And Satan said, 'What would Cheney do?'" .... Anonymous

13:20/01. CHENEY KLAMATH FISHKILL HEARING SET FOR JULY 31: On 31 July the House Natural Resources Committee, led by Chairman Nick J. Rahall (D-WV), will hold an oversight hearing on "Crisis of Confidence: The Political Influence of the Bush Administration on Agency Science and Decision-Making." Although both Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of the Interior Dick Kempthorne have been invited to the hearing to discuss their roles in the 2002 fish kill on the Klamath River, both have declined to appear. The hearing, which will begin at 1000 HRS in room 1324 of the Longworth House Office Building, will feature testimony from H. Dale Hall, Director, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, William Hogarth, Assistant Administrator, National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Mike Kelly, the whistle-blowing former NMFS fisheries biologist among others. A 24 June special entitled the "Angler" in the Washington Post by journalists Barton Gellman and Jo Becker revealed the extent of Cheney's interference in the 2002 Klamath water decisions leading to the fish kill and provided the impetus for Congressman Rahall to call for a hearing into the matter. To read the "Angler" go to http://blog.washingtonpost.com/cheney/. For more information on the hearing go to http://resourcescommittee.house.gov/index.php?option=com_jcalpro&Itemid=32&extmode=view&extid=85.

13:20/02. DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR TO RECONSIDER SPECIES DELISTINGS: H. Dale Hall, Director of the Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS), announced on 20 July that FWS will be reconsidering the status of eight previously Endangered Species Act listed species that he said Julie MacDonald, a former FWS political appointee who resigned because of her misconduct, played a role in delisting. MacDonald resigned on 1 May after it was revealed that she had given agency documents to private interests, badgered her staff into accepting her recommendations on ESA delistings, and had even personally intervened in a the delisting of the Sacramento splittail, a species whose critical habitat lies on her Dixon, California farm. Among the species to be reconsidered are the: white-tailed prairie dog, Preble's meadow jumping mouse, 12 species of Hawaiian picture-wing flies, the arroyo toad, the Southwestern willow flycatcher, the California red-legged frog and the Canada lynx. Jan Hasselman, an attorney for Earthjustice commented that "this list is just the tip of the iceberg. This problem runs far deeper than just the species they claim they'll review." For a 21 July New York Times article go to www.nytimes.com/2007/07/21/washington/21interior.html?_r=1&oref=slogin. For a 19 July San Francisco Chronicle article go to http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/07/19/national/w185657D72.DTL.

13:20/03. NMFS RELEASES KLAMATH COHO RECOVERY PLAN: As required by the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation & Management Reauthorization Act, which passed into law on 12 January 2007, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) released the Klamath River Coho Salmon Recovery Plan on 10 July in time to meet the six month deadline. While NMFS officials have touted the recovery plan as an effective strategy by incorporating "up-to-date scientific information" and by involving the diverse interest groups in effective conservation partnerships, critics of the recovery plan see it preserving the status quo since it does not call for what they regard as the only effective recovery plan - dam removal. There was widespread speculation that the plan would differ little from other recovery plans, such as the 2004 plan published by the Department of Fish & Game (CDFG), and indeed the NFMS recovery plan draws heavily from that report in its recommendations for coho recovery. Pat Higgins, fisheries biologist for the Klamath Tribes, noted that the plan is mostly "carrots and no sticks." For a copy of the Klamath River Coho Recovery plan go to http://swr.nmfs.noaa.gov/klamath/index.htm. For a 12 July Nathan Rushton article in The Eureka Reporter go to www.eurekareporter.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?ArticleID=26138.

13:20/04. IFR LAUNCHES LOCAL & SEASONAL SEAFOOD PROGRAM: The Institute for Fisheries Resources launched their Buy Local & Seasonal Seafood Program this past week. The program is twofold in purpose: to teach the public about when different local seafood is in season, and where consumers can buy directly from fishermen. Few people understand the intricacies of fishery management, and the ever-expanding global market means that different seafood is available year round. By knowing when different seafood items are in season, consumers can become more connected to their food and ensure that they are receiving a high quality product. Additionally, purchasing seafood from local fishermen or fish markets supports local fishing communities and more accurately compensates fishermen for their work. The farmers' market system has grown exponentially in the past few years as consumers recognize the need and benefits of supporting local farms, and the same is true for the seafood industry. For more information about the program, to look up local seafood seasons, or to determine local places to buy seafood visit www.ifrfish.org/programs/localseafood.html.

13:20/05. OREGON FEDERAL MAGISTRATE RECOMMENDS AGAINST NMFS DELISTING OF COHO: In January 2006, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) proposed to delist Oregon Coast Coho salmon, a population of fish whose original listing was intensely disputed politically and biologically. NMFS cited that coho were surviving despite grave odds of low abundance and poor ocean conditions, thus coho were said to be extraordinarily resilient and "defied prevailing abundance paradigm[s]." These assessments led NMFS to propose that coho did not require the protections afforded under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), which would work towards higher spawning populations and better habitat to maintain species viability. Trout Unlimited, along with other fishing and conservation organizations including the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations, sued NMFS because the decision to delist coho was not based on the best available science but rather on unwarranted assumptions that have been rejected by most biologists. U.S. District Court Magistrate Janice M. Stewart of Portland, OR ruled on 13 July that the delisting proposal was indeed based on flawed science and was "arbitrary and capricious" decision making. Magistrate Stewart thus recommended re-listing. The Magistrate was especially concerned that the NMFS decision was in violation of ESA and Administrative Procedures Act regulations. Pacific Legal Foundation is representing landowners who sided with NMFS and the State of Oregon to delist, and opponents have until 30 July to make objections about the Magistrate's ruling. For more information about the ruling read the Columbia Basin Fish & Wildlife News Bulletin 20 July article, www.cbbulletin.com/Free/228309.aspx.

13:20/06. DIRECTOR OF CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF FISH & GAME LEAVING TO HEAD WATER ASSOCIATION: Loris "Ryan" Broddrick, Director of the California Department of Fish & Game (DFG), will become the new Executive Director of the Northern California Water Association (NCWA) at the end of the summer. Broddrick initially began with DFG in 1981 as a game warden. In 2004, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed Broddrick as Director.

Through his tenure as Director, DFG has come under scrutiny in regards to agency inaction to curb Delta smelt declines in the Bay-Delta and for ineffective recovery of salmon populations throughout California. At NCWA, Broddrick will work to increase surface storage, integrate surface and groundwater management, and protect fish and wetlands. Vickie Newlin works for the Butte County Department of Water & Resource Conservation and knows Broddrick from past collaborations. She expressed no surprise that Broddrick "wants to go where he can get stuff done," an interesting reflection on his tenure at CDFG. For more information about Broddrick see the DFG 20 January 2004 press release, www.dfg.ca.gov/news/news04/04007.html. Additional information about his decision to leave is available in the 26 July Chico Enterprise Record Heather Hacking article, www.chicoer.com/ci_6466735.

13:20/07. GOLF VERSUS FISH - THE DEBATE HEATS UP IN OREGON: Bandon, OR used to be a vibrant fishing and logging rural community, however a new major employer has taken over in the past few years, Mike Keiser. Keiser made his fortune by selling greeting cards on recycled paper at the start of the environmental movement in the 1970s. Over the past few years Keiser has purchased nearly 1,000 acres in Cook and Coos counties to develop high-end golf courses and resorts. Now Keiser is looking to add another golf course south of Bandon, but lacks the water. Thus Keiser has put forward 15 percent of the necessary money for a 90-foot dam to be placed along Johnson Creek, which was originally being pursued by local cranberry farmers. Keiser states that donation was out of altruism for the area, but local residents believe it was motivated more by the desire to expand the high-end golf industry. A hearing has tentatively been set for 16 August in Coos Bay to discuss the potential impacts of the Johnson Creek dam, as the dam builder seeks to obtain a permit from the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife. The time and location of the hearing will be announced in the next issue of Sublegals.

Scott Cook, a local commercial fishermen and logger, is adamantly opposed to the dam for numerous reasons. The main reason is that erecting a 90-foot dam would cut off Johnson Creek to chinook and coho, whose local population is struggling and needs spawning ground access and good water quality. Cook states, "It's morally offensive for government to take one man's land to benefit another." The coho were listed under the Endangered Species Act, but were delisted in 2001 by Judge Hogan. The delisting decision is still to this day being debated in court (see Sublegals 13:20/05). For more information about the debate read David Cay Johnson's 15 June New York Times article, http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F60A10FF3E5B0C768DDDAF0894DF404482.

13:20/08. CALIFORNIA FARM, FISHING, AND HUMAN RIGHTS GROUPS URGE CONGRESS TO REJECT NEW TRADE DEALS: On 26 July the California Farmers Union (CFU), the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Association (PCFFA), and the Public Citizen held a joint press conference in San Francisco urging members of Congress to reject proposed NAFTA-style Free Trade Agreements (FTA) with Panama, Peru, Colombia, and South Korea because of concerns that the agreements will not properly regulate the safety of imported goods coming from those countries. The pacts would require that US food safety regulators treat imported food the same as domestically produced food, even though more intensive inspection of imported goods is needed to compensate for often-weak domestic regulatory systems in some exporting nations. Peru and Panama are both large seafood exporters to the US, with a long history of exporting contaminated seafood that has frequently been rejected by the FDA. If the FTAs were to be approved with these countries the already woefully inadequate inspection system in place (the FDA only inspects 1.93 percent of imported seafood) could be completely bypassed as the FTA would require that foreign products be treated as if they were produced in a regulatory environment "equivalent" to the United States. Zeke Grader of the PCFFA noted that if contaminated seafood is allowed to enter the market in high numbers it could ruin the market for foreign and domestic seafood alike if consumers lose confidence in the safety of seafood. Echoing Grader's concerns was Lynne McBride, Executive Director of the California Farmer's Union who stated that "California farmers and ranchers adhere to some of the highest food safety standards in the world, but trade agreements set them up for failure against imports that do not meet our high standards. It is difficult if not impossible to compete against other countries, where they can pay farm workers almost nothing, or employ child labor, but on top of that just across the border growers are using toxic pesticides that are rightfully illegal here".

The recent health and safety problems of imported Chinese pet food and farm raised seafood, in addition to a report published by Food and Water Watch which documents the hazardous seafood imports coming from Peru and Panama, have raised fears about the safety of the massive amounts of food the United States imports -- a figure which has grown rapidly since the introduction of NAFTA and other free trade deals. Given the poor quality of some foreign food inspection regulatory systems it is essential that the United States maintain and expand its inspection of food imports, especially from countries with well known records of poor quality exports, and reject the free trade deals that allow countries to bypass the American inspection system. PCFFA, CFU, and Public Citizen are all calling for the implementation of a 2002 law that requires mandatory country of origin labeling for all food products and the rejection of FTAs with countries that export contaminated food to the US. For a press release from Public Citizen go to www.citizen.org/pressroom/release.cfm?ID=2481. For the recent study published by Food and Water Watch go to www.foodandwaterwatch.org/fish/pubs/reports/import-alert.

13:20/09. RUSSIAN COMPANY SEEKS TO MARKET WILD SALMON IN EUROPE AS CONCERNS OVER POACHING MOUNT: Cerena Holding AG, a Russian investment firm based in Mauritius, has made an initial investment of $1.2 million in the Russian far eastern oblast Kamchatka in an effort to develop the necessary infrastructure to export wild Pacific salmon from the pristine peninsula to Europe. The refurbishing of the rusting Kamchatka fishing fleet in addition to other infrastructure improvements is estimated to cost $400 million, and would be implemented in three phases. Representatives of Cerena have met with a local organization that promotes President Putin's programs and will meet with the governor of Kamchatka. The plan to develop an export industry of wild salmon in Kamchatka may not be as simple as investing in infrastructure improvements. As National Public Radio reported recently, the problem of poaching salmon, already a well-known problem to the international community, has reached epidemic proportions as criminal gangs and corrupt local bureaucrats have joined impoverished locals seeking subsistence in poaching activities. With so many legitimate and illegitimate interests vying for control of one of the most valuable resources on the far off peninsula, the resulting export industry might have a distinctly post-Soviet Russian cast to it. The industry could join the long list of Russian extractive export industries (gas, oil, timber) where a small minority of former Soviet officials turned robber barons, and criminal gangs manage to take control of a natural resource. For more information on the Cerena's investment go to (subscription required) www.seafoodnews.com/newsemail.asp?key=373451. For the 22 July NPR story and audio file go to www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11439051.

13:20/10. MARMOT DAM DEMOLISHED: On 24 July, Portland General Electric's (PGE) CEO Peggy Fowler personally pushed a ceremonial lever to detonate the explosion that took down the 47 foot Marmot Dam on the Little Sandy River in Oregon. The dam, which is part of the Bull Run Hydroelectric Project, was the first part of the project to be removed. The completion of the removal is scheduled for 2008 after a three-mile wooden flume and a smaller 16 foot dam are removed. The Marmot Dam, which was constructed in 1989 to replace a "timber crib" dam made of logs and boulders built in 1913, is the largest dam ever to be removed in Oregon. PGE had initially intended to relicense the project in 1999. However, an economic analysis of the aging structure revealed that it would cost more money to maintain and upgrade the structure than to remove it. In 2009 PGE will turn over 1,500 acres of land to the Western Rivers Conservancy which will be administered by the Bureau of Land Management (see Sublegals 13:15/12). "The undammed Sandy River, flowing freely from Mount Hood to the Columbia, will be good for local businesses, clean water, and fish and wildlife," said Amy Kober of American Rivers. "The Sandy will show us that when a river is healthy, we all thrive." For more information and pictures and video of the demolition go to PGE's website on the Marmot removal www.marmotdam.com/marmot_home.htm. For a 25 July article in The Columbian go to www.columbian.com/news/localNews/07252007news173109.cfm.

13:20/11. HSU PROFESSOR TO CONDUCT STUDY ON CA COMMERCIAL FISHING ECONOMIC CONTRIBUTION: Steven Hackett, Professor of Economics at Humboldt State University, will be leading a project to estimate the economic contribution, or positive economic impact, of commercial fishing to the various coastal counties and to California overall. In many ways the project represents an updating of a similar project conducted by Dennis King in 1982. The project will be specifically focused on producing information on the economic contribution provided by fisheries, down to the county level, and including the landing condition of the fish. The project will involve the use of survey research methods, as well as existing data, to estimate the aggregate revenues and expenditures broken down by fishery, gear type, port, and the condition of landed fish (dead or alive). All individual information will be kept strictly confidential and only aggregate data without any individual identifiers will be reported. The aggregate fishing revenue and expenditure data will be used as inputs for measuring the economic contribution of California's fisheries. The result of the analysis will be information showing the economic contribution of each fishery/gear type/landed condition category to coastal counties as well as the state overall. It is hoped that this project will establish a baseline indicator of the current positive economic impact of commercial fisheries and that economic models developed from the study will help to estimate positive or negative impacts that certain factors (e.g. fisheries management decisions) may have on the value of California's fisheries.

13:20/12. CALIFORNIA WATER PLAN UPDATE 2009 REGIONAL WORKSHOPS: The Department of Water Resources, in cooperation with other state agencies, is holding a series of regional public workshops to gather and share information about the California Water Plan Update 2009. Representatives of water agencies and collaboratives; local, State, and federal government agencies; watershed and community groups; conservancies; and the public are strongly encouraged to attend. To attend please contact Chang Lee at (818) 500-1645, ext. 250 or clee@water.ca.gov. Meetings are currently being held throughout the state until the end of August. For a copy of the schedule and agenda go to www.waterplan.water.ca.gov/materials/index.cfm?date=jul2507.

13:20/13. SAN FRANCISCO ESTUARY PROJECT BAY CCMP WORKSHOP: On 3 August the San Francisco Estuary Project, part of the Environmental Protection Agency's National Estuary Program, will conduct a workshop and take public comments on the implementation of the updated 2007 Comprehensive Conservation & Management Plan (CCMP) for San Francisco Bay. Congress established the National Estuary Program in 1987, which consists of 20 different estuary programs throughout the country. Each program is required to create a CCMP in order to meet the goals of Section 320 of the Clean Water Act. The CCMP for the San Francisco Estuary was approved in 1993 under Governor Pete Wilson and periodically comes under review in order to "revise objectives and actions needing significant revision due to error, obsolescence, or new information." The Implementation Committee directed the final revisions to the 2007 CCMP at the 1 June 2007 meeting. At the 3 August meeting the Implementation Committee will take public comment on the final draft of the CCMP and vote approval of a resolution of support for the 2007 CCMP. The meeting will be held at the Elihu M. Harris State Building - 1515 Clay Street, 2nd Floor, Room 2, Oakland, California from 0930 to 1500 HRS. For more information go to http://sfep.abag.ca.gov/projects/ccmp.html.

13:20/14. CALIFORNIA SANCTUARY ADVISORY COUNCIL SEAT VACANCIES: The Cordell Banks National Marine Sanctuary based in Point Reyes is looking for candidates to fill two vacancies on their advisory council. The two seats available are: Community at Large Marin primary and Community at Large Sonoma alternate. An ideal candidate for the Community at Large seats would reside in a community near the Sanctuary, is well-known and well-connected in communities near the Sanctuary, has experience or knowledge regarding marine resource protection issues in the Sanctuary, experience or knowledge regarding public use and activities in the Sanctuary, and has the freedom to express views and cast votes without consideration of any expectations held by an employer or other organization with which the member is affiliated. For information on applying go to http://cordellbank.noaa.gov/council/sacnews.html.

13:20/15. CALL FOR PAPERS ON REDUCING BYCATCH: Endangered Species Research (ESR), a growing conservation journal, is developing a theme issue on "Fisheries Bycatch: Problems and Solutions" for publication mid-2008. All material will have fully open access and thus a high level of visibility is ensured. This ESR theme issue was catalyzed by the ongoing work of Project GloBAL (Global Bycatch Assessment of Long Lived Species) that seeks to address this pressing conservation problem through innovative research approaches and collaborative efforts. Manuscripts addressing current bycatch hotspots, analytical approaches to understanding and assessing bycatch, and bycatch solutions in both industrial and artisanal fisheries are welcomed. To discuss the suitability of a manuscript for inclusion in this ESR Special, please contact the ESR editor Dr. Rebecca Lewison at rlewison@sciences.sdsu.edu or Dr. Brendan Godley, ESR Editor-in-Chief, at b.j.godley@ex.ac.uk. For more information about the journal go to www.int-res.com/journals/esr/. For more information about Project GloBAL go to http://bycatch.env.duke.edu/.

b.j.godley@ex.ac.uk The Commonwealth Club of California from the end of July until the end of August will be hosting the "Cool Clear Water" speaker series. The topics range from local Bay Area and California water issues such as dams and the ecological health of the Bay-delta to international issues such as colonial history and India's water quality problems. Among the notable speakers are the Director and founder of the Pacific Institute Peter Gleick (the Pacific Institute is also a co-sponsor of the series) and Paul Johnson who recently published "Fish Forever," a book with information on fisheries sustainability, health benefits of specific seafood, as well as recipes from top chefs on virtually every commercially available fish. Many of the speakers will be focusing on California's looming water crisis, which continues to gain more publicity as Governor Schwarzenegger and Republican lawmakers push for more surface and ground water storage and more conveyance (including two new dams and the peripheral canal in the Delta). For a complete listing of the all of the speakers and to purchase tickets go to www.commonwealthclub.org/water.

NEWS, COMMENTS, CORRECTIONS: Submit your news items, comments or any corrections to Editor at: sublegals@ifrfish.org, or call the IFR/PCFFA office with the news and a source at either: (415) 561-FISH (Southwest Office) or (541) 689-2000 (Northwest Office).

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