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<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'>NO
DISASTER DECLARATION FOR 2005 CALIFORNIA/OREGON OCEAN SALMON FISHERY<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'>NMFS
announcement comes on eve of decision for 2006 season<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'>Despite
pleas almost a year ago from 37 members of Congress, two governors, and fishing
groups, the National Marine Fisheries Service has elected not to declare the
sharply curtailed 2005 salmon fisheries off California and Oregon a
"fishery disaster" under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation
and Management Act.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'>The
states and federal government shut down ocean trolling last summer because of
low numbers of <st1:place w:st="on">Klamath River</st1:place> chinook, but
reopened the commercial season for short periods in the fall. Shortly after the
restrictions were announced, NMFS received requests for a disaster declaration,
which would have opened the door for federal financial aid -- not only for
commercial fishermen but for the local businesses that support them.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'>The
decision was made public in the third paragraph of a March 31 letter from NMFS
Regional Administrators D. Robert Lohn (Northwest) and Rodney McInnis
(Southwest) to Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) Chairman Donald
Hansen.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'>The news
also comes on the eve of a PFMC meeting later this week, where the council is
widely expected to recommend severe curtailment -- and possibly a total
shutdown -- of ocean salmon fishing this season off the coasts of <st1:State
w:st="on">California</st1:State> and <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Oregon</st1:place></st1:State>.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'>In their
letter, Lohn and McInnis said, "[A]s you may now be aware, NOAA has
determined that the best available information did not support a declaration of
a commercial fishery failure in 2005. The commercial fishery failure could not
be justified because the commercial fisher's [sic] sales of salmon either met
or exceeded the average value of recent years because the price to fishermen
was high and offset the effects of the more restrictive fishing seasons.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'>"Community
impacts also were assessed in the disaster consideration and the<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'>2005
economic activity generated by commercial salmon fishing in each of the ports
affected by the restrictions was found to be near the average of recent
years," the administrators said.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'>A NMFS
spokesman confirmed that congressional staff in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City
w:st="on">Washington</st1:City>, <st1:State w:st="on">D.C.</st1:State></st1:place>,
were briefed on the decision March 29, and that "calls were made" to
governors. A letter from NMFS Administrator William Hogarth further explaining
the agency's decision is "in the works," according to another NMFS
official.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'>The
decision provoked outrage from the fishing community.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'>Gerald
Reinholt, an Oregon fish processor and industry representative to the salmon
sub-panel of the PFMC, said, "NOAA doesn't have the right to decide what a
fisherman should make."<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'>"No
matter how you look at it, it certainly is a fishery failure," he told
members of the Klamath Fishery Management Council in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Sacramento</st1:place></st1:City> April 3.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'>According
to Reinholt, there are some real dangers in thinking consumers will keep paying
more for wild fish when farmed fish are readily available.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'>"This
party may soon be over," he said.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'>Last
year, the PFMC recommended severe cutbacks for salmon seasons off the coasts of
<st1:State w:st="on">California</st1:State> and <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Oregon</st1:place></st1:State>. This season's forecasts are even
grimmer and may result in a complete closure of both commercial and
recreational salmon fisheries. The other two options would allow varying levels
of fishing opportunities.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'>If there
is a shutdown, NMFS told PFMC it will "analyze the projected impacts of
the 2006 ocean salmon management measures as soon as those measures are
established."<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'>On March
28, Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski hosted an "emergency summit" in <st1:City
w:st="on">Salem</st1:City> on the expected closure of <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Oregon</st1:place></st1:State>'s salmon season, seeking upfront
commitments to "bring relief to the families, businesses and towns
affected by this problem." He said he was sending a letter to Commerce Secretary
Carlos Gutierrez asking him to declare the 2006 ocean fishery an economic
disaster.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'>He
further promised to get Gutierrez and Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne, nominated to
be Interior Secretary, to visit the state and "participate in a dialogue
about the 'inseparable connection' between federal management decisions in the
Klamath Basin and federal responsibility to manage salmon and marine stocks.
That dialogue should examine the question of how many Klamath fall Chinook must
return every year to maintain their viability."<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'>At issue
are record-low numbers of fall-run Chinook salmon originating in the <st1:place
w:st="on">Klamath River</st1:place>. What's particularly vexing to fishers is
that the ocean is teeming with other salmon, especially those reared in the <st1:place
w:st="on">Sacramento River</st1:place>. However, because anglers can't
distinguish which silver-sided fish was born in which river, NMFS manages on
the basis of what it calls "weak stock," meaning fishing regulations
are set to protect the weakest, or least abundant, salmon populations.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'>Klamath
stocks aren't major contributors to the ocean salmon fishery.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'>Depending on the area and time of
year, they can account for less than 1 percent and up to 10 percent of the
catch off <st1:State w:st="on">California</st1:State> and <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Oregon</st1:place></st1:State>. But when Klamath salmon abundance
levels are low -- even if other stocks are abundant -- West Coast ocean salmon
fisheries are faced with severe regulatory closures, a scenario that fishers
and the agencies that oversee them say appears unlikely to improve anytime
soon.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:PersonName w:st="on"><em><i><font size=3 color=gray
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Byron
Leydecker</span></font></i></em></st1:PersonName><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Chair, Friends of <st1:place w:st="on">Trinity
River</st1:place></span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Advisor, California Trout, Inc</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:address w:st="on"><st1:Street w:st="on"><em><i><font
size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
color:gray'>PO Box</span></font></i></em></st1:Street><em><i><font
color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='color:gray'> 2327</span></font></i></em></st1:address><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on"><em><i><font
size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
color:gray'>Mill Valley</span></font></i></em></st1:City><em><i><font
color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='color:gray'>, <st1:State w:st="on">CA</st1:State>
<st1:PostalCode w:st="on">94942-2327</st1:PostalCode></span></font></i></em></st1:place><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>415 383 4810 ph</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>415 383 9562 fx</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><a href="mailto:bwl3@comcast.net">bwl3@comcast.net</a></span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><a href="mailto:bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org">bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org</a></span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><a href="http://www.fotr.org">http://www.fotr.org</a></span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><u><font size=3 color=blue face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:blue'>http:www.caltrout.org</span></font></u><font
color=lime><span style='color:lime'> </span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> </span><o:p></o:p></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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