[Fishlink] ~~>FISHLINK SUBLEGALS 1/11/02<~~
bit-bucket@straylight.primelogic.com
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Mon, 14 Jan 2002 13:38:17 EST
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~~>FISHLINK SUBLEGALS 1/11/02<~~
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A WEEKLY QUOTA OF FISHERY SHORTS CAUGHT AND
LANDED BY THE INSTITUTE FOR FISHERIES RESOURCES=20
AND THE PACIFIC COAST FEDERATION OF FISHERMEN'S
ASSOCIATIONS
VOL. 5, NO. 02 11 JANUARY 2002
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"The key economic indicator of a recession is that government
economists go around announcing that the economy is
improving."...................Dave Barry
**********************************************************
IN THIS ISSUE.......
ADMINISTRATION APPEALS COURT DECISION=20
STOPPING NEW CALIFORNIA OIL DRILLING. 5:02/01.=20
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE SCHEDULES MPA=20
HEARING AND FORUM. 5:02/03.=20
NEW TECHNIQUE FOR STERILIZING BALLAST=20
WATER. 5:02/05.
NAFTA COMMISSION SOUNDS ALARM ON NORTH=20
AMERICAN ECOLOGICAL CRISIS. 5:02/06. =20
AQUACULTURE GOES BIG TIME, JAPANESE=20
WHALE FARM PROPOSED. 5:02/14. =20
AND MORE.......
=20
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NO, OUR NAME ISN'T BEING CHANGED=20
TO FISHERMEN'S LIBERATION FRONT
Sublegals has dropped its spoof "Fringe" article effective this issue.=20
Staff, which was attempting to find out if anyone out there was actually
paying attention (in a fun and light-hearted manner), has concluded from
the sudden upsurge in the volume of our email that the Sublegals are
indeed being read. While some form of contest is being formulated for
future issues (for initiation into the "Fellowship of Fringeheads"), we
decided that planting a spoof article into the middle of Sublegals was not
the way to go. First, we wanted our readers to read, not proofread.=20
Second, a number of readers were not intimately familiar with fishery
issues and could be mislead. Third, and this is the real reason, it's reall=
y
hard to come up with spoof articles that are as outrageous as much of
what we have to report. For fun and the staff's sanity, however, the
Lamprey Harpoon might be resurrected as a vehicle for spoof fishery
articles in the future. So dear readers, look ahead to our next contest
(something to lighten things up) and perhaps an irregular Lamprey
Harpoon. In the meantime, read carefully, think critically, and pledge
some money (for those great mugs, t-shirts and calendars) by going to
www.sublegals.net .... Congratulations and welcome to the "Fellowship
of Fringeheads" to Tom Stokely, whose name was drawn from those
correctly identifying last week's and our final "Fringe" article, "West
Coast's Largest Fishing Organization to Change Its Name: It's Goodbye
PCFFA and Hello FLF," (Sublegals, 5:01/09).
##########################################################
5:02/01. BUSH ADMINISTRATION APPEALS COURT
DECISION STOPPING NEW OIL DRILLING OFF CALIFORNIA
COAST: Within days of the revelations of high concentrations of
mercury around offshore oil rigs, resulting from residue in drill muds
(see Sublegals, 5:01/01), the Administration of U.S. President George
W. Bush has formally appealed a federal court ruling that halted new oil
drilling along the California coast. That court decision upheld the
requirement that state officials must first review and approve any new
exploration plans. According to a 10 January Los Angeles Times article
by reporter Ken Weiss, this legal appeal may be the first real battle in the
new Administration's efforts to open up the west coast to offshore oil
exploration. At question are 36 three-square-mile tracts located three
miles or more off the coast of California's Ventura, Santa Barbara and
San Luis Obispo counties that were leased to oil companies between
1968 and 1984. Although later federal and state moratoria effectively put
California waters off-limits to new oil drilling, those restrictions do not
apply to these older leases.=20
In June of this past year, however, a U.S. District Court judge agreed
with California's contention that federal law gives state officials the righ=
t
to review and approve new oil drilling plans in federal waters to assure
that they conform to the state's environmental regulations.
Administration lawyers filed in the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
after California Governor Gray Davis turned down a proposed
compromise that would have allowed some drilling to go ahead while
bailing out the oil industry by buying back the California leases or giving
the companies substitute leases in the Gulf of Mexico. If the appeal is
successful and the lower court decision is overturned, much of the state
power to block offshore oil development would be gone. The State of
California, along with its commercial fishing and conservation groups,
as well as local governments, had adamantly opposed resumption of
offshore oil exploitation because of its likely negative impacts to
fisheries and coastal ecosystems that the state is spending many millions
of dollars each year trying to restore and protect. The full Los Angeles
Times story is at:
http://www.kliptracker.com/reporter.php?action=3Dhit&campain
=3Dsny001b5.
5:02/02. OIL TANKER GROUNDED IN BRITISH MPA TO BE
TOWED: The Cypriot oil tanker that grounded last week on the rocky
shore of an internationally protected natural area in Plymouth Sound,
England, is still intact and expected to be towed off 11 January. =20
Offloading of the M/V Willy did take place, except for 98 metric tons of
its own fuel and lubricating oils, and though there was some initial
leakage the problem was contained. The accident highlights a flaw in
proposals for marine protected areas (MPAs) that, as currently
envisioned, would not exclude merchant shipping (including oil tankers)
nor stop oil spills. See:
http://ens-news.com/ens/jan2002/2002L-01-09-02.html. =20
=20
5:02/03 CALIFORNIA SCHEDULES LEGISLATIVE MPA
HEARING AND FORUM: The California Legislature's Joint
Committee on Fisheries & Aquaculture will hold a hearing on
implementation of the state's marine protected area (MPA) statute, the
Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA), on Thursday, 17 January, in Room
126 of the State Capitol in Sacramento. The purpose is to review
progress to date on implementation and identify areas where
amendments to the MLPA may be needed. The public hearing will
include representatives from environmental groups, local government,
recreational and commercial fishing organizations, as well as scientists
and the California Department of Fish & Game (CDFG). The hearing
begins at 1000 HRS. For more information contact the Joint Committee
on Fisheries & Aquaculture at (916) 319-3823.
The Pacific Marine Conservation Council (PMCC) is hosting a 3-day
"Fishermen's Forum on MPAs" in Portland, Oregon, 24-26 January.=20
Featured will be speakers from all over the country - fishermen and
scientists - discussing what has worked and not worked regarding the
citing and establishment of marine protected areas. For more
information on the Forum, which will be held at the Embassy Suites,
near Portland International Airport, contact Amy Grodin at:
fishermensforum@pmcc.org.=20
5:02/04. SAN FRANCISCO BAY HERRING FISHERY OFF TO
SLOW START; TOMALES BAY LOOKS PROMISING: The San
Francisco herring fishery got off to a slow start in December with many
of the spawning populations only now beginning to come into the Bay
(see Sublegals, 4:23/11). It is the first herring roe fishery to open each
year along the Pacific Coast and is the largest herring fishery south of
British Columbia. The DH Platoon (December fishery) of gillnetters
landed only 98 tons in their three-week fishery with 1,277 tons left on
the quota. Roe counts for the landed fish averaged 12.41%. This platoon
will be allowed to return and fish following the closure of the January
(Odd and Even) Platoons.
The two other gillnet platoons began their fishery on 2 January
fishing alternate weeks. The Odd Platoon, to date, has landed 822 tons
with 618 tons remaining on the quota. Roe counts on the landed fish
averaged approximately 11.6%. These fish were caught the first week of
January. This platoon will return to fishing the week of 13 January. The
Even Platoon has had low landings so far - approximately 1000 pounds -
with the majority of the 1,411 tons remaining on the quota. The
California Department of Fish & Game (CDFG) reports there are two
large schools of herring in the Bay; however, at this point ripeness is
approximately a week off. =20=
=20
=20
To the north, the Tomales Bay herring fishery is doing quite well.
There were six herring spawns in Tomales Bay during November and
December, which resulted in sufficient escapement to raise the initial
quota of 300 tons up to 400 tons, as provided in the regulations. The
Tomales herring fishery opened 26-29 December. During those four
days, gillnetters landed nearly 180 short tons with a high average roe
count of 15.6%. No fish have been landed since the fishery reopened on
2 January. The Humboldt Bay herring fishery opened on 2 January,
where 18 tons of fish have been landed to date. Roe count is not yet
reported. The Crescent City Harbor herring fishery will open on 14
January. For more information on the fishery, contact CDFG's Herring
Hotline at: (650) 631-6758.=20
5:02/05. NEW TECHNIQUE FOR STERILIZING BALLAST
WATER FOUND: Deoxygenating water kills aquatic life in the Gulf of
Mexico, and in the Klamath River, why not in ship ballast? A new
technique for removing the oxygen from ocean vessel ballast water by
replacing it with nitrogen presents a rare win-win solution for the
shipping industry and the marine environment, says marine ecologist
Mario Tamburri of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
(MBARI), who led the study reported in the January issue of the journal
Biological Conservation. Ballast water from the shipping industry
transports enormous numbers of aquatic organisms from one port to
another. These invasive species have caused major economic and
ecological damage, and are thought to have contributed to 70 percent of
native aquatic species extinctions in the last 100 years. All current
methods of sterilizing ballast water are expensive and some dangerous
for ship's crew. However, because nitrogen does not contribute to
rusting, deoxygenation, previously thought to be too expensive, can be
paid for by its additional anticorrosion benefit. For more information
see:
http://www.mbari.org/news/news_releases/2002/jan07_tamburri.html.
5:02/06. NAFTA COMMISSION SOUNDS ALARM ON NORTH
AMERICAN ECOSYSTEM COLLAPSE; FISH STOCKS
THREATENED: The United States, Canada and Mexico are facing a
looming "biodiversity crisis" in which a large number of terrestrial and
aquatic species and whole ecosystems are in danger of disappearing due
to the combined effects of pollution, habitat loss and other human caused
impacts, according to a recent study by the North American Commission
for Environmental Cooperation, an agency created under the North
American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Their report, "The North
American Mosaic: A State of the Environment Report," underscores the
need for consistent environmental laws between the three countries, and
particularly for the cross-boundary protection of endangered species (see
Sublegals 5:02/07 below). The report also stresses the need for the
elimination of financial "perverse subsidies" that encourage high
consumption, and points particularly to huge subsidies to the fossil fuel
industry and hydroelectric power industry, and to support unsustainable
irrigation practices. The report finds that at least half of North America's
most ecologically diverse regions, and particularly marine and estuary
regions, have now been seriously degraded and that in spite of
environmental protection efforts this downward trend continues. The
study concludes that the loss of North America's biological diversity
could have "profound impacts" on North America's ecosystems and
economies. For more information, see the 9 January issue of
Environmental News Service at:
http://ens-ews.com/ens/jan2002/2002L-01-09-01.html. The report itself
is available on the web at:
http://www.cec.org/soe/index.cfm?varlan=3Denglish.
5:02/07. FISHERMEN AT RISK AS CANADA FAILS TO PASS
ENDANGERED SPECIES LAWS: Canada's fishing industry and its
natural resources remain at risk with the national government's refusal,
to date, to act to pass legislation to prevent the extinction of species.
Although claiming to be "greener" than its southern neighbor, Canada
lags far behind the U.S. in establishing laws fundamental for the
protection of natural resources and those dependent over the long term
on sustainable, renewable resources (e.g, fishing). Lack of any
endangered or threatened species protection means Canada's salmon
resource could be driven to extinction with impunity by onshore impacts
of logging, hydropower and widespread industrial abuse of
salmon-bearing watersheds. That nation's government, however, has had
no problem putting its fishermen out of business while it panders to
timber, oil, mining and aquaculture interests. It also means that Canada
has no independent legal obligation to protect transboundary species
already protected in the U.S. (such as west coast coho salmon) when
they migrate through Canadian waters. =20=
=20
=20
The first proposed Canadian ESA Legislation was introduced in 1996
as the "Canadian Endangered Species Protection Act (Bill C-65)," but
promptly died. This effort was revived in 2000 as Bill C-33, but that too
died in Parliament. With a change of administration, the new
government got busy and Bill C-5, the Species at Risk Act (SARA), was
introduced in the House of Commons in February 2001. Bill C-5 has
thus far only gotten as far as Second Reading and was referred to the
Standing Committee on Environment & Sustainable Development in
March 2001. In the fall of 2001, the Committee conducted a
clause-by-clause review and offered a report with over 100 amendments.
On 3 December, the Chair of the Standing Committee tabled the
Committee's report in the House of Commons. The bill, as amended, is
at:
http://www.parl.gc.ca/37/1/parlbus/chambus/house/bills/government/C-5
/C-5_2/C-5_cover-E.html. The next steps are for Bill C-5 to undergo
Report Stage and Third Reading in the House of Commons. It has still to
be approved by the House of Commons, and only then can the Senate
vote on it. For more information on Canada's species at risk see:
http://www.speciesatrisk.gc.ca/sar/main.htm.
5:02/08. AS EXPECTED, PLF STARTS ITS SERIES OF SALMON
DELISTING SUITS WITH THE KLAMATH: The Pacific Legal
Foundation (PLF) announced 11 January that it will file suit to remove
the Endangered Species Act (ESA) listing of coho salmon in the
Southern Oregon/Northern California ESU (evolutionary significant
unit), encompassing the Klamath River Basin, reports Business Wire.=20
The case, Oregon Grange v. National Marine Fisheries Service, marks
the second attempt by the law firm, which represents resource extractive
industries, water diverters and polluters seeking to avoid the
consequences of an ESA listing, to delist salmon everywhere along the
Pacific Coast. The suit comes on the heels of the decision by the U.S.
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reinstating ESA protections after U.S.
District Court Judge Michael Hogan ruled against NMFS' listing of
Oregon coho because of confusion regarding the ESA status of hatchery
stocks; that case, Alsea Valley Alliance v. Evans, was also initiated by
PLF (see Sublegals, 4:20/08; 4:19/05; 4:18/02; 4:11/02). PLF is
expected to file a series of lawsuits within the next few months, seeking
to delist salmon and steelhead nearly everywhere. For more information,
contact Patti Goldman with Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund at: (206)
343-7340.
5:02/09. NATIONAL SCIENCE PANEL SAYS MAINE SALMON
ARE DISTINCTIVE, ESA PROTECTION WARRANTED: In response
to a request by Maine Governor Angus King and U.S. Senator Olympia
Snowe (R-ME), a scientific review panel of the National Research
Council (NRC), a division of the National Academy of Sciences, has
concluded that the wild Maine salmon runs that still remain in eight of
the state's rivers are genetically distinct from the many hatchery strains
that have been introduced into Maine waters over the last century. NRC
thus concluded that the protection of these wild fish under the U.S.
Endangered Species Act (ESA), currently in place, is biologically
warranted. The report, released 7 January, undercuts objections to that
listing, primarily by the Maine salmon aquaculture industry, who
asserted in court that there is no genetic distinction between wild and
hatchery salmon in the state. Among other actions the listing may
require is the reform of Maine's many salmon farm fish operations to
prevent the spread of diseases now common in those operations to the
ESA listed wild runs, potentially wiping them out (see Sublegals 5:02/10
& 5:02/11 below). The report, "Genetic Status of Atlantic Salmon in
Maine: Interim Report," is available online at:
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/10273.html.
5:02/10. DISEASED FARM SALMON SLAUGHTER ORDERED
IN MAINE'S COBSCOOK BAY: Associated Press reported 8 January
that officials of the State of Maine have ordered the salmon fish farms in
Cobscook Bay to slaughter the bay's remaining farm-raised salmon to
control the virus causing infectious salmon anemia, all in an effort to
keep it from spreading to other farms. The disease already spread from
salmon farms in New Brunswick to the pens in Cobscook Bay last year.
So far, the virus has not spread to other fish farms along the Maine coast,
and poses no risk to humans. An order by the Maine Department of
Marine Resources gave the companies there 15 days to remove and
destroy all their fish, which could be as many as 1.5 million. The fish
will be ground into fishmeal, put in landfills or made into compost. The
disease has already caused fish farmers elsewhere to kill more than 1
million fish in Eastport and Lubec. However, the destruction order came
as somewhat of a relief to the fish farm industry as it now qualifies the
affected fish farms for federal disaster assistance. In December 2001,
the U.S. Department of Agriculture allocated $16.6 million over two
years to fight the virus, apparently the first such federal aid given to the
U.S. aquaculture industry. The Maine Department of Marine Resources
can be reached at: http://www.state.me.us/dmr.=20
5:02/11. REPORT FINDS FISH FARMS BREEDING GROUND
FOR PARASITE THAT KILLS WILD FISH: Fish farms are breeding
grounds for a potentially lethal parasite that may have caused a massive
die off of wild salmon in British Columbia, Canada, earlier this year,
according to a scientific report released 9 January by Watershed Watch,
according to a WorldCatch News Network article. Last summer, large
but unknown numbers of wild juvenile pink salmon were infested with
lethal loads of sea lice as they left coastal rivers and migrated past
densely-packed fish farms in the Broughton Archipelago, northeast of
Vancouver Island, said the report. The full 25-page report is available at:
www.watershed-watch.org/PDFs/WWSS_Sea_Lice_Report.pdf.
=20
5:02/12. CHILEAN SENATE CRAFTING LEGISLATION AIMED
AT PREVENTING IMPORTATIION OF TRANSGENIC FISH INTO
THAT NATION: Chile, the largest producer of farmed salmon, may also
be the first major fishing nation to say no to transgenic fish. Genetically
engineered (GE) salmon that grow faster than their natural counterparts
have been developed by a U.S. firm, AquaBounty Farms, at its Canadian
facilities in St Johns, (see Sublegals, 5:01/05; 4:16/13; 4:02/06; 3:19/03;
3:15/19; 3:12/09; 3:07/15; 3:05/15; 2:16/11) as well as by a New
Zealand company. Intrafish reports the Chilean Senate is drawing up a
new bill, which would prevent transgenic species from entering the
country by restricting their import. Jorge Mart=A1nez Bush, President of
the Senate Committee for Fisheries & Aquaculture, told El Llanquihue
that this bill would be ready in mid 2002. "The idea isn't to ban their
entry, but rather establish conditions for their import to make it as safe a=
s
possible. We cannot stop progress, but we can channel it in terms of
safeguarding what we have," said the Senator. According to the Senator,
in the special case of transgenic fish, such as salmon, these could have
an effect on natural fauna. So long as there is no certainty about what
these effects might be, their Senate believes that the entry of transgenic
products into Chile should be suspended. For more information, go to:
http://www.intrafish.com/.
5:02/13. GE FISH WORKSHOP IN SEATTLE 24 JANUARY:
There are now over 35 species of fish being genetically engineered,
which means they contain genes from other fish, plants or insects that
could never occur naturally in their own gene pool. Genetically
engineered (GE) fish may soon be swimming in Pacific waters, and onto
our dinner plates. Should we be concerned? Friends of the Earth is
holding a workshop on the human health and environmental threats
posed by GE fish and other farmed fish on the evening of 24 January
2002, in Seattle, Washington, beginning at 1900 HRS, in the Labor
Temple, 2899 First Avenue in Seattle. Call (206) 297-9460 or e-mail
lramirez@foe.org for event details. Also check out www.stopgefish.org
for more information on the issue.
5:02/14. AQUACULTURE GOES BIG TIME, JAPANESE WHALE
FARM PROPOSED: The Associated Press reported 6 January that
Hirado, about 1000 km. south of Tokyo, a Japanese city famous for its
whaling industry until the end of World War II, plans to revive its
whaling tradition by creating a huge aquaculture whale farm along its
coastline. The town intends to capture minke whales in nets and bring
them into a whale reserve covering some 2000 square km. of ocean off
its coastline, according to Kyodo News Agency, where it will breed them
for "research purposes" and to help attract tourists for whale watching.=20
A Japanese whaling fleet is now on an expedition to Antarctica to
harvest 440 minke whales, which is permitted currently by the
International Whaling Commission under the rubric "research purposes,"
though this program has long been controversial. =20
5:01/15. PROPOSITION 13 GRANT WORKSHOPS: The California
North Coast Region is eligible for approximately $6 million of grant
funds in the "Coastal NPS" subaccount of Proposition 13. The North
Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board is holding workshops to
help create grant proposals, which must show a direct link to coastal
waters. The Workshops are at 15 January, 2002 at the Humboldt Center
of the California Conservation Corp at 1500 Alamar Way in Fortuna,
CA from 1100 to 1300 hours.=20
Another workshop will be 18 January, 2002 at the Hearing Room of the
North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board 5550 Skylane Blvd.
In Santa Rosa, CA form 1130 hours to 1330 hours. For more information
please visit: http://www.swrcb.ca.gov/prop13/index.html.
5:02/16. MORE DREDGING PROPOSED FOR COLUMBIA
BASIN'S SNAKE RIVER: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE) is
proposing to once again dredge out the Snake River, the main tributary
of the Columbia River, in a stretch of river where every single species of
native salmon and steelhead are now listed as either endangered or
threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA). "Salmon and
steelhead are already in serious trouble because of the Corps' past actions
in this river, and they will be put at even greater risk by this proposal,"
commented Jan Hasselman, staff attorney for the National Wildlife
Federation in Seattle, Washington. The plan was opposed by a coalition
of environmental and fishing industry groups, including PCFFA, in
written comments submitted 7 January. For more information contact:
Jan Hasselman, National Wildlife Federation (206) 285-8707 x 105.=20
5:01/17. ARMY CORPS RELEASES LOWER COLUMBIA
DREDGING PLAN, PROMISES SALMON-FRIENDLY DREDGING:=20
On 3 January the US Army Corps of Engineers (COE) released its
Biological Assessment (EA) on the impact of its planned Columbia
River Deepening Project for public comments, and the COE is once
again asking the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to sign off
on the project as harmless to Columbia River salmon and steelhead runs
listed under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA). The COE's
prior plan was put on hold by a court suit in which a number of
organizations, including PCFFA and IFR, participated, and then finally
shelved in August of 2000 when the National Marine Fisheries Service
(NMFS) withdrew its Biological Opinion (BiOp) okaying the project.
NMFS withdrew its approval because of inconsistent BiOps, one of
which approved the COE dredging plan while the other (for the
Columbia River Salmon and Steelhead Recovery Plan) was based on
protecting and restoring the same lower river habitat the COE plan
would likely destroy (see Sublegals 4:26/03; 2:08/05; 2:06/10; 1:07/01).
The lower Columbia River estuary has already lost about 90% of its
biological function. The COE claims that their revised channel
deepening project would be salmon-friendly in the long term, and has
asked for a NMFS approval on that basis. Critics say the Corps still
relies heavily on a vague "adaptive management" process, simply
promising problems would be addressed as they occur, but without any
clear idea of the likely impacts nor how those might be mitigated. The
original plan also nearly ignored the impact on other fisheries of
dumping millions of cubic yards of sediment in the lower estuary. The
Columbia River Crab Fishermen's Association and PCFFA are already in
court with the COE over the potential impact of dredge spoils on the
lower estuary Dungeness crab nursery, and over wave amplification
problems created by mounding dredge spoils that can swamp small
fishing boats (Sublegals 4:13/05; 4:09/15). For more information see the
full 4 January 2002 Oregonian article at:
http://www.oregonlive.com/printer/printer.ssf?/xml/story.ssf/
html_standard.xsl?/base/news/1010148931278792.xml. The COE's
Biological Assessment is at:
http://www.nwp.usace.army.mil/issues/crcip/pubs.htm.
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).=20
##########################################################
"Sublegals" are a weekly fisheries news bulletin service of Fishlink. To=20
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<BR>  =
; ~~>FISHLINK=20=
SUBLEGALS 1/11/02<~~
<BR>##########################################################
<BR> A WEEKLY QUOTA OF FISHERY SHORTS CA=
UGHT AND
<BR> LANDED BY THE INSTITUTE FOR FISHERIES RESOURCES=
=20
<BR> AND THE PACIFIC COAST FEDERATION OF FISHERMEN'S
<BR>  =
; &nb=
sp; &=
nbsp; ASSOCIATIONS
<BR>
<BR>VOL. 5, NO. 02 &nb=
sp; &=
nbsp;  =
; 11 JANUARY 2002
<BR>##########################################################
<BR>
<BR>"The key economic indicator of a recession is that government
<BR>economists go around announcing that the economy is
<BR>improving."...................Dave Barry
<BR>
<BR>**********************************************************
<BR>IN THIS ISSUE.......
<BR>
<BR>ADMINISTRATION APPEALS COURT DECISION=20
<BR>STOPPING NEW CALIFORNIA OIL DRILLING. 5:02/01.=20
<BR>
<BR>CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE SCHEDULES MPA=20
<BR>HEARING AND FORUM. 5:02/03.=20
<BR>
<BR>NEW TECHNIQUE FOR STERILIZING BALLAST=20
<BR>WATER. 5:02/05.
<BR>
<BR>NAFTA COMMISSION SOUNDS ALARM ON NORTH=20
<BR>AMERICAN ECOLOGICAL CRISIS. 5:02/06.
<BR>
<BR>AQUACULTURE GOES BIG TIME, JAPANESE=20
<BR>WHALE FARM PROPOSED. 5:02/14.
<BR>
<BR>AND MORE.......
<BR>=20
<BR>##########################################################
<BR>  =
; NO, OUR NAME ISN'T BEING CHANGED=20
<BR>  =
; TO FISHERMEN'S LIBERATION FRONT
<BR>
<BR> Sublegals has dropped its spoof "Fringe" articl=
e effective this issue.=20
<BR>Staff, which was attempting to find out if anyone out there was actually
<BR>paying attention (in a fun and light-hearted manner), has concluded from
<BR>the sudden upsurge in the volume of our email that the Sublegals are
<BR>indeed being read. While some form of contest is being formulated=20=
for
<BR>future issues (for initiation into the "Fellowship of Fringeheads"), we
<BR>decided that planting a spoof article into the middle of Sublegals was n=
ot
<BR>the way to go. First, we wanted our readers to read, not proofread=
.=20
<BR>Second, a number of readers were not intimately familiar with fishery
<BR>issues and could be mislead. Third, and this is the real reason, i=
t's really
<BR>hard to come up with spoof articles that are as outrageous as much of
<BR>what we have to report. For fun and the staff's sanity, however, t=
he
<BR>Lamprey Harpoon might be resurrected as a vehicle for spoof fishery
<BR>articles in the future. So dear readers, look ahead to our next co=
ntest
<BR>(something to lighten things up) and perhaps an irregular Lamprey
<BR>Harpoon. In the meantime, read carefully, think critically, and pl=
edge
<BR>some money (for those great mugs, t-shirts and calendars) by going to
<BR>www.sublegals.net .... Congratulations and welcome to the "Fellowship
<BR>of Fringeheads" to Tom Stokely, whose name was drawn from those
<BR>correctly identifying last week's and our final "Fringe" article, "West
<BR>Coast's Largest Fishing Organization to Change Its Name: It's Goodbye
<BR>PCFFA and Hello FLF," (Sublegals, 5:01/09).
<BR>
<BR>##########################################################
<BR>
<BR> 5:02/01. BUSH ADMINISTRATION APPEALS COUR=
T
<BR>DECISION STOPPING NEW OIL DRILLING OFF CALIFORNIA
<BR>COAST: Within days of the revelations of high concentrations of
<BR>mercury around offshore oil rigs, resulting from residue in drill muds
<BR>(see Sublegals, 5:01/01), the Administration of U.S. President George
<BR>W. Bush has formally appealed a federal court ruling that halted new oil
<BR>drilling along the California coast. That court decision upheld the
<BR>requirement that state officials must first review and approve any new
<BR>exploration plans. According to a 10 January Los Angeles Times art=
icle
<BR>by reporter Ken Weiss, this legal appeal may be the first real battle in=
the
<BR>new Administration's efforts to open up the west coast to offshore oil
<BR>exploration. At question are 36 three-square-mile tracts located t=
hree
<BR>miles or more off the coast of California's Ventura, Santa Barbara and
<BR>San Luis Obispo counties that were leased to oil companies between
<BR>1968 and 1984. Although later federal and state moratoria effectively pu=
t
<BR>California waters off-limits to new oil drilling, those restrictions do=20=
not
<BR>apply to these older leases.=20
<BR>
<BR> In June of this past year, however, a U.S. Dist=
rict Court judge agreed
<BR>with California's contention that federal law gives state officials the=20=
right
<BR>to review and approve new oil drilling plans in federal waters to assure
<BR>that they conform to the state's environmental regulations.
<BR>Administration lawyers filed in the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
<BR>after California Governor Gray Davis turned down a proposed
<BR>compromise that would have allowed some drilling to go ahead while
<BR>bailing out the oil industry by buying back the California leases or giv=
ing
<BR>the companies substitute leases in the Gulf of Mexico. If the appeal is
<BR>successful and the lower court decision is overturned, much of the state
<BR>power to block offshore oil development would be gone. The State o=
f
<BR>California, along with its commercial fishing and conservation groups,
<BR>as well as local governments, had adamantly opposed resumption of
<BR>offshore oil exploitation because of its likely negative impacts to
<BR>fisheries and coastal ecosystems that the state is spending many million=
s
<BR>of dollars each year trying to restore and protect. The full Los A=
ngeles
<BR>Times story is at:
<BR>http://www.kliptracker.com/reporter.php?action=3Dhit&campain
<BR>=3Dsny001b5.
<BR>
<BR> 5:02/02. OIL TANKER GROUNDED IN BRITISH M=
PA TO BE
<BR>TOWED: The Cypriot oil tanker that grounded last week on the rocky
<BR>shore of an internationally protected natural area in Plymouth Sound,
<BR>England, is still intact and expected to be towed off 11 January.
<BR>Offloading of the M/V Willy did take place, except for 98 metric tons of
<BR>its own fuel and lubricating oils, and though there was some initial
<BR>leakage the problem was contained. The accident highlights a flaw=20=
in
<BR>proposals for marine protected areas (MPAs) that, as currently
<BR>envisioned, would not exclude merchant shipping (including oil tankers)
<BR>nor stop oil spills. See:
<BR>http://ens-news.com/ens/jan2002/2002L-01-09-02.html. &=
nbsp;  =
;
<BR>
<BR> 5:02/03 CALIFORNIA SCHEDULES LEGISLATIVE MPA
<BR>HEARING AND FORUM: The California Legislature's Joint
<BR>Committee on Fisheries & Aquaculture will hold a hearing on
<BR>implementation of the state's marine protected area (MPA) statute, the
<BR>Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA), on Thursday, 17 January, in Room
<BR>126 of the State Capitol in Sacramento. The purpose is to review
<BR>progress to date on implementation and identify areas where
<BR>amendments to the MLPA may be needed. The public hearing will
<BR>include representatives from environmental groups, local government,
<BR>recreational and commercial fishing organizations, as well as scientists
<BR>and the California Department of Fish & Game (CDFG). The heari=
ng
<BR>begins at 1000 HRS. For more information contact the Joint Committee
<BR>on Fisheries & Aquaculture at (916) 319-3823.
<BR>
<BR> The Pacific Marine Conservation Council (PMCC)=20=
is hosting a 3-day
<BR>"Fishermen's Forum on MPAs" in Portland, Oregon, 24-26 January.=20
<BR>Featured will be speakers from all over the country - fishermen and
<BR>scientists - discussing what has worked and not worked regarding the
<BR>citing and establishment of marine protected areas. For more
<BR>information on the Forum, which will be held at the Embassy Suites,
<BR>near Portland International Airport, contact Amy Grodin at:
<BR>fishermensforum@pmcc.org.=20
<BR>
<BR> 5:02/04. SAN FRANCISCO BAY HERRING FISHERY OFF=20=
TO
<BR>SLOW START; TOMALES BAY LOOKS PROMISING: The San
<BR>Francisco herring fishery got off to a slow start in December with many
<BR>of the spawning populations only now beginning to come into the Bay
<BR>(see Sublegals, 4:23/11). It is the first herring roe fishery to o=
pen each
<BR>year along the Pacific Coast and is the largest herring fishery south of
<BR>British Columbia. The DH Platoon (December fishery) of gillnetters
<BR>landed only 98 tons in their three-week fishery with 1,277 tons left on
<BR>the quota. Roe counts for the landed fish averaged 12.41%. This platoon
<BR>will be allowed to return and fish following the closure of the January
<BR>(Odd and Even) Platoons.
<BR>
<BR> The two other gillnet platoons began their fish=
ery on 2 January
<BR>fishing alternate weeks. The Odd Platoon, to date, has landed 822 tons
<BR>with 618 tons remaining on the quota. Roe counts on the landed fish
<BR>averaged approximately 11.6%. These fish were caught the first week of
<BR>January. This platoon will return to fishing the week of 13 January. &nb=
sp;The
<BR>Even Platoon has had low landings so far - approximately 1000 pounds -
<BR>with the majority of the 1,411 tons remaining on the quota. The
<BR>California Department of Fish & Game (CDFG) reports there are two
<BR>large schools of herring in the Bay; however, at this point ripeness is
<BR>approximately a week off. &nbs=
p; &n=
bsp; =
&nbs=
p; &n=
bsp; =
<BR>
<BR> To the north, the Tomales Bay herring fishery i=
s doing quite well.
<BR>There were six herring spawns in Tomales Bay during November and
<BR>December, which resulted in sufficient escapement to raise the initial
<BR>quota of 300 tons up to 400 tons, as provided in the regulations. =
The
<BR>Tomales herring fishery opened 26-29 December. During those four
<BR>days, gillnetters landed nearly 180 short tons with a high average roe
<BR>count of 15.6%. No fish have been landed since the fishery reopene=
d on
<BR>2 January. The Humboldt Bay herring fishery opened on 2 January,
<BR>where 18 tons of fish have been landed to date. Roe count is not yet
<BR>reported. The Crescent City Harbor herring fishery will open on 14
<BR>January. For more information on the fishery, contact CDFG's Herring
<BR>Hotline at: (650) 631-6758.=20
<BR>
<BR> 5:02/05. NEW TECHNIQUE FOR STERILIZING BA=
LLAST
<BR>WATER FOUND: Deoxygenating water kills aquatic life in the Gulf of
<BR>Mexico, and in the Klamath River, why not in ship ballast? A new
<BR>technique for removing the oxygen from ocean vessel ballast water by
<BR>replacing it with nitrogen presents a rare win-win solution for the
<BR>shipping industry and the marine environment, says marine ecologist
<BR>Mario Tamburri of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
<BR>(MBARI), who led the study reported in the January issue of the journal
<BR>Biological Conservation. Ballast water from the shipping industry
<BR>transports enormous numbers of aquatic organisms from one port to
<BR>another. These invasive species have caused major economic and
<BR>ecological damage, and are thought to have contributed to 70 percent of
<BR>native aquatic species extinctions in the last 100 years. All curr=
ent
<BR>methods of sterilizing ballast water are expensive and some dangerous
<BR>for ship's crew. However, because nitrogen does not contribute to
<BR>rusting, deoxygenation, previously thought to be too expensive, can be
<BR>paid for by its additional anticorrosion benefit. For more informa=
tion
<BR>see:
<BR>http://www.mbari.org/news/news_releases/2002/jan07_tamburri.html.
<BR>
<BR> 5:02/06. NAFTA COMMISSION SOUNDS ALARM ON=
NORTH
<BR>AMERICAN ECOSYSTEM COLLAPSE; FISH STOCKS
<BR>THREATENED: The United States, Canada and Mexico are facing a
<BR>looming "biodiversity crisis" in which a large number of terrestrial and
<BR>aquatic species and whole ecosystems are in danger of disappearing due
<BR>to the combined effects of pollution, habitat loss and other human cause=
d
<BR>impacts, according to a recent study by the North American Commission
<BR>for Environmental Cooperation, an agency created under the North
<BR>American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Their report, "The North
<BR>American Mosaic: A State of the Environment Report," underscores the
<BR>need for consistent environmental laws between the three countries, and
<BR>particularly for the cross-boundary protection of endangered species (se=
e
<BR>Sublegals 5:02/07 below). The report also stresses the need for the
<BR>elimination of financial "perverse subsidies" that encourage high
<BR>consumption, and points particularly to huge subsidies to the fossil fue=
l
<BR>industry and hydroelectric power industry, and to support unsustainable
<BR>irrigation practices. The report finds that at least half of North Ameri=
ca's
<BR>most ecologically diverse regions, and particularly marine and estuary
<BR>regions, have now been seriously degraded and that in spite of
<BR>environmental protection efforts this downward trend continues. Th=
e
<BR>study concludes that the loss of North America's biological diversity
<BR>could have "profound impacts" on North America's ecosystems and
<BR>economies. For more information, see the 9 January issue of
<BR>Environmental News Service at:
<BR>http://ens-ews.com/ens/jan2002/2002L-01-09-01.html. The report its=
elf
<BR>is available on the web at:
<BR>http://www.cec.org/soe/index.cfm?varlan=3Denglish.
<BR>
<BR> 5:02/07. FISHERMEN AT RISK AS CANADA FAILS TO P=
ASS
<BR>ENDANGERED SPECIES LAWS: Canada's fishing industry and its
<BR>natural resources remain at risk with the national government's refusal,
<BR>to date, to act to pass legislation to prevent the extinction of species=
.
<BR>Although claiming to be "greener" than its southern neighbor, Canada
<BR>lags far behind the U.S. in establishing laws fundamental for the
<BR>protection of natural resources and those dependent over the long term
<BR>on sustainable, renewable resources (e.g, fishing). Lack of any
<BR>endangered or threatened species protection means Canada's salmon
<BR>resource could be driven to extinction with impunity by onshore impacts
<BR>of logging, hydropower and widespread industrial abuse of
<BR>salmon-bearing watersheds. That nation's government, however, has had
<BR>no problem putting its fishermen out of business while it panders to
<BR>timber, oil, mining and aquaculture interests. It also means that Canada
<BR>has no independent legal obligation to protect transboundary species
<BR>already protected in the U.S. (such as west coast coho salmon) when
<BR>they migrate through Canadian waters. &nbs=
p; &n=
bsp; =
&nbs=
p;
<BR>
<BR> The first proposed Canadian ESA Legislation was=
introduced in 1996
<BR>as the "Canadian Endangered Species Protection Act (Bill C-65)," but
<BR>promptly died. This effort was revived in 2000 as Bill C-33, but that to=
o
<BR>died in Parliament. With a change of administration, the new
<BR>government got busy and Bill C-5, the Species at Risk Act (SARA), was
<BR>introduced in the House of Commons in February 2001. Bill C-5 has
<BR>thus far only gotten as far as Second Reading and was referred to the
<BR>Standing Committee on Environment & Sustainable Development in
<BR>March 2001. In the fall of 2001, the Committee conducted a
<BR>clause-by-clause review and offered a report with over 100 amendments.
<BR>On 3 December, the Chair of the Standing Committee tabled the
<BR>Committee's report in the House of Commons. The bill, as amended, is
<BR>at:
<BR>http://www.parl.gc.ca/37/1/parlbus/chambus/house/bills/government/C-5
<BR>/C-5_2/C-5_cover-E.html. The next steps are for Bill C-5 to underg=
o
<BR>Report Stage and Third Reading in the House of Commons. It has still to
<BR>be approved by the House of Commons, and only then can the Senate
<BR>vote on it. For more information on Canada's species at risk see:
<BR>http://www.speciesatrisk.gc.ca/sar/main.htm.
<BR>
<BR> 5:02/08. AS EXPECTED, PLF STARTS ITS SERI=
ES OF SALMON
<BR>DELISTING SUITS WITH THE KLAMATH: The Pacific Legal
<BR>Foundation (PLF) announced 11 January that it will file suit to remove
<BR>the Endangered Species Act (ESA) listing of coho salmon in the
<BR>Southern Oregon/Northern California ESU (evolutionary significant
<BR>unit), encompassing the Klamath River Basin, reports Business Wire.=20
<BR>The case, Oregon Grange v. National Marine Fisheries Service, marks
<BR>the second attempt by the law firm, which represents resource extractive
<BR>industries, water diverters and polluters seeking to avoid the
<BR>consequences of an ESA listing, to delist salmon everywhere along the
<BR>Pacific Coast. The suit comes on the heels of the decision by the=20=
U.S.
<BR>Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reinstating ESA protections after U.S.
<BR>District Court Judge Michael Hogan ruled against NMFS' listing of
<BR>Oregon coho because of confusion regarding the ESA status of hatchery
<BR>stocks; that case, Alsea Valley Alliance v. Evans, was also initiated by
<BR>PLF (see Sublegals, 4:20/08; 4:19/05; 4:18/02; 4:11/02). PLF is
<BR>expected to file a series of lawsuits within the next few months, seekin=
g
<BR>to delist salmon and steelhead nearly everywhere. For more information,
<BR>contact Patti Goldman with Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund at: (206)
<BR>343-7340.
<BR>
<BR> 5:02/09. NATIONAL SCIENCE PANEL SAYS MAIN=
E SALMON
<BR>ARE DISTINCTIVE, ESA PROTECTION WARRANTED: In response
<BR>to a request by Maine Governor Angus King and U.S. Senator Olympia
<BR>Snowe (R-ME), a scientific review panel of the National Research
<BR>Council (NRC), a division of the National Academy of Sciences, has
<BR>concluded that the wild Maine salmon runs that still remain in eight of
<BR>the state's rivers are genetically distinct from the many hatchery strai=
ns
<BR>that have been introduced into Maine waters over the last century. NRC
<BR>thus concluded that the protection of these wild fish under the U.S.
<BR>Endangered Species Act (ESA), currently in place, is biologically
<BR>warranted. The report, released 7 January, undercuts objections to=
that
<BR>listing, primarily by the Maine salmon aquaculture industry, who
<BR>asserted in court that there is no genetic distinction between wild and
<BR>hatchery salmon in the state. Among other actions the listing may
<BR>require is the reform of Maine's many salmon farm fish operations to
<BR>prevent the spread of diseases now common in those operations to the
<BR>ESA listed wild runs, potentially wiping them out (see Sublegals 5:02/10
<BR>& 5:02/11 below). The report, "Genetic Status of Atlantic Salm=
on in
<BR>Maine: Interim Report," is available online at:
<BR>http://www.nap.edu/catalog/10273.html.
<BR>
<BR> 5:02/10. DISEASED FARM SALMON SLAUGHTER O=
RDERED
<BR>IN MAINE'S COBSCOOK BAY: Associated Press reported 8 January
<BR>that officials of the State of Maine have ordered the salmon fish farms=20=
in
<BR>Cobscook Bay to slaughter the bay's remaining farm-raised salmon to
<BR>control the virus causing infectious salmon anemia, all in an effort to
<BR>keep it from spreading to other farms. The disease already spread from
<BR>salmon farms in New Brunswick to the pens in Cobscook Bay last year.
<BR>So far, the virus has not spread to other fish farms along the Maine coa=
st,
<BR>and poses no risk to humans. An order by the Maine Department of
<BR>Marine Resources gave the companies there 15 days to remove and
<BR>destroy all their fish, which could be as many as 1.5 million. The=
fish
<BR>will be ground into fishmeal, put in landfills or made into compost. &nb=
sp;The
<BR>disease has already caused fish farmers elsewhere to kill more than 1
<BR>million fish in Eastport and Lubec. However, the destruction order=
came
<BR>as somewhat of a relief to the fish farm industry as it now qualifies th=
e
<BR>affected fish farms for federal disaster assistance. In December 2=
001,
<BR>the U.S. Department of Agriculture allocated $16.6 million over two
<BR>years to fight the virus, apparently the first such federal aid given to=
the
<BR>U.S. aquaculture industry. The Maine Department of Marine Resource=
s
<BR>can be reached at: http://www.state.me.us/dmr.=20
<BR>
<BR> 5:02/11. REPORT FINDS FISH FARMS BREEDING GROUN=
D
<BR>FOR PARASITE THAT KILLS WILD FISH: Fish farms are breeding
<BR>grounds for a potentially lethal parasite that may have caused a massive
<BR>die off of wild salmon in British Columbia, Canada, earlier this year,
<BR>according to a scientific report released 9 January by Watershed Watch,
<BR>according to a WorldCatch News Network article. Last summer, large
<BR>but unknown numbers of wild juvenile pink salmon were infested with
<BR>lethal loads of sea lice as they left coastal rivers and migrated past
<BR>densely-packed fish farms in the Broughton Archipelago, northeast of
<BR>Vancouver Island, said the report. The full 25-page report is available=20=
at:
<BR>www.watershed-watch.org/PDFs/WWSS_Sea_Lice_Report.pdf.
<BR>=20
<BR> 5:02/12. CHILEAN SENATE CRAFTING LEGISLATION AI=
MED
<BR>AT PREVENTING IMPORTATIION OF TRANSGENIC FISH INTO
<BR>THAT NATION: Chile, the largest producer of farmed salmon, may also
<BR>be the first major fishing nation to say no to transgenic fish. Ge=
netically
<BR>engineered (GE) salmon that grow faster than their natural counterparts
<BR>have been developed by a U.S. firm, AquaBounty Farms, at its Canadian
<BR>facilities in St Johns, (see Sublegals, 5:01/05; 4:16/13; 4:02/06; 3:19/=
03;
<BR>3:15/19; 3:12/09; 3:07/15; 3:05/15; 2:16/11) as well as by a New
<BR>Zealand company. Intrafish reports the Chilean Senate is drawing up a
<BR>new bill, which would prevent transgenic species from entering the
<BR>country by restricting their import. Jorge Mart=A1nez Bush, Presid=
ent of
<BR>the Senate Committee for Fisheries & Aquaculture, told El Llanquihue
<BR>that this bill would be ready in mid 2002. "The idea isn't to ban their
<BR>entry, but rather establish conditions for their import to make it as sa=
fe as
<BR>possible. We cannot stop progress, but we can channel it in terms of
<BR>safeguarding what we have," said the Senator. According to the Sen=
ator,
<BR>in the special case of transgenic fish, such as salmon, these could have
<BR>an effect on natural fauna. So long as there is no certainty about what
<BR>these effects might be, their Senate believes that the entry of transgen=
ic
<BR>products into Chile should be suspended. For more information, go to:
<BR>http://www.intrafish.com/.
<BR>
<BR> 5:02/13. GE FISH WORKSHOP IN SEATTLE 24 J=
ANUARY:
<BR>There are now over 35 species of fish being genetically engineered,
<BR>which means they contain genes from other fish, plants or insects that
<BR>could never occur naturally in their own gene pool. Genetically
<BR>engineered (GE) fish may soon be swimming in Pacific waters, and onto
<BR>our dinner plates. Should we be concerned? Friends of the Earth is
<BR>holding a workshop on the human health and environmental threats
<BR>posed by GE fish and other farmed fish on the evening of 24 January
<BR>2002, in Seattle, Washington, beginning at 1900 HRS, in the Labor
<BR>Temple, 2899 First Avenue in Seattle. Call (206) 297-9460 or e-mai=
l
<BR>lramirez@foe.org for event details. Also check out www.stopgefish.org
<BR>for more information on the issue.
<BR>
<BR> 5:02/14. AQUACULTURE GOES BIG TIME, JAPAN=
ESE WHALE
<BR>FARM PROPOSED: The Associated Press reported 6 January that
<BR>Hirado, about 1000 km. south of Tokyo, a Japanese city famous for its
<BR>whaling industry until the end of World War II, plans to revive its
<BR>whaling tradition by creating a huge aquaculture whale farm along its
<BR>coastline. The town intends to capture minke whales in nets and br=
ing
<BR>them into a whale reserve covering some 2000 square km. of ocean off
<BR>its coastline, according to Kyodo News Agency, where it will breed them
<BR>for "research purposes" and to help attract tourists for whale watching.=
=20
<BR>A Japanese whaling fleet is now on an expedition to Antarctica to
<BR>harvest 440 minke whales, which is permitted currently by the
<BR>International Whaling Commission under the rubric "research purposes,"
<BR>though this program has long been controversial.
<BR>
<BR> 5:01/15. PROPOSITION 13 GRANT WORKSHOPS: The Ca=
lifornia
<BR>North Coast Region is eligible for approximately $6 million of grant
<BR>funds in the "Coastal NPS" subaccount of Proposition 13. The North
<BR>Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board is holding workshops to
<BR>help create grant proposals, which must show a direct link to coastal
<BR>waters. The Workshops are at 15 January, 2002 at the Humboldt Center
<BR>of the California Conservation Corp at 1500 Alamar Way in Fortuna,
<BR>CA from 1100 to 1300 hours.=20
<BR>
<BR>Another workshop will be 18 January, 2002 at the Hearing Room of the
<BR>North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board 5550 Skylane Blvd.
<BR>In Santa Rosa, CA form 1130 hours to 1330 hours. For more information
<BR>please visit: http://www.swrcb.ca.gov/prop13/index.html.
<BR>
<BR> 5:02/16. MORE DREDGING PROPOSED FOR COLUMBIA
<BR>BASIN'S SNAKE RIVER: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE) is
<BR>proposing to once again dredge out the Snake River, the main tributary
<BR>of the Columbia River, in a stretch of river where every single species=20=
of
<BR>native salmon and steelhead are now listed as either endangered or
<BR>threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA). "Salmon an=
d
<BR>steelhead are already in serious trouble because of the Corps' past acti=
ons
<BR>in this river, and they will be put at even greater risk by this proposa=
l,"
<BR>commented Jan Hasselman, staff attorney for the National Wildlife
<BR>Federation in Seattle, Washington. The plan was opposed by a coali=
tion
<BR>of environmental and fishing industry groups, including PCFFA, in
<BR>written comments submitted 7 January. For more information contact=
:
<BR>Jan Hasselman, National Wildlife Federation (206) 285-8707 x 105.=20
<BR>
<BR> 5:01/17. ARMY CORPS RELEASES LOWER COLUMB=
IA
<BR>DREDGING PLAN, PROMISES SALMON-FRIENDLY DREDGING:=20
<BR>On 3 January the US Army Corps of Engineers (COE) released its
<BR>Biological Assessment (EA) on the impact of its planned Columbia
<BR>River Deepening Project for public comments, and the COE is once
<BR>again asking the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to sign off
<BR>on the project as harmless to Columbia River salmon and steelhead runs
<BR>listed under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA). The COE's
<BR>prior plan was put on hold by a court suit in which a number of
<BR>organizations, including PCFFA and IFR, participated, and then finally
<BR>shelved in August of 2000 when the National Marine Fisheries Service
<BR>(NMFS) withdrew its Biological Opinion (BiOp) okaying the project.
<BR>NMFS withdrew its approval because of inconsistent BiOps, one of
<BR>which approved the COE dredging plan while the other (for the
<BR>Columbia River Salmon and Steelhead Recovery Plan) was based on
<BR>protecting and restoring the same lower river habitat the COE plan
<BR>would likely destroy (see Sublegals 4:26/03; 2:08/05; 2:06/10; 1:07/01).
<BR>
<BR> The lower Columbia River estuary has already lost abo=
ut 90% of its
<BR>biological function. The COE claims that their revised channel
<BR>deepening project would be salmon-friendly in the long term, and has
<BR>asked for a NMFS approval on that basis. Critics say the Corps still
<BR>relies heavily on a vague "adaptive management" process, simply
<BR>promising problems would be addressed as they occur, but without any
<BR>clear idea of the likely impacts nor how those might be mitigated.  =
;The
<BR>original plan also nearly ignored the impact on other fisheries of
<BR>dumping millions of cubic yards of sediment in the lower estuary. The
<BR>Columbia River Crab Fishermen's Association and PCFFA are already in
<BR>court with the COE over the potential impact of dredge spoils on the
<BR>lower estuary Dungeness crab nursery, and over wave amplification
<BR>problems created by mounding dredge spoils that can swamp small
<BR>fishing boats (Sublegals 4:13/05; 4:09/15). For more information s=
ee the
<BR>full 4 January 2002 Oregonian article at:
<BR>http://www.oregonlive.com/printer/printer.ssf?/xml/story.ssf/
<BR>html_standard.xsl?/base/news/1010148931278792.xml. The COE's
<BR>Biological Assessment is at:
<BR>http://www.nwp.usace.army.mil/issues/crcip/pubs.htm.
<BR>
<BR>NEWS, COMMENTS, CORRECTIONS: Submit your news items,
<BR>comments or any corrections to Allison Vogt, Editor at:
<BR>ifrfish@pacbell.net or call the IFR office with the news and a source at
<BR>either: (415) 561-FISH (Southwest Office) or (541) 689-2000
<BR>(Northwest Office).=20
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