[env-trinity] Congressman Mike Thompson's Salmon Legislation Rally

[Byron]

San Francisco


Salmon fishermen protest cuts 
Angered at the near or complete closure of fishing season, they rally at
Pier 47


 <mailto:glenmartin at sfchronicle.com> Glen Martin, Chronicle Environment
Writer

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

 


 
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DTL&o=0> Annetta Pearson dresses as a large salmon at a rally of s...

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Fishermen, enraged at the likelihood of a near or complete closure of the
upcoming California and Oregon salmon season, staged a spirited rally Monday
at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco, calling for restoration of degraded
rivers and disaster relief for fishing families. 

About 100 commercial, sport and tribal fishermen showed up for the event at
Pier 47, and several trolling boats bobbed in the adjacent bay, blowing air
horns and displaying banners. 

The rally also was attended by Reps. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, and Lynn
Woolsey, D-Petaluma. They, along with Rep. George Miller, D-Martinez, are
expected to introduce legislation today in the House of Representatives
providing $81 million for fishermen and fishery-related businesses along the
Pacific coast. 

The bill would also direct the U.S. Commerce Department to complete a salmon
recovery plan for the Klamath River and provide $45 million for
resuscitating the Klamath's fisheries. 

The poor state of Klamath salmon stocks is the cause of this season's
fishing woes. There are plenty of chinook -- or king -- salmon in the open
ocean, but they are mainly Sacramento River fish. Klamath fish are at
critically low numbers, and because Klamath and Sacramento salmon mingle in
marine waters, the Pacific Fishery Management Council earlier this month
recommended greatly reducing the commercial catch to protect the Klamath's
runs. 

Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez is expected to make a final decision on
the matter by the end of this week -- but the only choices appear to be
either complete season closure or draconian reductions in the catch. 

Fishermen say they are being forced to pay for the poor water management
policies of the federal government, which controls the flows on the Klamath.


Much of the water on the river is diverted for agriculture, and four
hydropower dams on the river warm the remainder of the flow to temperatures
that are unhealthy for the fish but conducive to salmon diseases and
parasites. 

In 2002, almost 80,000 mature salmon died from low water, high temperatures
and disease. In subsequent years, large die-offs of young salmon were
reported due to a parasite that thrives in warm water. 

The mood at Monday's rally was pugnacious, with fishermen saying they won't
be able to survive drastic cuts in the catch. 

"We warned the (Bush) administration and federal agencies that there would
be trouble from their policies, but we were met with indifference, inaction
and silence," said Zeke Grader, the executive director of the Pacific Coast
Federation of Fishermen's Associations. "Unless they start fixing things,
we're not going to be pointing fingers -- we're going to be kicking ass." 

Scores of burly fishermen roared their approval at Grader's words. 

"If they shut this season down, they shut me down," said Will Kozlowski, who
owns two commercial boats in Bodega Bay. "I'm a single parent, and I support
two kids with my boats," said Kozlowski. "We don't get unemployment when we
can't work." 

Ben Platt, a commercial fisherman from Fort Bragg, said local salmon
fishermen take pride in their work. 

"Not many fisheries are environmentally cleaner than salmon trolling, and we
provide Americans with the highest quality wild salmon in the world," Platt
said. "We did not come down to the sea to get rich. We pursue the American
dream, and for us, the dream is on the ocean. This is our life, and it is
enough." 

Thompson called fishermen the heart and soul of the communities they live
in. He blamed the U.S. Interior Department and its subordinate agency, the
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, for the Klamath's woes. 

"When 78,000 spawners died on the Klamath in 2001, (then Secretary of the
Interior Gale) Norton said it was the fault of the salmon because they came
in too early to spawn," said Thompson. "But it wasn't their fault." 

Jeff McCracken, a spokesman for the Bureau of Reclamation, said his agency
is diligent in conforming to federal law on river flows. 

"We've always followed the biological opinions (of the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service and the fisheries arm of the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration)," McCracken said. "A federal judge recently
directed NOAA to develop a new biological opinion for the Klamath, and we
will be consulting with them on that." 

The looming wild salmon shortage is resonating far beyond the docks --
especially in the immediate Bay Area, where consumers take both gormandizing
and sustainable food production seriously. 

"This is a huge deal for us," said Russell Moore, the cafe chef and produce
buyer for Chez Panisse in Berkeley. 

"Wild California salmon is our bread-and-butter fish in the spring," he
said. "It's delicious, it's local, it's environmentally sound, and compared
to other fish of similar quality, it's relatively inexpensive. Right now
we're using some Alaskan fish. But one thing's for sure, we won't use farmed
salmon." 

 

Byron Leydecker

Chair, Friends of Trinity River

Advisor, California Trout, Inc

PO Box 2327

Mill Valley, CA 94942-2327

415 383 4810 ph

415 383 9562 fx

bwl3 at comcast.net

bleydecker at stanfordalumni.org

http://www.fotr.org

http:www.caltrout.org 

 

 

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