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<h1><st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><b><font size=4
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt'>San Francisco</span></font></b></st1:place></st1:City><font
size=4><span style='font-size:13.5pt'><o:p></o:p></span></font></h1>
<h1><b><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt'>Salmon
fishermen protest cuts <br>
Angered at the near or complete closure of fishing season, they rally at Pier
47</span></font><o:p></o:p></b></h1>
<p class=author><font size=1 face="Times New Roman"><!-- START WRITER CREDIT--><span
style='font-size:7.5pt'><a href="mailto:glenmartin@sfchronicle.com"><!-- END HEADLINE/DECK & SUBHEADLINE/SUBDECK -->Glen
Martin, Chronicle Environment Writer</a></span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=date><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-weight:bold'>Tuesday, April 25, 2006<o:p></o:p></span><!-- END WRITER CREDIT--></font></b></p>
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<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>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. <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>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. <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>The rally also was attended by Reps. Mike Thompson, D-St. <st1:City
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Helena</st1:place></st1:City>, 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. <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>The bill would also direct the <st1:country-region w:st="on">U.S.</st1:country-region>
Commerce Department to complete a salmon recovery plan for the <st1:place
w:st="on">Klamath River</st1:place> and provide $45 million for resuscitating
the Klamath's fisheries. <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>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 <st1:place w:st="on">Sacramento River</st1:place>
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. <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>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. <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>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. <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>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. <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>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. <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>The mood at Monday's rally was pugnacious, with fishermen
saying they won't be able to survive drastic cuts in the catch. <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>"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 <st1:PersonName w:st="on">Zeke
Grader</st1:PersonName>, the executive director of the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Pacific</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Coast</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>
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." <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>Scores of burly fishermen roared their approval at Grader's
words. <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>"If they shut this season down, they shut me down,"
said Will Kozlowski, who owns two commercial boats in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Bodega</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Bay</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>.
"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." <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>Ben Platt, a commercial fisherman from Fort Bragg, said local
salmon fishermen take pride in their work. <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>"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." <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>Thompson called fishermen the heart and soul of the communities
they live in. He blamed the <st1:country-region w:st="on">U.S.</st1:country-region>
Interior Department and its subordinate agency, the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region> Bureau of Reclamation, for the
Klamath's woes. <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>"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." <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>Jeff McCracken, a spokesman for the Bureau of Reclamation,
said his agency is diligent in conforming to federal law on river flows. <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>"We've always followed the biological opinions (of the <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region> 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." <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>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. <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>"This is a huge deal for us," said Russell Moore,
the cafe chef and produce buyer for Chez Panisse in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Berkeley</st1:place></st1:City>. <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>"Wild <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">California</st1:place></st1:State>
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." <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
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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>
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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>
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