[acn-l] ~~>FISHLINK SUBLEGALS 5/12/00<~~ (fwd)

peter.unmack at asu.edu
Mon, 15 May 2000 10:22:56 -0700 (MST)

From: FISH1IFR at aol.com
Date: Mon, 15 May 2000 05:04:48 EDT
Subject: ~~>FISHLINK SUBLEGALS 5/12/00<~~
To: AFS at wyoming.com, ACN-L at pinetree.org, crab-l at ios.bc.ca,
fishhabitat at mail.orst.edu, oceancoalition at onelist.com,
salmon at riverdale.k12.or.us

sub1-19.txt
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~~>FISHLINK SUBLEGALS 5/12/00<~~
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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 1, NO. 19 12 May 2000
<<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>>><<

MORE FARM FISH ESCAPE IN BC: A spokesman for Marine
Harvest Canada confirmed last Friday that there had been an escape of
30,000 female smolts from a net pen in Kyuquot Sound, after it was cut by
a boat propeller. This is the first major escape reported this year. Charges
that Atlantic salmon were escaping into the wild have been at the center of
opposition to further expansion of salmon farming in British Columbia.
However, the Canadian government released a report just last year that
said these aquaculture operations could be expanded with the proper
precautions. For the 8 May Seafood.com news article go to:
http://www.seafood.com/newsbookmark.html.

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATIVE HEARING ON ADVERSE IMPACTS
OF GMOs ON THE ENVIRONMENT: The California Legislature's
Select Committee on Higher Education will hold a hearing Monday, 15
May, on the potential adverse impacts of genetically-modified organisms
(GMOs) on the environment. PCFFA has been asked to present testimony
at the hearing on the problems associated with genetically engineered
salmon getting loose into the wild. This issue came up following the 1
May article that appeared in the New York Times (see Sublegals, 5 May
2000). While most salmon farmers are stating publicly they have no
intention of using genetically engineered salmon, the company that
developed the altered fish, Aqua Bounty Foods, states it has been
contacted by salmon growers throughout the world interested in using the
company's genetically engineered salmon broodstock.

Meanwhile, in Nairobi, Kenya, beginning the 15th and ending on 26
May, there will be negotiations on the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety.
This protocol was agreed upon in Montreal in January to create a global
regulatory structure on biotechnology. While the protocol is not as strong
as some wanted to better regulate trade in bio-engineered drugs and foods,
it does, at least, require that shipments of commodity grains for food, feed,
and processing contain a statement that they "may contain GMOs" unless
they are specifically certified as GMO-free. The protocol leaves open the
possibility of more specific labeling later. According to an op-ed in the 28
April issue of Science, "Opportunities for Agricultural Biotechnology," it
also allows countries to reject GMOs unilaterally. The protocol specifies:
"Lack of scientific certainty due to insufficient relevant scientific
information and knowledge regarding the extent of the potential adverse
effects....shall not prevent the party from taking a decision." To date,
there are still no labeling requirements or other measures in place in
either California, other states or the U.S. to regulate GMOs or trade in
genetically engineered products.

In other news related to GMOs, the Associated Press reports that the
McDonalds food chain has decided not to use genetically engineered
potatoes in their french fries. Kellogg's, the breakfast cereal manufacturer,
however, has said it will not refuse genetically altered crops for use in its
foods.

SALMON AQUACULTURE LAWSUIT: On 26 April, the National
Environmental Law Center, on behalf of the U.S. Public Interest Research
Group and four of its Maine members, sent formal 60-day notice to three
Maine salmon farms announcing their intent to file suit in U.S. District
Court (Bangor, ME) against the companies for releasing fish waste, food,
and chemical pollutants in violation of the Clean Water Act (CWA)
because they have no federal discharge permits. The farms claim that they
are exempt from the permit requirements because the CWA treats
aquaculture uniquely. For more information contact the National
Environmental Law Center, 29 Temple Place, 2nd Floor, Boston, MA
02111, (617)422-0880.

NOAA/NMFS REQUEST FOR AQUACULTURE PROPOSALS TO
FUND: The National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA)
Office of Oceanic & Atmospheric Research and its National Marine
Fisheries Service (NMFS) are soliciting proposals to fund marine
aquaculture. $600,000 is being made available in FY 2000 "for research,
developmental and programmatic activities." Areas of priority for the
government grants to private aquaculture are: 1) improvements to the
regulatory framework for aquaculture; 2) definition of elements to be
included in a code of conduct for marine aquaculture and stakeholder
acceptance of the code; 3) demonstration of the use of Geographic
Information System (GIS) based use-mapping of Federal and/or state
waters useful to the potential siting of aquaculture installations; 4)
"environmentally sound" technologies and evaluation of impacts
associated with grow-out and enhancement activities; and 5) regional
planning and coordination efforts which further regional or national
marine aquaculture goals. Proposals are due by 1600 (EDT), 15 May
2000. For further information, visit the Sea Grant website at:
http://www.nsgo.seagrant.org/research/rfp/index.html.

MAINE TO RECEIVE $5 MILLION IN SALMON RESTORATION
FUNDS: Seafood.com reports on 11 May that Maine's two senators say
they have secured $5 million in funding for salmon conservation efforts
in Maine in an effort to show that the species does not need to be listed
under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) to receive funds from the
federal government. Both senators have questioned the data on which the
government is basing its plan to list Atlantic salmon as endangered, and
the money will both provide for some additional watershed protection, and
for a review of the data on which the listing is being based. This is twice
the amount originally requested. Salmon protection groups say that this
money is welcome, but that a listing should still go forward in order to
provide the maximum protection from land uses and aquaculture practices
that have already devastated the species in all but a handful of small
rivers. See Seafood.com's news archive at:
http://www.seafood.com/newsbookmark.html.

CONGRESSIONAL HEARING ON SALMON HABITAT
RESTORATION FUNDING: The House Subcommittee on Fisheries
Conservation, Wildlife & Oceans will hold a hearing 18 May on HR 2798,
the Pacific Salmon Recovery Act, authored by California Representative
Mike Thompson (D-Saint Helena) and 58 co-sponsors. The bill would
guide the appropriation of federal salmon restoration funds to the States of
Alaska, California, Oregon and Washington. To date, the funds have
come to the states as a result of language in the appropriations bills. This
year the states each received just under $10 million each for salmon
restoration and the Administration is proposing a $100 million package for
the four states and tribes for this upcoming fiscal year. Thompson, when
he was in the California Legislature, authored SB 271 which provided
state tidelands oil revenue funds for salmon restoration and set-up an
oversight group ("SB 271 Committee") to prioritize restoration funding,
judge restoration proposals on their merits and recommend funding
accordingly. PCFFA Northwest Regional Director Glen Spain has been
invited to testify at the hearing on Thursday.

In a related matter in California, the Sonoma County Board of
Supervisors, its water agency and a local newspaper, the Santa Rosa
Press-Democrat, have been complaining vociferously regarding the
California allocation of the federal salmon monies. According to at least
one Sonoma County Supervisor and the head of the Sonoma County
Water Agency, the federal salmon monies were solely "the result of the
lobbying by the Supervisors and water agency." Depending on whose
figures are to be believed, the County spent between $485,000 and $1
million in lobbying fees (plane tickets, hotel rooms, dinners, DC lobbying
firms). The County and its newspaper have been incensed that neither the
California Resources Agency, nor the National Marine Fisheries Service,
are treating the funds as block grants to the counties (to fix road culverts
or pay ongoing county obligations to fix salmon destroying projects).
Sonoma County has been turned down numerous times for project
funding by the SB 271 Committee which felt the County's proposals
either lacked any real salmon benefits or were simply "gold plated." The
County and its newspaper's editor have also been incensed that some of
the federal dollars will go to fix salmon and steelhead problems in
southern California watersheds.

In response to the tumult caused by Sonoma County, its water agency
and newspaper, regarding the State-Federal Memorandum of Agreement
(MOA) on the expenditure of the federal salmon dollars in California,
State Assemblywoman Virginia Strom-Martin, chair of the Legislature's
Joint Committee on Fisheries & Aquaculture, has called for an
investigation into the Board of Supervisors and Sonoma County Water
Agency's expenditure of funds to lobby for the federal money. Apparently
only $250,000 was officially approved for this purpose. There has also
been a question of why any money was spent, given solid Clinton
Administration and Congressional support (e.g., Alaska Senator Ted
Stevens, chair, of the Senate Appropriations Committee), to lobby this
issue. For more information on the hearing, visit the Resources
Committee website at: http://www.house.gov/resources/.

PROPOSITION 13 GRANT PROJECTS SOUGHT: In March 2000
California voters passed Proposition 13 (Water Bond) which provides
$90,000,000 for the Watershed Protection Program for grants to
municipalities, local public agencies, non-profit organizations and
educational institutions. These grants will fund a variety of projects such
as watershed planning, implementation projects for flood control,
enhancement of riparian and wetland areas, aquatic and terrestrial habitats,
monitoring, assessment, GIS, erosion and sediment control, groundwater
recharge, and reduction in nonpoint source pollution. The North Coast
Regional Water Board is putting together a list of potential projects in
anticipation of the release of the Request for Proposals, due out this
summer, and to demonstrate the need for project funding in the North
Coast Region. For more information on Prop 13 funding go to the State
Water Resources Control Board's web site at: http://www.swrcb.ca.gov .

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON FISHERY MANAGEMENT
AND SEAFOOD TRADE: An international fisheries conference
representing industry, academia, and government will be meeting 10-14
July 2000 at Oregon State University in Corvallis and Newport, Oregon.
Industry members from fishing, processing, retailing, and other sectors of
the seafood industries are welcomed and encouraged to join other
fishing and seafood experts from all over the world. The four day
conference in Corvallis plus a one day field trip to Newport will cover a
huge variety of topics from the health effects of consuming seafood and
their marketing implications, to ecolabelling, HACCP, fisheries
management policies across the world and cultural perspectives on
resource use. Friday's field trip to Newport will feature the history of West
Coast fisheries from the perspectives of well-known fishermen, companies
and fishing organizations. Wednesday 12 July will be "Industry Focus
Day." For further information see their conference website at:
http://www.orst.edu/Dept/IIFET/2000/.

ANNUAL SEA URCHIN MEETING OPEN TO ALL INTERESTED
PARTIES: The sixth annual meeting of the Sea Urchin Harvesters'
Association of California (SUHAC) will be held in the Veteran's Hall in
Santa Barbara, California on 20 May 2000. The meeting will start at 0800
hrs and go until 2100 hrs. Activities will include General Business, and a
workshop detailing the Marine Life Management Act (MLMA). There
will also be a Barbeque, complete with a raffle and entertainment. For
more information go to:
http://wfcb.ucdavis.edu/www/chrisdewees/urchinflyer.htm. Or email Pete
Halmay at phalmay at earthlink.net.

WORKSHOP ON SEAFOOD SUSTAINABILITY IN A CHANGING
CLIMATE IN THE NORTHEAST PACIFIC OCEAN AND COASTAL
ZONES: A participatory workshop to develop solutions and
recommendations for research and policy to sustain the fisheries during
anticipated climate change will be held 25-26 May at 1996 Classroom
Block, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC. Attendees should include
researchers, policy-makers and those directly involved in the various
facets of the fisheries and aquaculture business. Purpose of the workshop
is share your knowledge, learn about the possible impacts of climate
change on your industry, and participate in developing recommendations
for future research and policy. Speakers will include the Hon. John Fraser
of the Pacific Fisheries Resource Conservation Council and Dr. John
Davis, Assistant Deputy Minister, Canadian Department of Fisheries &
Oceans (DFO) as well as many others. For further information call
(250)472-4291 or visit the Workshop website at:
http://www.cics.uvic.ca/workshop.

NOAA "INTERNET TOWN MEETING" ON FUTURE OF COAST:
The National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is hosting
an internet meeting "Coastal Futures 2025" to gain public input on the
directions desired for the future of the nation's coast, including its fishing
industry and fishing communities. To participate, visit the website at:
http://state-of-coast.noaa.gov/natdialog.

INCREASES IN GLOBAL TEMPERATURE COULD ACCELERATE
HISTORICAL RATE OF SEA-LEVEL RISE: A new report released
recently by the Pew Center on Global Climate Change predicts that global
climate changes already underway will lead to a rise in sea levels through
the warming of oceans and melting of ice. The report concludes that sea
levels have already risen between 10 and 25 cm (4 and 10 inches) over
the last century and climate change will greatly accelerate these rates, with
sea levels projected to rise by 50 cm (20 in) by 2100. Low-lying areas in
the Gulf Coast, the South, and the mid-Atlantic regions are especially at
risk.

The report, Sea-Level Rise & Global Climate Change: A Review of
Impacts to US Coasts, estimates the impacts of a 50 cm (20 in) sea-level
rise by 2100 on coastal property ranging from about $20 billion to about
$150 billion. In addition, although current assessments do not include the
monetary costs of impacts to wetlands, the implications of this loss could
also be significant for salmon, shrimp and many other species that depend
upon coastal wetlands for part of their life cycle. A copy of the report, as
well as other Pew Center reports on global climate change, can be
obtained from their web site at:
http://www.pewclimate.org/projects/index.html.

STANDING FORESTS AN ECONOMIC BOON: A new economics
report finds that logging on national forests is "a money losing
proposition" whose economic costs far outweigh any benefits. The report
looks at the heavy taxpayer subsidies for public lands logging and
analyzes the value of ecosystem services, such as "flood control, water
purification, pest control, and pollination" to rural communities. Some
three years of research went into the report which consistently found
"more jobs, more income and more public revenues" associated with
forests as intact ecosystems. A recent article on the report can be viewed
by visting: http://www.enn.com/enn-news-archive/2000/03/
03162000/ecolog_1106775315141348.asp. A copy of the report itself, The
Economic Case Against National Forest Logging, can be ordered from
Forest Conservation Council, PO Box 22488, Sante Fe, NM 87502
(505)986-1163.

COMMENT PERIOD ON FEDERAL WATERSHED POLICY
EXTENDED TO 24 MAY 2000: The comment period for the Unified
Federal Policy for Ensuring a Watershed Approach to Federal Land and
Resource Management has been extended to 24 May. For more
information, on the Watershed Approach visit:
http://www.cleanwater.gov/ufp/introduction.html.

FEDERAL HYDROPOWER BILLS THREATEN SALMON
PROTECTIONS: A package of bills in the Congress related to
hydropower threaten salmon and other fish protections in hydro electric
operations. S.422 would exempt small hydro (less than five megawatts)
operation in Alaska from regulation by the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission (FERC). Ironically, Alaska with the healthiest natural
salmon runs in the world continues under constant threat from hydro,
mining and timber interests seeking to trash the State's watersheds. And
then there are two companion bills in the Congress (S.701 by Idaho
Senator Larry Craig, and HR. 2335 by New York Congressman Edolphus
Towns) sponsored by the hydropower industry that would denigrate fish
protections in the federal licensing of hydro projects. The House
Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Energy & Power is scheduled
to mark-up the two House bills on 23 May. For more information,
contact, Steve Malloch with Trout Unlimited at: smalloch at tu.org.

CALIFORNIA INTERIM NEARSHORE FISHING REGULATIONS
SET FOR ADOPTION IN JUNE: The California Fish & Game
Commission is set to adopt four interim measures for the State's emerging
nearshore and livefish fishery. The interim regulations are authorized
pursuant to the Marine Life Management Act (AB 1271-Keeley (1998)) as
part of the program in developing a long-term management plan for this
fishery. Measures for adoption include a moratorium on permits in the
fishery and a control date for limited entry (1April -31 December 1999
proposed). Two other measures will be put over: rings on traps for sea
otters andnight baiting of traps north of Point Arguello. The Commission
meeting will take place on 15 June in Truckee. For more information, visit
its website at: http://www.dfg.ca.gov/fg_comm/.

GOT NEWS?: Submit news items to Molly Thomas, Editor at:
ifrfish at aol.com or call the IFR office with the news and a source at
either: (415) 561-FISH (Southwest Office) or (541) 689-2000 (Northwest
Office).

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