[Fishlink] ~~>FISHLINK SUBLEGALS 10/11/02<~~
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bit-bucket@straylight.primelogic.com
Wed, 23 Oct 2002 01:13:35 EDT
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~~>FISHLINK SUBLEGALS 10/11/02<~~
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A WEEKLY QUOTA OF FISHERY SHORTS CAUGHT AND
LANDED BY THE INSTITUTE FOR FISHERIES RESOURCES
AND THE PACIFIC COAST FEDERATION OF FISHERMEN'S
ASSOCIATIONS
VOL. 06, NO. 15 11 OCTOBER 2002
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"It's not always a good thing to do to push the ecosystem to the point
it has to break before it spurs you into action.''.........Jim Lichatowich
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IN THIS ISSUE.......
BOR Cuts Flows to Klamath Despite Protests From
CDFG and Tribes. 6:15/01
California Legislative Hearing on Klamath Fish Kills
Set For 10/28 in Eureka. 6:14/03
Protests Due For Plans to Bag Albion and Gualala
River Water. 6:15/05
FDA Meddles in Oregon's Measure 27 Campaign, as
Corporate Funds For Opposition Mount. 6:15/08
Fish & Game Commission Holds Special Meeting to
Decide Channel Islands MPA. 6:15/11
AND MORE......
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6:15/01. RECLAMATION CUTS KLAMATH FLOWS DESPITE
PROTESTS FROM AGENCY AND TRIBAL BIOLOGISTS: The U.S.
Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) has announced it will cut the augmented
emergency flows to the Klamath River effective 13 October. The
augmented flows had been ordered on 28 September to address a major
fish kill - an estimated 30,000 returning Chinook and several hundred
coho spawners - downstream, the direct result of low flows and high
water temperatures in the river (see Sublegals, 6:13/01). The cutback
reduces flows below Iron Gate Dam to 879 cubic-feet-per-second (cfs),
leaving water levels from Iron Gate (river mile 190) down to below
Orleans (river mile 57) at levels comparable to those that triggered the
massive fish kill of three weeks before. At the planned level of 879 cfs,
these flows would be well below "FERC minimum" [Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission] requirements of 1,300 cfs, and far below the
41-year median daily stream flow at this time of year of nearly 1,400 cfs.
Biologists from both the California Department of Fish & Game
(CDFG) and the Yurok Tribe protested the cutbacks, saying it would
lead to even more fish kills. BOR's flow schedule for the rest of the 2002
water year (extending until 30 April 2003) is substantially below that
recommended by CDFG, the Yuroks and even the National Marine
Fisheries Services' Biological Opinion (BiOp) (see excerpts from the 26
and 27 September CDFG letters in Sublegals, 6:13/01). BOR's Klamath
flows and the NMFS BiOp have been challenged in a lawsuit filed by
PCFFA, Congressman Mike Thompson and others (see Sublegals,
6:14/01, 6:13/02). For real-time flow data see:
http://waterdata.usgs.gov/ca/nwis/rt and click on "Iron Gate Dam."
With the BOR Klamath Project irrigation season at an end, there is
apparently still water available that could be used to augment flows.
Using water from Clear Lake (with 90,000 acre-feet of stored water),
Gerber Reservoir (with 14,000 acre-feet of stored water) and supplanting
flows from potential groundwater sources would not require tapping
Upper Klamath Lake, which has to be kept at minimum levels to meet
the needs of other protected species. However, the rationale provided by
U.S. Department of Interior officials for refusing to release additional
water is inconsistent. Deputy Interior Secretary Sue Ellen Wooldridge
was quoted in the 11 October Los Angeles Times as saying that water
from Clear Lake and Gerber "might be too hot" to do downriver salmon
any good. However, fisheries biologists and lake experts think that this
is very unlikely at this time of year, and that water from any upriver
source would still be beneficial. Thus far the Bureau has produced no
data supporting such temperature problem claims. For current data on
levels of these two reservoirs and others see:
www.mp.usbr.gov/kbao/operations/index.html.
The unstated rationale for the BOR's refusal seems to be that the
Interior, under intense pressure from irrigation interests, wants to set
aside as much water as possible now as a hedge against possible
shortfalls to Klamath Project irrigators in the 2003 irrigation season.
This rationale, however, runs afoul of federal courts that have already
held that giving irrigation water priority over Tribal trust obligations and
Endangered Species Act (ESA) protected species would violate the law.
6:15/02. YUROK TRIBE JOINS LOWER BASIN FLOW
LAWSUIT: On 9 October Yurok Tribal Chairwoman Sue Masten
announced that the Yuroks, California's largest native Tribe, would be
joining the PCFFA-led lawsuit against the Bureau of Reclamation
(BOR) and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) challenging the
2002-2012 Klamath Project water plan and the NMFS accompanying
Biological Opinion (BiOp). The water plan and BiOp allow the BOR to
operate the lower river water flows at "jeopardy" levels for the next
several years while higher flows are being gradually phased in. These
greatly lowered flows, according to Tribal and California Department of
Fish & Game (CDFG) biologists, were a major factor in September's
massive downriver fish kill. The case is PCFFA, et. al., v. U.S. Bureau
of Reclamation, et. al., U.S. District Court for Northern California,
Oakland Division, Civ. No. C02-2006 SBA (see Sublegals, 6:13/02).
The Yurok Tribal ancestral lands include both sides of the Klamath
River from the mouth of the river well up above the confluence with the
Trinity River. The Tribe is dependent on Klamath salmon runs as a
source of food, culture and income. As a result of the massive fish
die-off in the lower Klamath Basin, the Yurok Tribal Government has
now declared a state of emergency. For more information, contact the
Yurok Tribal office at: (707) 482-1376.
6:15/03. LEGISLATIVE HEARING SET ON KLAMATH FISH
KILL: The California Legislature's Joint Committee on Fisheries &
Aquaculture will hold a hearing 28 October on the Klamath fish kill.
The purpose of the hearing is to receive testimony from the agencies,
tribes and fishing industry on the extent of the kill, the cause(s), what
steps can be taken to mitigate the losses and what the probable
implications are for the fisheries for the long term. The hearing will be
held in the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors Chambers, 825 5th
Street in Eureka, California from 0900-1300 HRS on Monday, the 28th.
For more information, contact the Joint Committee's consultant Mary
Morgan at: (916) 319-3823.
6:15/04. BUREAU OF RECLAMATION TO BUY TWO DAMS
AND RETIRE THEM TO HELP FISH: The Associated Press reports
that the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has agreed to purchase two small
hydropower dams from PacifiCorps and shut them down to leave more
water in the Naches River for fish. The two Washington State dams
generate less than 6 megawatts of power and are nearly 90 years old.
The price of the purchase was not disclosed, but officials said earlier that
the sale would total about $8 million. PacifiCorps also operates Iron
Gate Dam and hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River. For more, see
the: Seattle Post-Intelligencer:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/84094_naches26.shtml.
6:15/05. PROTESTS OF ALBION AND GUALALA "RIVER
BAGGING" DUE 11 NOVEMBER: The deadline for filing an official
protest form (on Public Trust and Environmental Issues) with the
California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) over the
proposed "bagging" of Albion and Gualala River water from Northern
California for barging to Southern California is Monday, 11 November.
Although the California Legislature did pass AB 858 (see Sublegals,
6:14/10), Alaska Water Exports (AWE) has not rescinded its
application; fishing groups and others concerned with the fate of these
two salmon-bearing streams are, therefore, being asked to submit the
protest forms against application 31194 (Gualala River) and 31195
(Albion River). The results of the estuary studies mandated under AB
858 have to be considered by the SWRCB, but they are not binding.
AWE applied to the SWRCB for the rights to the two California
northcoast streams for export earlier in the year. In May, the State Board
staff determined that the applications were inadequate and incomplete,
and gave AWE a deadline of 1 July to complete the applications. AWE
met that deadline; the SWRCB apparently now considers the
applications complete. Now that applications are complete and accepted,
the next step by the Division of Water Rights was to issue public
"notice" of the applications, which they did on 13 September, giving an
11 November deadline for the filing of protests.
At play with the AWE application are two issues. The first is whether
the SWRCB will grant a right to export water from outside the
immediate "service area" of a California river since most are already
over-appropriated and nearly every coastal stream supports salmon or
steelhead runs. The second, and much larger issue, has to do with the
whole privatization or "commodification" of water (see Sublegals,
6:07/15). Currently there is legislation in the Congress promoting
privatization of water facilities, and the World Bank is promoting it in
developed and developing nations alike (e.g., Bolivia, South Africa).
Some non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are pushing water
privatization as well; Environmental Defense, for example, has been a
large promoter of water marketing (as well as individual fishing quotas).
The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California just narrowly
turned down an offer to buy water from the Cadiz Company (whose
principal is Keith Brackpool, a water advisor to California Governor
Gray Davis). Cadiz planned to mine an aquifer in the Mojave Desert and
sell the water to Met. New Orleans also narrowly rejected a water
privatization scheme and another such plan is currently before the City
of Atlanta. Adding another twist to the issue is the fact that many of
these water companies, including Cadiz and AWE, are foreign registered
and may seek to use World Trade Organization (WTO) rules to override
national and local environmental laws, including those to protect fish, in
order to get their way. Privatization of water, traditionally a public trust
resource, could spell real problems for fisheries in the future - for fresh
water, anadromous and estuarine species - if fishery agencies and NGOs
have to compete on the open market for the water needed to maintain
fish life.
Fishing groups and others concerned with the Albion and Gualala
Rivers, or seeking to file a protest,
should contact the SWRCB at: State Water Resources Control Board,
Division of Water Rights, Post Office Box 2000, Sacramento, CA
95812-2000
For more, you can also go to:
http://www.waterrights.ca.gov/gual_alb/Notices&Info.htm. For more
information, also contact the Friends of the Gualala River at:
http://www.gualalariver.org
6:15/06. MEASURE 7 "TAKINGS" INITIATIVE THROWN OUT
BY OREGON SUPREME COURT: On 4 October, the Oregon State
Supreme Court invalided Measure 7, a property-rights group sponsored
initiative that passed by a slim margin in November 2000, that would
have required state and local governments to compensate property
owners for nearly any law that could be said to reduce property values in
any way, including public health and safety laws necessary to prevent
widespread public nuisances or public harm. Targeted by the sponsors
of the measure were the state's environmental and land-use laws, many
of which are important to protecting and restoring Oregon's depressed
salmon fisheries (see Sublegals 2:19/01; 2:20/10; 2:22/19) and
maintaining unpolluted domestic water supplies.
6:15/07. EPA RELEASES REPORT OF PERSISTENT WATER
POLLUTION: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has
released its annual water body survey, concluding that more than
one-third of the nation's rivers and about half of all its lakes and
estuaries are still too polluted for swimming or fishing. The EPA also
projected a gap of more than $500 billion in unmet water quality
treatment needs over the next 20 years unless government spending on
treatment facilities rises significantly. "It bolsters the need for Congress
to act quickly on this," said Adam Krantz, a spokesman for the Water
Infrastructure Network, a trade association for local elected water utility
officials. "Without immediate action, we're looking at massive
environmental and public health problems." Bush Administration
officials have said they opposed a bipartisan House plan to make billions
more available to help states with wastewater treatment projects, because
defense spending had priority. For a copy of the report, go to the EPA
web site at: www.epa.gov/305b/2000report. For a copy of the spending
gap report see: www.epa.gov/owm/gapreport.pdf.
6:15/08. FDA GETS INVOLVED IN OREGON'S MEASURE 27;
BIG FOOD PROCESSORS POUR IN MONEY TO DEFEAT
INITIATIVE TO LABEL GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOODS: The
U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has interjected itself into the
debate on Oregon's Measure 27, a ballot initiative that will be voted on 5
November to decide whether the State will require the labeling of foods
that have been genetically modified or contain genetically modified
ingredients (see Sublegals, 6:05/03; 6:03/09; 5:26/02). For more
information, go to: www.just-food.com. The genetically altered food
debate is of concern for fishing organizations, since there is currently an
application by Aqua Bounty before the FDA seeking approval of a
genetically modified, or "transgenic," Atlantic salmon for use in
commercial aquaculture operations. Over 30 other fish species are also
under consideration for genetic alteration for commercial applications
(see Sublegals, 6:10/03; 6:08/01; 5:09/02; 5:01/05; 4:16/13; 4:11/10;
3:23/14; 3:19/03; 3:07/15; 3:05/15; 2:16/11).
Although the FDA has no authority over state consumer protection
laws, that did not deter FDA Deputy Commission Lester Crawford from
sending a letter to Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber, claiming Measure
27 "would impermissibly interfere with manufacturers' ability to market
their products on a nationwide basis." According to a USA Today
article, Lester goes on to say, "In this letter, we are not promising to take
action, but we are letting the people of Oregon know, as best we can,
what our views are about the ordinance." The letter raises questions
about the FDA, which is supposed to oversee the safety of the nation's
food and medicine supply, and its objectivity in considering the Aqua
Bounty application and others like it, if the agency is also promoting
GMOs (see Sublegals, 6:10/05). For a copy of the FDA letter, go to:
http://www.thecampaign.org/alert-fda.htm. Deputy Commissioner
Lester can be contacted at: deputy.commissioner@fda.gov. In response
to Lester's letter, Steven Druker, Executive Director of the Alliance for
Bio-Integrity, sent a letter to the Governor outlining the misinformation
in the FDA correspondence. A copy of the Druker letter is at:
http://www.voteyeson27.com/druker_letter.htm.
If passed, Measure 27 would make Oregon the first U.S. state to
require labeling of genetically modified (GMO) foods. However, the
European Union (EU), Japan and Australia already require products with
GMO ingredients to be labeled as such. The EU is currently tightening
up its labeling legislation with the effect that, from 17 October, any
foods with more than one percent GMO content must carry GMO
labeling. The Grocery Manufacturers Association has been actively
opposing labeling legislation, including Measure 27 in Oregon and
California's AB 791 (see Sublegals, 6:10/01; 6:06/01), claiming that
labeling will be too costly. Prices, however, have not gone up in
Australia or in other countries where labeling is required. H.J. Heinz is a
member of the Grocery Manufacturers Association. It sells its ketchup in
Australia with labeling stating that there are GMO ingredients in the
product with no extra cost and little effort involved. A copy of that label
is at: http://www.thecampaign.org/heinzgelabel.htm. The Grocery
Manufacturers Association were among those who have continuously
opposed consumer information on food products, including PCFFA's
attempts to get better labeling of fish, beginning with 1981 legislation it
sponsored in the California Legislature.
"Global food manufacturers, chemical and biotechnology companies
have poured in $4.6 million to defeat" Measure 27, according to an
article by Steve Law that appeared in the Salem Journal Statesman.
" Finance reports.......show the Measure 27 campaign could set a new
record for initiative spending in Oregon, with nearly all the money
coming from outside the state to oppose the measure......and the
list of opponents reads like a who's who of the American grocery aisle:
Nestle, General Mills, Proctor & Gamble, Pepsico, Kellogg and Hershey,
to name a few. The biggest contributions, though, came from a group of
six chemical and biotechnology companies who collectively gave $3.7
million to Croplife International, based in Brussels, Belgium. Monsanto
topped the list, contributing nearly $1.5 million."
The total contributions to date spent by the opposition to Measure 27
totals $4,591,164. Of this, only $5,500 came from Oregon - or about one
tenth of one percent of the total spent by the opposition. The Oregon
Food PAC gave $5,000 and the Oregon Food Issues Council gave $500.
There were no contributions from individuals. Proponents of the
measure have only raised about $50,000. The oppositon campaign is
being run by Winner & Mandabach, a Southern California public
relations firm that contracts with Conkling, Fiskum, McCormick to
handle the local legwork.
The corporate funding, to date, making up the Crop Life International
donation to the opposition campaign to Measure 27 are as follows:
Monsanto - $1,480,000; DuPont - $634,286; Syngenta - $528,571; Dow
Agro Sciences - $396,429; BASF - $158,571; Bayer Crop Science -
$105,714; and Aventis - $396,429. Monsanto, the giant chemical
company and a major producer of genetically modified seeds, was also
an opponent of the California legislation aimed at placing a moratorium
on the introduction of transgenic fish in California waters and requiring
the identification of GMO fish at the retail level. For more information,
go to: www.voteyeson27.com.
6:15/09. FDA PROHIBITS ORGANIC FOOD PRODUCER FROM
IDENTIFYING ITS VEGETABLE OILS AS "GMO-FREE": The
Sacramento Bee reports that the U.S. Food & Drug Administration has
pressured Spectrum Organic Products of San Francisco to change the
labels on the company's brand of premium organic vegetable oils.
Spectrum, which according to the Bee article "works so hard to ensure
the food it sells is free from genetically modified organisms [GMO] that
it sends employees as far as France to purchase corn oil guaranteed to be
untainted by biotechnology.......These extra costs can be worthwhile
because some consumers are willing to pay a premium for food labeled
'GMO-free,' as Spectrum once stamped on its bottles of canola oil."
During the debate in the California Legislature on AB 791, it was
suggested that fishermen simply label their fish as "GMO-Free" rather
than requiring producers of transgenic fish to identify their product as
genetically altered. The FDA claims it is misleading to suggest GMO
ingredients are inferior. To see the Sacramento Bee article, go to:
http://www.sacbee.com/state_wire/business/story/4657182p-5675302c.h
tml.
6:15/10. NATIONAL OCEAN COMMISSION RELEASES
INTERIM REPORT: The United States Commission on Ocean Policy
has released its midterm report, "Developing a National Ocean Policy,"
that points to urban, farm, and air pollution as principal non-point
pollution sources damaging the oceans, and especially the nation's
coastal waters. Established by the Oceans Act of 2000 (P.L. 106-256),
and chaired by Admiral James D. Watkins (USN) Ret., the Commission
will make recommendations to the President and Congress on a national
ocean policy. The commission will issue its final report in June 2003.
For a copy of the midterm report go to: www.oceancommission.gov.
6:15/11. FISH & GAME COMMISSION TO DECIDE ON
CHANNEL ISLANDS MPA AT SPECIAL MEETING IN SANTA
BARBARA; REGULAR MEETING SET FOR CRESCENT CITY: The
California Fish & Game Commission will meet 23 October in Santa
Barbara to take final action on the proposed Channel Islands Marine
Protected Areas (MPA). It will also review a petition to list the Xantus's
Murrelet, including consideration of emergency action regarding
incidental take during any California Endangered Species Act (CESA)
candidacy period. The Wednesday meeting will be held at the Earl
Warren Showgrounds, Warren Hall, 3400 Calle Real beginning at 1000
HRS. For complete information about the Santa Barbara meeting, go to:
http://www.dfg.ca.gov/fg_comm/10-23-02agd.html.
The Commission then moves north to Crescent City for its regularly
scheduled meeting of 24-25 October. Agenda items include a
Department of Fish & Game (CDFG) report regarding a ban on the
importation on transgenic fish, an update on the Klamath River fish
die-off, emergency action to protect Sacramento River winter-run
chinook salmon, changes to coonstripe shrimp fishing regulations,
changes to the nearshore restricted access program, and adoption of
regulations for escape panels in Dungeness crab traps. The meeting will
be held at the Del Norte County Board of Supervisors Chambers, 981 H
Street in Crescent City. For complete information, go to:
http://www.dfg.ca.gov/fg_comm/10-24-02agd.html
6:15/12. PFMC TO MEET IN SAN FRANCISO: The Pacific
Fisheries Management Council (PFMC) will meet 28 October - 1
November in Foster City, California (near San Francisco International
Airport). The agenda includes a decision on hearing sites and schedules
for salmon management, adoption of the highly migratory species
fisheries management plan, and deciding on a multi-year groundfish
management plan. For complete information and a copy of the agenda go
to www.pcouncil.org.
6:15/13. FISHING IN A CHANGING WORLD CLIMATE: The
American Fisheries Society (AFS) has released the proceedings of a
symposium held at the American Fisheries Society 2001 annual meeting
titled "Fisheries in a Changing Climate." This symposium's proceedings
represent the culmination of a multi-agency effort, organized by AFS,
Sea Grant and others, to bring together scientists from U.S. and
Canadian governmental agencies and universities to discuss fisheries and
the probable impact on those fisheries of ongoing global climate
changes. The papers in the proceedings cover a wide geographical area
from oceanic fisheries in the Northwest Atlantic and Northeast Pacific to
inland fisheries in the Great Lakes and Western U.S. rivers and streams.
In addition to fisheries science research, some chapters detail the impacts
of climate change on aquatic ecosystems and fisheries policy and
management. The price for AFS members is $42.00 (plus shipping and
handling). List price is $60.00. To order call: (678) 366-1411, or order
on the web at: www.fisheries.org/publications/catbooks/x54032.shtml.
6:15/14. INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP ON PREVENTING
CETACEAN INTERACTIONS WITH LONGLINE FISHERIES:
Ocean longline gear can entangle cetaceans that take fish off hooks at
sea, and such entanglements have been a growing concern in some South
Pacific longline fisheries in recent years. To combat this problem,
fishermen, fishing companies and governments in the South Pacific
region are developing a plan of action to address and prevent these kinds
of encounters. On 11-15 November, a workshop on "Toothed
Whale/Longline Fisheries Interactions in the South Pacific" will be held
at the headquarters of the South Pacific Regional Environment
Programme (SPREP) in Apia, Somoa to explore and help develop
technologies to mitigate and prevent such interactions, and to develop an
implementation plan for new international agreements that address this
issue. The specific focus of the workshop will be the pelagic longline
fisheries for tuna and billfish in the South Pacific. However, fisheries
from many regions will be represented and the efforts of this workshop
can likely be applied elsewhere. Fishermen working in these fisheries
with some experience working on this issue are especially invited, and
some limited financial assistance and travel booking assistance is
available. For more information on SPREP, go to its website at:
www.sprep.org.ws/whatsprep_.htm.
6:15/15. NMFS ACCEPTING COMMENTS ON AMENDMENT 10
TO PACIFIC COASTAL PELAGICS PLAN: The National Marine
Fisheries Service (NMFS) published in the 3 October Federal Register
(Vol. 67, No. 192, pp.62001-62002) its announcement of the Pacific
Fishery Management Council (PFMC) submittal of Amendment 10 to
the Coastal Pelagic Species Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for
Secretarial review. Amendment 10 addresses the transferability of
limited entry permits and maximum sustainable yield (MSY) for market
squid. Only the subject of permit transfer requires regulatory action. The
purpose is to establish the procedures by which limited entry permits can
be transferred to other vessels and/or individuals so that the holders of
the permits have "maximum flexibility in their fishing operations while
the goals of the FMP are achieved." Comments are due on or before 10
December. For more information, contact: James Morgan, Southwest
Region, NMFS, at (562) 980-4036 or Daniel Waldeck, Pacific Fishery
Management Council, at (503) 326-6352.
NEWS, COMMENTS, CORRECTIONS: Submit your news items,
comments or any corrections to 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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