The Miller amendment was subsequently narrowed to just the lower 48 when, following a break, Representative Jay Inslee (D-WA), on behalf of Washington State-based fish processors (some foreign owned), succeed in getting a quickly-drafted amendment passed exempting Alaska from the ban on processor-held quotas. Inslee's amendment would thus allow the June action by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council to stand, allocating 90 percent of the Bering Sea crab resource to processors (see Sublegals, 5:24/01). The North Pacific Council action has been strongly criticized by Alaskan fishing groups (see Sublegals, 6:01/02), but Inslee, Gilchrest and Representative Don Young (R-AK) were claiming processor quotas are supported by Alaskan fishermen. "Mr. Miller took a stand for fishing families and free enterprise by preventing the allocation of processing quota in H.R. 4749," said Dorothy Childers of the Alaska Marine Conservation Council, "But Mr. Inslee robbed Alaska of these protections by authorizing an exemption in the North Pacific, an unprecedented giveaway to large, foreign-owned corporations. Strong conservation and community standards are needed before IFQ's should be allowed." In a series of other amendments, the Resources Committee:

• Rejected an amendment by Representative Peter DeFazio (D-OR) to authorize $200 million for a fishing vessel buy-back program aimed at reducing fleet capacity in the West Coast and New England groundfish fisheries, among others. Gilchrest said it was too expensive (this same Congress recently approved the Farm Bill, with $190 billion to support agriculture).
• Did not take up two Inslee amendments, one requiring a nationwide fishery observer program similar to the North Pacific's, and the other requiring fishery management councils to state their reasons if they reject advice from their Scientific & Statistical committees after the Washington State Representative withdrew them.
• Rejected an amendment by Representative Joel Hefley (R-CO) to prohibit the use of large "roller" bottom trawls. The large rollers (e.g., truck tires) on this gear are designed to allow the use of nets over hard bottoms and rocky outcroppings and can destroy seafloor habitat. An amendment to take the language from Representative Duncan Hunter's (R-CA) bill to ban pelagic longlines along the Pacific Coast (see Sublegals, 5:19/04) was not introduced. Action in Committee to insert the language from the Recreational Fishing Alliance sponsored bill into the Magnuson reauthorization had been expected but never materialized. Nor was there any effort made in Committee to insert portions of Representative Billy Tauzin's (R-LA) draft Magnuson reauthorization bill into HR 4749. That measure, sponsored by the National Fisheries Institute (NFI), would have weakened the conservation language in the Magnuson Act even further than the Gilchrest bill. Anti-conservation elements of H.R. 4749 still include:
• Rolling back the requirement to protect essential fish habitat;
• Weakening the requirements for rebuilding overfished stocks;
• Weakening the requirement to assess and report on bycatch; and
• Failing to establish standards for individual fishing quota (IFQ) programs necessary to ensure that conservation is enhanced and that fishermen and fishing communities are protected.

6:02/02. CHILEAN SEA BASS CAMPAIGN TAKES A TURN - MARKETS BEGIN PROVIDING PROOF OF LEGAL TAKE, NZ AND US COORDINATE BUST: In response to the campaign to "Give Chilean Sea Bass a Pass" (see Sublegals, 5:06/10), some restaurants and seafood markets selling Patagonian Toothfish as Chilean Sea Bass are now providing customers that ask with documentation to prove the fish were taken in a legal fishery. One of the reasons for the boycott has been the massive amount of poaching of this fish. The other concern has been the bycatch by the longline gear used to harvest these fish in Antarctic waters. Unlike U.S. longliners in the North Pacific, for example, the toothfish fishery does not use methods and devices to prevent the hooking of albatross and other sea birds. The toothfish, marketed as Chilean Sea Bass, is a highly valuable fish sold in high-end restaurants and markets. The extent of the illegal fishery was demonstrated in late June when special agents of the U.S. National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) seized over 33 tons of illegally imported Patagonian toothfish in Boston harbor; the fish had been caught by the Uruguay-flagged Arvisa 1. The shipment, valued at about $275,000 (US), was seized based on information provided by Australian authorities, according to the June issue of the Queensland Fisherman (pp.11-12); for information, e-mail: mbowerman@bigpond.com). For more information (24 June) on the NOAA seizure, go to: www.publicaffairs.noaa.gov/releases2002/june02/noaa02083.html.

Critics of the continued sales of the imperiled fish, however, say the 33 tons seized is only a drop in the bucket compared to the 10,000 tons of toothfish consumed in the U.S., and the U.S. represents only one-fifth the world market. Only 16,000 tons can be caught legally for the total world market. Consumers have organized an information campaign, the "Take a Pass on Chilean Bass Campaign," asking U.S. restaurants to remove Patagonian toothfish (labeled Chilean Sea Bass) from their menus. For more see: http://environet.policy.net/marine/csb.

6:02/03. U.S. IMPORTS OF SEAFOOD CONTINUE TO GROW: The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported this month the "import share of U.S. food consumption held steady at 8.8 percent from 1998 to 2000. Import share in 2000 is an average of the 12.3 percent share of U.S. consumption of food crops and crop products and the 4.2 percent share of animal products, including fish and shellfish. In 1992, overall imports were only 7 percent of U.S.-consumed food, but increased as both the U.S. economy and the dollar strengthened." The report by Albert Jerardo, (ERS No. FAU6601) is available in PDF format at: http://www.ers.usda.gov/Publications/fau/july02/fau6601/fau6601.pdf.

6:02/04. THIS TIME IT'S FREAKFISH, NOT FRANKENFISH, AND ITS STALKING PONDS IN MARYLAND: Maryland, the first state in the U.S. to enact a ban on transgenic, or genetically modified, fish ("Frankenfish") has a fish problem. No, it's not an escapee from a biotech lab, but an import from Asia that has turned up in ponds in the state. The Washington Post reported, on 26 June, the invader "with the head of a snake and a gaping saw-toothed maw" to be a northern snakehead, "prized as a delicacy in China and Korea where it originates, but a nasty Frankenfish, as far as U.S. officials are concerned...It grows to nearly three feet, eats whatever it wants -- mostly other fish -- can live through icy winters and survives even in oxygen-deprived waters." The Post article went on to say the fish "can crawl out of the water and wiggle across land, surviving up to four days......Dreaded by fish biologists, it is capable of clearing out a pond of all living creatures and then wriggling on to new hunting grounds on its belly and fins." The northern snakehead have been imported into the U.S. alive for about 30 years for Asian markets, however it is illegal to posses them in most states, except, that is, for Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia (imagine them emerging from the Potomac stalking Homeland Security officials). For the article, go to http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/ A52395-2002Jun26.html.

6:02/05. SEA GRANT DRAFT FOR INVASIVE SPECIES RESEARCH PROPOSALS NOW ONLINE: The draft text of the upcoming request for proposals (RFPs) for the Sea Grant Aquatic Nuisance Species (ANS) Research & Outreach Program is now available online. It can be viewed on Sea Grant's web page at: http://www.nsgo.seagrant.org/research/nonindigenous. The grant competition will be announced in the Federal Register. The web page has been updated to include other information on Sea Grant and National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) non-indigenous, invasive species research, outreach, and grant opportunities.

6:02/06. ECOLOGICAL RISKS OF GMO CONTAMINATION WORSE THAN REALIZED: Rural Updates reports that a new study released by Purdue University scientists William Muir and Richard Howard, states the danger of extinctions of wild species caused by genetically modified organism (GMO) contamination is much worse than realized. Using computer modeling, the two identified three new scenarios in which GMO's could result in the extinction of a natural population in as few as 20 generations. The results of the research were published in the most recent issue of the scientific journal Transgene Research. The research was funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Biotechnology Risk Assessment Program. The Purdue research is part of an ongoing effort by Purdue and the USDA to determine the risks of biotechnology, particularly transferring genetic material from one species to another, known as transgenic technology. 'Consumer confidence in the use of transgenic technology will only happen if there is a thorough, unbiased examination of the risks,' said Muir. There is an application currently pending before the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) from Aqua Bounty Farms to permit the use of genetically-modified Atlantic salmon (modified with a growth gene) in salmon farm net pens (see Sublegals, 5:09/01; 5:04/11; 5:02/12; 5:01/05; 4:16/13; 4:02/06; 3:19/03; 3:15/19; 3:12/09; 3:07/15; 3:05/15; 2:16/11). For more: www.familyfarmer.org.

6:02/07. CONFERENCE ON BIOENGINEERED ANIMALS: One person's biotechnology is another person's bioterrorism. Or so it seems with conflicts arising between researchers with visions of riches, along with their venture capitalist and corporate sponsors, and family farmers and fishermen concerned for the protection and safety of their crops and stocks and, ultimately, their livelihoods from the unregulated manipulation of genomes and the advent of "Frankenfoods." To address some of the issues that have been raised regarding genetically modified organisms (GMOs), the Pew Initiative will sponsor a conference on bioengineered animals 24-25 September in Dallas, Texas. That meeting will be followed by a one-day session on the 26th, co-sponsored by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA), looking at cloned animals. For more information, go to: http://pewagbiotech.org/events/0924/form.php.

6:02/08. FISHERIES MANAGEMENT IGNORING DARWINIAN EVOLUTION: A recent study published in Science, 5 July 2002 (Vol. 297), indicates that customer demand for plate-sized portions and fisheries regulations that limit catch to larger fish may alter the genetic makeup of wild fish stocks. The continuous removal of these same size fish can and might already have evolved fish in response to selective fishing. Scientists have already suggested that salmon and cod have responded to this type of fishing and there are smaller and earlier maturing fish in these populations. The recent study looked at Atlantic silversides and the effects of "fishing" certain sizes out of the population. The results indicate that taking bigger fish resulted in a population that was smaller in size and taking smaller fish resulted in an increase in size over generations. David Conover and Stephan Munch from the State University of New York, Stony Brook, say that current fisheries management aimed at maintaining catches might be having the opposite effect, and they suggest regulations that protect larger fish as well as smaller ones. For the full article go to: www.sciencemag.org.

6:02/09. BOR ORDERS CUTS IN KLAMATH FISH FLOWS WHILE GROWERS ASKED TO CONSERVE: On 11 July the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) ordered a cutback of water releases into the Klamath River that are crucial for the survival of threatened coho salmon, as well as chinook runs supporting tribal, commercial and recreational fisheries. The reason given for the cut in releases was that less water than predicted was flowing into the Klamath Reclamation Project, according to a 11 July Associated Press report by Jeff Barnard. BOR is asking growers served by the federal irrigation project to try to conserve water, as the agency revises its water year classification from below average to dry. BOR said it will make good on an extra 20,000 acre feet of water released to the river to meet trust obligations to the Hupa, Karuk and Yurok tribes. However there is concern that the minimum flows provided the fish in any of BOR's normal to drought year classifications are woefully inadequate for conservation of the runs in what was the lower 48's third largest salmon producing river system. Flows below Irongate Dam have already been cut and will be cut further on 31 July according to BOR. PCFFA and IFR, along with a coalition of fishing and conservation organizations, have sued BOR attempting to get the agency to implement flows ordered by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) in its Biological Opinion (BiOp) to protect the Endangered Species Act (ESA) listed coho (see Sublegals, 5:23/08; 5:21/03; 5:20/09).

6:02/10. EIS PLANNED FOR EVALUATION OF YUBA RIVER SALMON PASSAGE: On 5 July, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE) and the California Department of Water Resources (CDWR) announced in the Federal Register (Vol. 67, No. 129, pp. 44809-44810) the joint preparation of a Draft Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report (DEIS/EIR), pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), to evaluate the Daguerre Point Dam Fish Passage Improvement Project on the Yuba River. The Yuba, a tributary of California's Sacramento River, supports a large population of naturally spawning Chinook salmon. The purpose of the project is to improve fish passage at the dam site. The project has a goal to improve upstream and downstream fish passage for native anadromous fish species at Daguerre Point Dam and contribute to overall population recovery. Some fishing and conservation groups have recommended removal of the dam as the best means for assuring fish passage.

6:02/11. NMFS PROPOSES CONTRACT WITH ASPEN INSTITUTE FOR DAM REMOVAL WORKSHOPS: The Commerce Business Daily reported 11 July that the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Office of Habitat Conservation "intends to support the Aspen Institute for workshops and meetings to discuss and document issues associated with dam removal. This effort will provide the National Marine Fisheries Service the opportunity to attend meetings, observe the interactions of the participants, and provide information on the complex issues to the participants on its legislative and legal responsibilities." Previously the Aspen Institute provided support for former California Governor Pete Wilson's Administration policy development on salmon restoration, the Endangered Species Act, and habitat conservation issues, which critics saw as long on rhetoric and short on action -- mostly failures. For more information, go to: http://fedbizopps.cos.com/cgi-bin/getRec?id=20020711a50.

6:02/12. AMERICAN RIVER TO BE RESTORED; AUBURN DAM PLANS THROWN OUT: The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) plans to restore seven miles of the American River near Auburn, California by removing the 35-foot wide pipe through which the river has flowed since 1967. On 2 July, the San Jose Mercury News reported the Bureau is abandoning the decades-old plan to build one of the largest dams in the United States, Auburn Dam. According to the Mercury article, a compromise with opponents to the plan will allow Placer County Water Agency to pump water from the river, a tributary of the Sacramento River. To read the article, go to: http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/3584141.htm

6:02/13. CORPS REPACKAGES COLUMBIA RIVER CHANNEL DEEPENING PROPOSAL: On 10 July, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE) released parts of a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) for deepening of the Columbia River -- a proposal that is little changed from that put forward two years ago that drew opposition from the States of Oregon and Washington, fishing and conservation groups, and Columbia River crab fishermen in particular. "The new plan is actually worse than before in many ways. Some alternatives are simply incendiary," said Peter Huhtala of the Columbia Deepening Opposition Group. "I'd rather choose between Dungeness crab and salmon in a restaurant instead of in an ecosystem. But in the case of 7 million cubic yards of sediment that's exactly what we face. The Corps proposes to fill a bay near Astoria with these spoils, demolishing a choice salmon fishing area. The sediment would actually be dumped first in one estuary location, and then pumped into the bay, doubling the chance to distribute dangerous toxics in the river. If we don't like that, the Corps says they'll just drop the stuff on the Dungeness crab beds in the nearby ocean." Two years ago, the Columbia River Crab Fishermen's Association and PCFFA, represented by Earthjustice, successfully sued the COE to stop their plans at that time. For more information, e-mail: huhtala@teleport.com.

6:02/14. LONGLINE CONFERENCE SET FOR NOVEMBER IN HAWAII; FOCUS ON SEABIRD AND SEA TURTLE PROTECTIONS: The Western Pacific Fishery Management Council (WPFMC) will host the Second International Fishers [sic] Forum (IFF2), scheduled for 19-22 November in Honolulu, Hawaii. According to WPFMC Executive Director Kitty Simmonds, the "primary mission of the forum is to invite fishermen from around the world to get together and consider additional solutions to the incidental capture of sea turtles and seabirds by longline fishing gear." Fishermen from more than 50 nations are being invited to attend. The announcement and invitation to the Forum came on the heels of a recently authorized experiment for longliners fishing off Hawaii and the Western Pacific to look at new methods of sea turtle avoidance in the swordfish and other pelagic fisheries.

It is estimated that about 18,000 pelagic and demersal longline vessels are operating in the world's oceans, and the total fleet size is expanding with the introduction of additional fleets from South and East Asia, the Pacific Islands, and South and Central America. This expansion will likely lead to increases in incidental catches, so there is a need to increase awareness of the problems and seek additional solutions. U.S. Longline fishermen have already demonstrated that they can reduce seabird mortality by techniques such as setting lines at night; thawing bait and/or using weights so bait sinks faster out of the reach of birds; and scaring birds away using noise, water sprays and visual deterrents. One particularly effective technique is the underwater setting chute, developed and tested as a cooperative effort between the longline fishing industry, environmental organizations and government.

New Zealand hosted the first forum that focused on the seabird problem. IFF2 is intended to build on these efforts, stressing continued progress and welcoming new participants. It will include discussions on sea turtle biology and behavior, and on reducing and minimizing the harmful effects of interactions between sea turtles and longline gear. IFF2 is welcoming fishermen, researchers, environmental NGOs and fishery managers. For more information, contact the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council in Honolulu, Hawaii at (808) 522-8220 or log on to the WPFMC website at www.wpcouncil.org. Any questions can be directed to the WPFMC, or e-mailed to iff2@noaa.gov.

6:02/15. PFMC GROUNDFISH TEAM MEETING: The Pacific Fishery Management Council's (PFMC) Groundfish Management Team (GMT) will meet 29 July - 2 August in a working session that is open to the public. The session is expected to look at existing stock status data and the nature and extent of fishing closures enacted and proposed (see Sublegals, 5:25/01) for the West Coast. The meeting will be held at the PFMC offices, 7700 Ambassador Place, Suite 200 in Portland, Oregon. For more information call (503) 820-2280 or go to the PFMC website at: www.pcouncil.org.

6:02/16. JOB OPPORTUNITIES - THE OCEAN CONSERVANCY, SALMONID RESTORATION FEDERATION: The Ocean Conservancy is advertising for an individual to fill its Pacific Fish Conservation Manager position responsible for executing projects related to the organization's marine fish, wildlife and habitat conservation policies in the Pacific with emphases on both science and advocacy. The project manager represents the organization before the Pacific and Western Pacific Fishery Management Councils, the Pacific States Marine Fish Commission (PSMFC) and the California Fish & Game Commission. Persons with an M.A. or M.S. (Ph.D. desirable) in environmental or public policy, marine affairs, marine or fish science, environmental law or other related field, plus a minimum of 3-5 years experience in fish conservation or other, related environmental advocacy are being sought. Familiarity with current Pacific marine fish, wildlife and habitat conservation issues, environmental and industry organizations, and state and federal legislative and regulatory agencies highly desirable. For more information, e-mail: jobs@oceanconservancy.org.

The Salmonid Restoration Federation is seeking an Executive Director. This is a half to two-thirds time position and the individual would be responsible for administrating all aspects of the non-profit corporation, fundraising, contract supervision, conference coordination, and public relations. The Federation is seeking an individual with: experience with non-profit, private or government agencies; work on watershed or fisheries restoration in the field, preferably in California; ability to work alone or cooperatively as part of a small team in a non-profit environment, both implementing existing projects and creatively designing new projects; demonstrated ability to coordinate complex, multi-stage productions such as a conference, training session, or public planning process; an ability to lead, motivate and work with paid staff and volunteers simultaneously, as well as the general public, agencies, and advocacy groups; and success with various fundraising techniques, particularly large donor cultivation, grant proposals, and member recruitment and retention. For more information, or to submit an application, e-mail: srf@northcoast.com.

NEWS, COMMENTS, CORRECTIONS: Submit your news items, comments or any corrections to Michelle Wallar, Editor at: mw_ifr@pacbell.net 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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