja-to-Bering
initiative, a Canada-US-Mexico cooperative program involving both
governmental and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).  According
to Ecosystem Defenders (ED), a U.S. based environmental organization
that is one of the Baja-to-Bering partners, the waters around Amchitka
were chosen because of some extremely large fish and other marine
animals there, as well as some highly unique species seen nowhere else
in the world. The waters around Amchitka are believed to be the
spawning grounds for the new species of giant squid that was recently
discovered in the Pacific.  In the 1950's the U.S. Government used the
island as a nuclear bomb testing site.

Under the proposal, approximately 25 percent of the Bering Sea
would be put into a "no-take" MPA and an equivalent amount of water
in the North Pacific to the south of Amchitka would also be made a
reserve. The proposal is expected to have the blessing of the Bush
Administration after Vice-President Dick Cheney met with leading oil
executives who told him oil and gas reserves in the proposed area are
marginal at best, with some potential on the FRINGE of the proposed
MPA.  The petroleum companies prefer to concentrate on developing
known reserves off Sakalin Island and in Bristol Bay. The proposal also
would not interfere with military acoustic testing (at-sea acoustic testing
is already allowed in places such as the Monterey Bay National Marine
Sanctuary), nor cruise ship traffic since a "no-take" designation does not
prevent disposing of materials.  Some Alaskan native groups have raised
concerns about the impact on their aboriginal hunting and fishing rights.
There was also a large protest from the head of a Russian Far East
regional fishery agency in Petropavlovsk, objecting to the inclusion of
Russian territorial waters in the proposal, calling it "blatant
imperialism.... an initiative based on 'theme-park science' intended
solely to raise money for NGOs and give more power to stupid little
bureaucrats."  For more information on Amchitka Island, see the report
in the 17 December San Francisco Chronicle at:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/
2001/12/17/MN12230.DTL.

4:26/13. SYMPOSIUM ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT:
"The Role of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Achieving
Sustainable Development" is the title of a symposium scheduled for
Tuesday, 8 January, at Fort Mason Center (Building A) in San
Francisco. The event, which begins at 1200 HRS, features, among
others, Victor Menotti, an IFR Associate who has written and spoken
extensively on the impacts of WTO rules and globalization on fisheries.
For more information, go to: http://www.globalexchange.org.

NEWS, COMMENTS, CORRECTIONS: Submit your news items,
comments or any corrections to Allison Vogt, Editor at:
ifrfish@pacbell.net or call the IFR/PCFFA office with the news and a
source at either: (415) 561-FISH (Southwest Office) or (541) 689-2000
(Northwest Office).

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--part1_40.16f5762f.29658a5a_boundary-- From FISH1IFR@aol.com Tue Jan 8 01:09:17 2002 Received: from imo-m03.mx.aol.com (imo-m03.mx.aol.com [64.12.136.6]) by straylight.primelogic.com (8.11.6/8.11.1) with ESMTP id g0899Gj44947 for ; Tue, 8 Jan 2002 01:09:16 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from FISH1IFR@aol.com) Received: from FISH1IFR@aol.com by imo-m03.mx.aol.com (mail_out_v31_r1.9.) id e.198.c393f7 (3974) for ; Tue, 8 Jan 2002 04:03:07 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: <198.c393f7.296c0fcb@aol.com> Date: Tue, 8 Jan 2002 04:03:07 EST To: fishlink@straylight.primelogic.com MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="part1_198.c393f7.296c0fcb_boundary" X-Mailer: AOL 6.0 for Windows US sub 10556 From: fishlink-admin@straylight.primelogic.com Subject: [Fishlink] ~~>FISHLINK SUBLEGALS 1/4/02<~~ Sender: fishlink-admin@straylight.primelogic.com Errors-To: fishlink-admin@straylight.primelogic.com X-BeenThere: fishlink@straylight.primelogic.com X-Mailman-Version: 2.0.6 Precedence: bulk Reply-To: bit-bucket@straylight.primelogic.com X-Reply-To: fishlink@straylight.primelogic.com List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Fishlink is a joint fisheries information news service of Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations (PCFFA) and the Institute for Fisheries Resources (IFR). List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: --part1_198.c393f7.296c0fcb_boundary Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ########################################################## ~~>FISHLINK SUBLEGALS 1/4/02<~~ ########################################################## 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. 5, NO. 01 4 JANUARY 2002 ########################################################## "I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully." ......U.S. President George W. Bush ########################################################## Welcome to the new and improved Sublegals! You will notice below that there is a link to our new archives web site which provides a PDF version (via Adobe Acrobat) of Sublegals, which is much easier to read and print out. We have also pasted the text below for those that still wish to read it through your email. In addition to the new look this is part of our Sublegals Fundraiser to support the Institute for Fisheries Resources and the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations in publishing this weekly newsletter free of charge. We have recently passed our 100th issue, with almost now funding and we are looking forward to building more support so we can continue this important effort. Please go to http://www.sublegals.net and click on DONATE NOW to view our sponsorship levels and thank you gifts. Then click on the date for today's issue. Thank you for your continued support! ########################################################## IN THIS ISSUE....... HIGH CONCENTRATIONS OF MERCURY FOUND AROUND OFFSHORE OIL RIGS. 5:01/01. FDA SAYS PETITION FOR MORATORIUM ON APPROVAL OF GENETICALLY ENGINEERED FISH A HIGH PRIORITY. 5:10/05. KLAMATH SLAPP SUIT DISMISSED. 5:01/06. POSSIBLE LINK BETWEEN GLOBAL WARMING AND DECLINING CODFISH POPULATIONS. 5:01/10. PCFFA CALLS FOR NMFS ACTION TO PROTECT SAN FRANCISCO BAY ESTUARY. 5:01/14. AND MORE....... ########################################################## DISCLAIMER: As part of our new "Search for Sarcasm, Find the Fringe" contest during our fundraiser, one article in this week's Sublegals is fictitious, a creation of the Sublegals staff to bring some levity to the usually grave fisheries news we must report to our readers. The challenge to our readers is to locate the decoy article and submit your guess to av_ifr@pacbell.net for a chance to be this week's winner. Because truth can be "stranger than fiction," the fabricated article will never be one featured in the table of contents and will always contain the word "fringe" in the body of the article. The winner will be selected from among those submitting correct answers. Winners will be enshrined in the "Fellowship of Fringeheads" and receive great prizes. Congratulations to Rick Jerema of Bison Spot Prawns in Egmont, British Columbia whose name was drawn from those correctly identifying last week's Fringe article, "First MPA Site Selected for 'Baja-to-Bering' Initiative" (Sublegals, 4:26/12). ########################################################## 5:01/01. HIGH CONCENTRATIONS OF MERCURY FOUND AROUND OFFSHORE OIL RIGS: It's not the kind of mineral supplement you were looking for in your diet. The Mobile Register reported on 1 January that it has documented offshore oil and gas rigs to be an "unusually dangerous source of mercury pollution in the Gulf of Mexico." The mercury around the rigs, found in the barite used in the drill muds, is in concentrations 12 times higher than that established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as being the safe level in the marine environment, and has contaminated fish in the area. "Mercury concentrations in the sand around some rigs were as high as levels found at some federal Superfund sites now closed to fishing as a result of severe contamination by the toxic metal," according to the article by Ben Raines. It was also learned that the Minerals Management Service (MMS), the U.S. Department of Interior agency charged with overseeing offshore oil and gas leasing and development, has known of the problem for over 20 years, but has never publicly disclosed the fact. MMS has a program to convert oil rigs to offshore fishing reefs, "rigs-to-reefs," thus permitting oil companies to abandon oil platforms at the cessation of their useful life, thereby avoiding removal and clean-up of the seabed. Despite its knowledge of the mercury contamination, MMS has promoted fishing around both active and abandoned rigs, instead of issuing health warnings. During the past year, the Register "sponsored mercury testing of samples of several of the most popular game and restaurant fish in the Gulf, including grouper, amberjack, cobia, redfish and king mackerel. Almost all of the fish tested were found to contain so much mercury that they would not be acceptable for sale to the public under guidelines developed by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA). The Register followed up the fish testing by sponsoring hair tests on some Gulf Coast residents who said they ate fish at least once a week. All but 14 of the 65 tested were found to be over the EPA's safe limit for methylmercury in the human body. Some residents registered 10 to 11 times the safe level of one part per million. Methylmercury, formed when certain organisms ingest mercury, is a potent neurotoxin thought to cause birth defects, neurological impairments and heart problems at the levels discovered in the Register's hair testing. There are some 4,000 oil rigs currently operating in the Gulf of Mexico and MMS is conducting more lease sales that will further increase the number of platforms (see Sublegals, 5:01/02 below). According to the Register report, federal regulators initially considered "zero discharge" regulations for some of the drilling fluids used in the Gulf, before encountering stiff resistance and a lawsuit from the oil industry. The industry argued that it could not afford to haul all used muds to shore. In the end, the EPA didn't enact the zero discharge policy; instead it lowered the allowable mercury levels in drill muds and prohibited their being dumped within 3 miles from shore. The toxicity of drill muds has been one of the long-standing complaints of commercial fishermen in the Santa Barbara Channel and was one of the major reasons for opposition from PCFFA and other fishing groups to new offshore oil and gas drilling along the Pacific Coast. Most of that concern, however, was in regards to diesel oil added to the muds; fishing groups had no knowledge of mercury contamination at the time, nor did MMS disclose the existence of that contaminant. This past year, Chevron and United Anglers promoted a "rigs-to-reefs" measure, SB 1, in the California Legislature, but the bill, opposed by conservation and commercial fishing groups, was vetoed by Governor Gray Davis (see Sublegals, 4:16/01; 4:10/11; 4:07/15; 4:06/15; 4:04/06; 4:03/10; 4:02/16; 3:09/14). To see the Mobile Register article in full, you should go to: http://www.al.com/news/mobileregister/index.ssf?/xml/story.ssf/ html_standard.xsl?/base/news/10097073361583726.xml. 5:01/02. GULF OF MEXICO OFFSHORE OIL LEASES AUCTIONED OFF FOR FIRST TIME IN 13 YEARS: In early December 2001, the U.S. Minerals Management Service (MMS) opened bidding among oil companies for offshore petroleum leases in the Gulf of Mexico. It was the first time a lease sale has been held for offshore tracts in the Gulf in 13 years, according to a 13 December report in Land Letter. MMS has opened 95 tracts in a 1.5 million acre area in the eastern Gulf of Mexico about 100 miles from the Florida, Alabama and Mississippi shorelines. The Bush Administration originally wanted to lease 5.9 million acres, but agreed to reduce the size after protests by environmentalists and businesses who argued that earlier lease proposals would have brought oil development too close to reefs, beaches and tourist areas. Lease 181 Sale brought in 14 companies that made 190 bids totaling $458.9 million. The sales were the first in the region since 1988, but two other auctions are slated to take place in the next five years, the next in 2003. The Florida Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) and other groups are opposing the lease program due to concern over pollution damage to fisheries, reefs and endangered sea turtle populations. Oil facilities on shore would also destroy wetlands that support shrimp production. Wetlands are already being lost at the rate of 35 square miles each year in Louisiana alone. With more than 4,000 oil rigs now dotting the western and central sections of the Gulf, offshore oil development threatens many Gulf fisheries. On the west coast, offshore oil development is subject to a moratorium which has to be renewed annually and which the Bush Administration's Energy Plan calls for lifting (see Sublegals 4:01/17). Since 11 September the Administration and oil development interests have increasingly called for removal of environmental constraints on offshore oil production in the interests of 'national security.' For more information about problems with the offshore oil lease program and oil development in the Gulf of Mexico go to: http://floridapirg.org/FL.asp?id2=2617&id3=FL&id4=FLHP&. 5:01/03. "CANADA FISHERIES WORLD" NOW ONLINE: Fisheries Services Inc. has announced publication of its newsletter called Canada Fisheries World. The newsletter, available online at www.canfishworld.com, is the only fisheries newsletter of its kind in Canada dedicated to the Canadian fish harvesting, aquaculture, processing and marketing sectors. News is compiled from various sources of particular interest to Canada, but also applicable to international readers, geared to business and to governments and others who do business