[env-trinity] Article submission: Ocean Fishermen Say Proposition 1 Would Destroy Salmon Fishery

[Dan Bacher]

Photo of Larry Collins with a salmon at the press conference courtesy  
of the No on Prop. 1 campaign.



http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/10/04/1334311/-Ocean-Fishermen-Say-Proposition-1-Would-Destroy-Salmon-Fishery

Ocean Fishermen Say Proposition 1 Would Destroy Salmon Fishery

by Dan Bacher

If you think that the November election doesn’t have anything to do  
with salmon and other ocean fishing, please think again. The results  
of this year’s vote on Proposition 1, Governor Jerry Brown’s water  
bond that bails out corporate agribusiness interests, has EVERYTHING  
to do with the future of ocean (and freshwater) fishing!

To get this message across, ocean salmon fishermen on Friday, October  
3 announced their opposition to Proposition 1, the State Water Bond,  
at a news conference at Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco.

“Prop. 1 is one more shovel of dirt on the grave of our salmon, crab  
and other Pacific fisheries,” said Larry Collins, of the San Francisco  
Crab Boat Association. “Building more dams to hold water we don’t have  
is misplaced spending and harms the businesses, families and  
communities that depend upon our salmon, crab and other fisheries. The  
salmon and crab that are essential to our Northern California diet and  
culture will eventually disappear from our dinner plates if  
Proposition 1 passes in the November election.”

Proposition 1 is a bad investment for California and a $14 billion  
burden to taxpayers, according to Collins. It does not mitigate the  
effects of drought, and it does nothing to establish long-term water  
self-sufficiency. It takes needed funds away from education, health  
and other priorities.

“Prop. 1 will not solve our water problems. Proposition 1 continues  
down the road of overpromising water for big ag, over-pumping the  
Delta to serve unsustainable mega-farms and robbing our fisheries of  
the water needed to sustain our seafood production,” said Mike Hudson,  
of the Small Boat Commercial Salmon Fishermen’s Association.

“Prop. 1 will divert more water from our rivers and streams, and make  
our environment less stable. Bay and coastal fisheries are dependent  
on good water quality and fresh water flows from the Delta. Prop. 1’s  
dam construction starves the Sacramento River, the Delta, and San  
Francisco Bay of the water flows they need. This will crash our salmon  
and other fisheries," noted Hudson.

“Prop. 1 continues to have taxpayers subsidize excessive water  
diversions from the SF Bay Delta estuary. These water diversions have  
a massive negative impact on San Francisco Bay and coastal fisheries.   
Too much water is pumped from the Delta for use by big agribusiness on  
the west side of the San Joaquin Valley,” said Hudson.

As Bill Jennings, Executive Director of the California Sportfishing  
Protection Alliance, said, Prop. 1 "is a poster-child of why  
California is in a water crisis: it enriches water speculators but  
accomplishes little in addressing the drought, solving California's  
long-term water needs, reducing reliance on The Delta, or protecting  
our rivers and fisheries."

“Vote NO on Proposition 1,” added Zeke Grader, Executive Director of  
the Pacific Coast Federation of Fisherman’s Associations. “Demand a  
water bond that invests in the sustainable solutions we need, not  
deadbeat dams.”

For more information, please visit http://www.noonprop1.org

It is crucial to understand that Governor Jerry Brown, the primary  
proponent of Proposition 1, is no friend of salmon, salmon fishermen  
and fisherwomen, the ocean and the public trust. In addition to his  
support for this budget-busting Festival of Pork, Brown has  
relentlessly promoted the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) to build  
the peripheral tunnels, the most environmentally destructive project  
in California history.

Brown also forged ahead with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's  
privately funded Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative. The oil  
industry lobbyist-overseen Initiative created a network of fake  
"marine protected areas" that fail to protect the ocean from offshore  
oil drilling, fracking, pollution, corporate aquaculture, military  
testing and all human impacts on the ocean other than fishing and  
gathering.

To make matters worse, a federal judge in May sentenced Ron LeValley,  
co-chair of the MLPAI "Science" Advisory Team for the North Coast, to  
10 months in federal prison for conspiracy to embezzle $900,000 from  
the Yurok Tribe.

For a complete, updated review of Brown's environmental policies, go  
to: http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/09/24/big-oils-favorite-governor-jerry-brown/ 
  
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