[env-trinity] Yurok, Karuk tribes threaten feds with lawsuit over Klamath salmon

[Tom Stokely]

http://www.times-standard.com/environment-and-nature/20160624/yurok-karuk-tribes-threaten-feds-with-lawsuit-over-klamath-salmon

Yurok, Karuk tribes threaten feds with lawsuit over Klamath salmon
The Yurok and Karuk tribes announced their intention to sue two federal agencies on Friday for alleged violations of the Endangered Species Act unless they take action to provide more spring flows for coho salmon (pictured) on the Klamath River. courtesy of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric AdministrationBy Will Houston, Eureka Times-StandardPOSTED: 06/24/16, 9:13 PM PDT | UPDATED: 5 HRS AGO# COMMENTSThis Aug. 21, 2009 file photo shows Iron Gate Dam spanning the Klamath River near Hornbrook, California. Three tribes — Yurok, Karuk and Hoopa Valley — are calling on two federal agencies to release more dam water in the spring and winter to flush fish parasites that infected as many as 91 percent of juvenile salmon, including threatened coho salmon, in 2014 and 2015.Jeff Barnard — The Associated PressThe Karuk and Yurok tribes are planning to sue two federal agencies for what they perceive to be a failure to protect threatened juvenile coho salmon from deadly parasitic outbreaks on the Klamath River in 2014 and 2015.The tribes blamed the agencies’ management of Klamath River flows for allowing more than 90 percent of juvenile salmon to become infected by the parasite in 2015 and a nearly identical number in 2014.“These irresponsible management decisions will create destructive consequences that will be felt by our children, our grandchildren and many future generations,” Yurok Tribal Council Chairman Thomas O’Rourke said in a statement.In a March 2016 letter to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the National Marine Fisheries Service stated that higher disease risk is expected in dry years and that it is considering to allow more fish to be infected during these drier periods before changes to river management will be considered.The tribes’ 60-day notice sent to the U.S. Interior Department’s Bureau of Reclamation and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Marine Fisheries Service on Friday intends to initiate discussions of possible solutions before a lawsuit is ever filed.Karuk Tribe Natural Resources Policy Advocate Craig Tucker said the ultimate solution to these disease outbreaks is removing four hydroelectric dams along the river, but said that water releases from the dams can prevent further outbreaks in the meantime.“Until we remove the dams we can’t solve the problem, but we can use flows to help manage the problem and that’s what we need the (Bureau of Reclamation) to do,” Tucker said.National Marine Fisheries Service spokesman Michael Milstein said the agency is amenable to discussing the tribes’ concerns.“We’re currently reviewing the notice and, like the tribes, we remain concerned about the health of salmon in the Klamath River,” he wrote in an email to the Times-Standard on Friday. “We look forward to further discussion about the points the tribes have raised.”Bureau of Reclamation Mid-Pacific Region Deputy Public Affairs Officer Wilbert “Louis” Moore declined to comment due to the pending litigation.The notice of intent from the Karuk and Yurok tribes comes nearly a month after the Hoopa Valley Tribe sent a notice of intent to the same two federal agencies in May outlining the same concerns. Tucker said the two cases are not connected, though a judge may join them if the lawsuits are eventually filed.The three tribes are united in their claim that the federal agencies violated the federal Endangered Species Act by allowing high numbers of juvenile coho salmon to become infected by a microscopic intestinal parasite known as Ceratomyxa shasta in 2014 and 2015. Coho salmon in the lower Klamath River are listed as a threatened species under the act.During those years, as many as 91 percent of juvenile coho and Chinook salmon were infected by the parasite and likely died from it, Tucker said. Due to the small size of the young fish, Tucker said the die-off was not as “dramatic to the eye” as an adult salmon die-off where fish carcasses line the banks of the river.The intestinal parasite differs from the gill parasite known as “ich” which was found to have infected adult fall-run salmon on the Klamath River in 2014 and 2015 — the first time since the 2002 “ich” outbreak that led to the deaths of tens of thousands of fish on the river.The National Marine Fisheries Services addressed the intestinal parasite in a 2013 biological opinion to the Bureau of Reclamation. Under that opinion, up to 49 percent of juvenile salmon in the Klamath River are allowed be infected by Ceratomyxa shasta as a result of the bureau’s dam operations. If the infection rates climb above 49 percent, the Bureau of Reclamation is obligated to consult with the National Marine Fisheries Service to discuss possible changes of operations.“If fish disease gets too high, you have to go back to the drawing board,” Tucker said.After the disease outbreaks in 2014 and early 2015, the Bureau of Reclamation upheld its obligations and wrote to the National Marine Fisheries Service seeking consultation about the “unprecedented, multi-year drought conditions” on the river.Nine months later, the National Marine Fisheries Service responded stating that its biological opinion remained valid as it is “expected that environmental conditions during consecutive dry years would be particularly poor and associated disease risks would be higher.”The service also stated that it plans to revise the biological opinion before April 2017, specifically revising how many salmon would be allowed to be harmed or killed by the parasite in drier, low-flow years.Tucker equated this to “changing the rules of the game at half-time.”“You can’t just say it’s OK when it’s really dry to kill all the fish,” he said. “The whole reason we have an Endangered Species Act is to take care of these species when times are bad.”To prevent future parasitic outbreaks, the tribes are calling for the federal agencies to draft a plan that would schedule water releases from Iron Gate Dam in the spring and winter in order to flush out the parasites before they are able to latch on to juvenile salmon. Tucker said a water release from the Iron Gate Dam earlier this year showed improvements to juvenile fish. The Bureau of Reclamation is currently developing a long-term plan for lower Klamath River salmon populations, which would include set protocol for how and when more water should be released from dams to prevent outbreaks of fish diseases and parasites. However, the tribes are seeking water releases on a much quicker timeline.For the Karuk and Yurok tribes, the success of the Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement will be paramount to ending these disease outbreaks, which occur more readily in warm, low-flowing waters. The agreement proposes to remove four hydroelectric dams from the river by 2020 to improve flows and fish habitat. Hoopa Valley Tribal Fisheries Director Mike Orcutt said the agreement would have positive impacts to water quality, but said that there are still several issues to overcome such as water sharing with Klamath Basin irrigators and water quality within the upper basin.“We’re not putting our eggs in one basket,” Orcutt said.The agreement is set to be submitted to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for consideration next month.With drought conditions lifting in most of Humboldt County and other parts of the North Coast, Tucker and Orcutt said that river conditions are looking more favorable for fish overall. However, the river’s had one of its lowest predicted runs of fall Chinook salmon since at least 1992. This has resulted in the Yurok Tribe forgoing all commercial salmon fishing in 2016, according to the tribe’s news release. Due to the die-offs of juvenile salmon over the past few years, Tucker said these low runs will likely be common on the Klamath River for future seasons.“The reason we’re having these low runs is directly related to these disease issues,” he said.Will Houston can be reached at 707-441-0504.
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