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<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:12.0pt'><b><span style='font-size:9.0pt;
font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#111111'>PRESS RELEASE</span></b><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";
color:#111111'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:12.0pt'><b><span style='font-size:9.0pt;
font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#111111'>Pacific Coast Federation of
Fishermen's Associations</span></b><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:
"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:12.0pt'><b><span style='font-size:9.0pt;
font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#111111'>Water4Fish</span></b><b><o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";
color:#111111'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:12.0pt'><b><span style='font-size:9.0pt;
font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#111111'>For Immediate Release:
February 1, 2010</span></b><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";
color:#111111'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:12.0pt'><b><span style='font-size:9.0pt;
font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#111111'>Contact:</span></b><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:12.0pt'><b><span style='font-size:9.0pt;
font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#111111'>Zeke Grader, PCFFA: (415)
561-5080, ext. 224, <a href="mailto:zgrader@ifrfish.org"><span
style='color:#17345C'>zgrader [at] ifrfish.org</span></a></span></b><b><o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:12.0pt'><b><span style='font-size:9.0pt;
font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#111111'>Dick Pool, Water4Fish: (925)
825-8560, <a href="mailto:pool94549@sbcglobal.net"><span style='color:#17345C'>pool94549
[at] sbcglobal.net</span></a></span></b><b><o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";
color:#111111'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:12.0pt'><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#111111'>Agribusiness Giant Westlands
Moves to Kill Salmon</span></b><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:
"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:12.0pt'><b><span style='font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";
color:#111111'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:12.0pt'><b><span style='font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";
color:#111111'>Seeks legal permission to double death rate of migrating baby
salmon in Delta</span></b><b><o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";
color:#111111'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:12.0pt'><b><span style='font-size:9.0pt;
font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#111111'>Fresno, CA Westlands Water
District has asked a federal judge in Fresno to issue a temporary restraining
order to block a federal salmon restoration plan that protects salmon and other
fish in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Westlands move could put the survival
of California and Oregon's multi-billion dollar commercial and recreational
salmon fishing industry on the line.</span></b><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";
color:#111111'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:12.0pt'><b><span style='font-size:9.0pt;
font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#111111'>The group is requesting a
court to order lifting restrictions on the operation of huge delta water pumps
and canals from February through May. Pumping water from the delta south is
restricted at this time to protect baby salmon that migrate from the Sacramento
River to the ocean during this period. The pumps move massive volumes of fresh
water from the Delta to farms and cities to the south. Past pumping during the
spring salmon migration is known to have killed large numbers of salmon. The
request is expected to be heard in U.S. District Court tomorrow.</span></b><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";
color:#111111'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:12.0pt'><b><span style='font-size:9.0pt;
font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#111111'>The restrictions in question
were put in place in 2009 as part of a federal salmon restoration plan, known
as a Biological Opinion. Recent studies indicate that the salmon restoration
plan may increase the baby salmon survival by at least fifty percent. The
salmon restoration plan protects threatened species of salmon and other native
fish. It also helps improve the survival of non- threatened, commercially
valuable fall-run chinook salmon. Sacramento River fall-run chinook, commonly
known as king salmon, form the backbone of Oregon and California's salmon
fishing industry.</span></b><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";
color:#111111'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:12.0pt'><b><span style='font-size:9.0pt;
font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#111111'>Fishing families along one
thousand miles of U.S. coastline rely on healthy runs of Sacramento River
salmon to make a living; they depend on keeping the current salmon protection
plan in place, said Zeke Grader, executive director of the Pacific Coast
Federation of Fishermen's Associations. Too much water is being taken from the
San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta estuary salmon, fishing
families, coastal communities and seafood consumers have paid a heavy price as
a result.</span></b><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";
color:#111111'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:12.0pt'><b><span style='font-size:9.0pt;
font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#111111'>In a typical year, the Sacramento's
fall-run chinook represent ninety percent of the salmon caught off California,
and sixty percent of the salmon caught off Oregon. The recent catastrophic
collapse of the Sacramento's once mighty salmon runs, driven in large part by
poor water management in the Delta, has led to two years of closed fishing in
two states, hundreds of millions in lost income, and tens of thousands of lost
jobs.</span></b><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";
color:#111111'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:12.0pt'><b><span style='font-size:9.0pt;
font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#111111'>The shutdown of the
California recreational and commercial salmon fishing industry for the last two
years has already erased $2.8 billion dollars and 23,000 jobs from our state's
economy, said Dick Pool, program manager of Water4Fish. The 2009 adult salmon
returns to the Sacramento are almost assured to reach another all-time record
low. The past water export practices have been the root cause of this decline.
This federal fish restoration plan is the absolute minimum we need to begin a turnaround
of this decline.</span></b><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";
color:#111111'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:12.0pt'><b><span style='font-size:9.0pt;
font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#111111'>Salmon, and the fishing
families that depend on them, will have even more to lose if Westlands gets its
way. According to the National Marine Fishery Service, when the Delta pumps are
on, baby salmon are diverted from their natural route in the mainstem
Sacramento River into the central and southern Delta waterways, where they
suffer mortality rates of sixty five percent. The diverted salmon also fall
victim to the Delta pumps. Only one baby salmon in six survives an encounter with
state pumping facilities, while only one in three survives after being drawn
into federal pumps.</span></b><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:
"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";
color:#111111'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:12.0pt'><b><span style='font-size:9.0pt;
font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#111111'>The federal fish restoration
plans for the Delta have been strongly opposed by Westlands and other western
San Joaquin Valley agribusiness, as well southern California land speculators.
Western San Joaquin growers and their Congressional representatives have
overlooked or belittled clear evidence that Delta water withdrawals have
exceeded the ecological carrying capacity of the Delta. Those favoring more water
exports have further refused to acknowledge the economic damage done to Oregon
and California's multi-billion dollar sport and commercial salmon fishery
caused by the excessive water withdrawals from the Delta.</span></b><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";
color:#111111'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:12.0pt'><b><span style='font-size:9.0pt;
font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#111111'>The Delta is the single most
important estuary on the West Coast of the Americas and provides habitat and a
migratory pathway between Sierra Nevada streams and the Golden Gate for the
West Coasts second largest salmon run. Biologists have grown alarmed in recent
years about the cascading series of crashing Delta fish populations; not only
salmon and steelhead, but Delta smelt, striped bass, longfin smelt, sturgeon
and Sacramento splittail are all in trouble.</span></b><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";
color:#111111'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:12.0pt'><b><span style='font-size:9.0pt;
font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#111111'>In November of 2007, the
California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG) fall survey of native delta fish
found that five out of the six fish surveyed had declined to all time record
low numbers. These surveys make it clear that there are biological limits to
the amount of water that can be exported south.</span></b><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";
color:#111111'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:12.0pt'><b><span style='font-size:9.0pt;
font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#111111'>###</span></b><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Byron
Leydecker, JcT</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Chair, Friends
of Trinity River</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>PO Box 2327</span></i><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Mill Valley, CA
94942-2327</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>415 383 4810
land/fax (call first to fax)</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>415 519 4810
mobile</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'><a
href="mailto:bwl3@comcast.net"><span style='color:blue'>bwl3@comcast.net</span></a></span></i></b><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'><a
href="mailto:bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org"><span style='color:blue'>bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org</span></a>
</span></i></b><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>(secondary)</span></i><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'><a
href="http://fotr.org/"><span style='color:blue'>http://www.fotr.org</span></a>
</span></i></b><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
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