"Fast track" gives the President the ability to freely negotiate trade agreements without the usual "advice and consent" from the Congress. Congress cannot then amend or otherwise change a trade agreement under "fast track," all it can do is vote it up or down. U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), who opposed the bill, made that point emphatically, saying "I do not believe I should give up the legislative authority vested in the Congress by the Constitution. If Congress gives up the ability to amend trade agreements, I would lose my opportunity to fight for good jobs and help the environment." Victor Menotti, a trade specialist who advises PCFFA, put the passage of "fast track" more succinctly. "It means there's no leash law," he said. PCFFA, along with numerous labor and environmental organizations, opposed the legislation. For U.S. fishermen, who are not currently represented on any of the industry panels advising the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), it means they will be forced to compete with cheap foreign imports and, worse, compete on an "uneven playing field" with fishing fleets from nations that do not adhere to strict conservation measures domestic fishermen must abide by. It could also hurt artisanal fishermen from Latin America, Asia and Africa who would likely be displaced by multi-national fishing corporations operating under unfettered trade agreements with the U.S.

Currently, the only fishery representative to the USTR is from the National Fisheries Institute (NFI) that principally represents fish importers, exporters and distributors whose interests are sometimes antithetical to those of working fishing men and women. There is no commercial fishermen or recreational fishing representation to the USTR. The passage of "fast track," and lack of fishermen representation to the USTR, has raised questions of whether there needs to be some form of fair trade labeling for fish, in addition to the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification for environmental sustainability. Coffee products are the best known among food products bearing this type of "Fair Trade" certification (e.g., Thanksgiving, Starbucks and some other coffee makers sell "Fair Trade" coffee in addition to shade grown organic varieties). Other fair trade-labeled products include: tea, chocolate, cashews, gourmet grains, honey, salsa, syrup, orange juice and other fruit juices, bananas, dried fruit, spices, vegetables, nuts, sugar/sweets, wine, jewelry, musical instruments, toys, rugs. The "Fair Trade" label at least informs consumers whether a living wage is being paid the artisans or workers producing the product. Usually the label is for products imported into the U.S., Canada, the EU and other wealthy nations from Latin America, Asia and Africa. However if U.S., or even Canadian or EU, fishermen are going to be impoverished by trade agreements to provide cheap goods for COSTCO customers and fast food franchises, PCFFA has suggested that it may be time for a fair trade label to protect all fishermen.

For more information on the "fast track" legislation, see the 2 August San Francisco Chronicle at: www.sfgate.com. To learn more about Fair Trade, go to: www.fairtradefederation.com, or www.craftscenter.org . The International Federation of Fair Trade (160 fair trade organizations in over 50 countries) can be found at: www.ifat.org/dwr/index.html. Other sources of information are: www.transfairusa.org, and www.fairtrade.org.uk. A report with fair trade facts and figures for European countries in 2001 is available at: www.eftafairtrade.org/PDF/FT_f&f_2001.pdf.

6:05/02. ECOLABEL CONFERENCE SCHEDULED FOR NOVEMBER IN BOSTON: Tufts University's Friedman School of Nutrition Science & Policy, along with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Economic Research Service and Agricultural Marketing Service will host a conference "Ecolabels and the Greening of the Food Market," on 7-9 November in Boston, Massachusetts. According to the organizers, "the conference is a response to the rapidly growing use of ecolabels, which has raised several questions: How credible are they? How can labels motivated by bona fide environmental concern be distinguished from those that are just a marketing ploy? How well do consumers understand them, and how much confidence do they have in them? What are the appropriate roles of government and private organizations in setting standards and enforcing compliance?" For details on the program, registration, and accommodations, go to: www.nutrition.tufts.edu/conted/ecolabels.

6:05/03. OREGON INITIATIVE TO LABEL TRANSGENIC FOODS MAKES NOVEMBER BALLOT: A ballot initiative to require the labeling of all genetically altered or "transgenic" foods sold in Oregon (see Sublegals, 6:03/09; 5:26/02) has now officially qualified for the November 2002 ballot, but is expected to be strongly opposed. The "Coalition Against the Costly Label Law," that includes the Oregon Farm Bureau Federation, the Oregon State Grange, Oregon Grocery Industry Association, Oregon Restaurant Association, Grocery Manufacturers of America and other organizations, is expected to claim the consumer information measure will hurt farmers (although many farmers actually support better food labeling). For more information on the issue, go to: www.thecampaign.org. To view the Oregon initiative itself (No. 23-2002 election), search: www.sos.state.or.us/elections/other.info/irr.htm.

6:05/04. NEW SCIENTIFIC REVIEW OF AQUACULTURE IMPACTS: A new scientific review of the research literature identifying impacts of aquaculture on the environment has been published by the Scottish Association of Marine Science and Napier University and made available by the Scottish Executive Central Research Unit as part of the ongoing controversy in Scotland about the role of aquaculture in that country. The report considers problems of aquaculture in the discharge of wastes, antibiotics and chemicals; disease impacts on wild and farmed stocks; escapes and the potential of such escapes to damage wild populations, and; sustainability of food supplies.

The full report, "Review and Synthesis of the Environmental Impacts of Aquaculture," is at: www.scotland.gov.uk/cru/kd01/green/reia-00.asp. The complete document is also available in pdf format (348k) (71 pages) at: www.scotland.gov.uk/cru/kd01/green/reia.pdf.

6:05/05. BALLAST WATER REPORTING SAID TO BE WEAKEST LINK IN INVASIVES DEFENSE: The first biennial report of the National Ballast Information Clearinghouse (NBIC), a collaborative effort of the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) and the U.S. Coast Guard, has highlighted the fact that of the estimated 100,000 ships entering U.S. ports from foreign waters each year, only 30 percent reported their ballast water practices during the first two years reporting has been required by the U.S. Coast Guard under the National Invasive Species Act of 1996. Currently a violation carries no penalty and compliance is voluntary. The finding prompted the U.S. Secretary of Transportation to recommend to Congress that future noncompliance carry a penalty. Similar laws also exist in Oregon and Washington, which consequently also have highest regional rates of reporting, at 67 percent. Poorest compliance rates are from the Gulf of Mexico, with only 17 percent of ships reporting.

Ships' ballast water, used to maintain stability, is a leading pathway for the unwanted transfer of non-native organisms throughout the world, invasions that have caused many billions of dollars in damage to fisheries and aquatic ecosystems worldwide (see Sublegals 4:16/03; 4:07/15; 4:03/19; 3:14/06; 2:18/15; 2:03/18; 1:12/07). California has been so hard hit that it now has a law requiring ships to exchange ballast water offshore to prevent estuary contamination with exotic species (see Sublegals 1:06/08). The NBIC database and full report is available at: http://invasions.si.edu/ballast.htm.

6:05/06. OREGON COASTAL DEAD ZONE STILL A MYSTERY: A large and unusual anoxic "dead zone" has appeared off Oregon's central coastline, and the cause is still something of a mystery. The dead zone, which contains too little dissolved oxygen for fish and other aquatic creatures to survive, has resulted in large localized fish kills. Even crabs and invertebrates, generally more resistant to anoxic conditions than fish, have died off within the dead zone in large numbers. Scientists speculate that the dead zone, though never seen before in this area, is a short-lived natural phenomenon due to unusually poor mixing of oxygen poor upwellings with oxygen-rich surface waters. The news of Oregon's dead zone comes on the heels of information from the Gulf of Mexico that the dead zone there this year is the largest on record. For more information on the Oregon dead zone, see the 31 July Oregonian at: http://www.oregonlive.com.

6:05/07. OIL PIPELINE PROPOSED FOR GEORGE'S BANK FISHING GROUNDS: The Halifax Herald reported on 19 July on the plans of energy giant El Paso Corporation to lay a high pressure gas pipeline squarely through Eastern Canada's Georges Bank, right in the middle of some of the world's richest fishing grounds. "We're getting some positive feedback that laying the pipeline (there) may actually be OK," said El Paso executive Stan Baniuk in an interview to the paper. The planned pipeline would start in the Shelburne area in Nova Scotia, Canada, then angle down to New Jersey. Laying the line through Georges Bank would save 32 kilometers of pipeline at a cost savings of $40 million (US), according to the company, out of a $2 billion project. The project would also involve the construction of four offshore platforms. At present there is a moratorium in Canada on drilling off its eastern coastline, intended to protect its fragile fisheries, but that restriction may not apply to laying a pipeline. El Paso has dubbed the project its "Blue Atlantic Transmission System" and designed it to carry a billion cubic feet of natural gas per day at high pressure below the Atlantic. The company is expected to make its applications for permits to the Canadian National Energy Board and the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in late 2002. For company information on the project see the El Paso Corporation web site at: www.blueatlantic.net/default.asp?flash=1.

6:05/08. NEW REGULATIONS PROPOSED FOR CALIFORNIA CRAB TRAP ESCAPE PANELS: The California Fish & Game Commission, at its 1-2 August meeting in San Luis Obispo, has adopted language for proposed changes for the destruct panels in Dungeness crab traps, designed to create an opening in the gear if lost in order to prevent the trap from continuing to fish (see Sublegals, 6:03/11). At the request of PCFFA and the Fishermen's Marketing Association, the change in a Department interpretation of the current five-inch size panel rule was proposed to conform with the way traps are now constructed. Under the language proposed for adoption at the Commission's October meeting in Crescent City, Dungeness crab traps may either have the hooks to the lids attached with a degradable cotton thread or a panel of at least five inches in diameter sewn in the lid of the trap with degradable cotton thread. The difference between this language and what the Department of Fish & Game (CDFG) was initially planning to enforce, is that the new language will allow a single wire mesh to protrude into the opening to anchor the degradable thread. Attempts are being made to work out a third alternative to allow for more than one protrusion into the opening where the mesh size is smaller; however, it too would still have to provide for the five inch diameter opening. The language was jointly developed by Department staff and the fishing industry. A second hearing on the matter will take place at the Commission's 29-30 August meeting in Oakland. For more information, go to: www.dfg.ca.gov/fg_comm.

6:05/09. FORGET RIVERS, NOW ITS FISHES IN DITCHES: David Crowley, a researcher at New Mexico State University (NMSU), is studying ways to entirely do away with the over-allocated Rio Grande River as habitat for the endangered silvery minnows that once inhabited that river and just let them exist in irrigation ditches, according to the 25 July issue of the Albuquerque Journal. The NMSU research team he heads is monitoring irrigation ditches that are part of more than 1,000 miles of a huge New Mexico and Texas irrigation water delivery system, most of it unscreened, that has all but dewatered the Rio Grande, once home to many species now protected under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA). Crowley and his team are hoping to come up with engineering modifications to make the extensive ditch system more "fish friendly" so that ESA listed fish can live there instead of in the river, thus allowing the river to be dried up entirely. According to a 1994 survey, 20 different fish species are now found in the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy Irrigation District ditches alone, eight native to New Mexico. See: www.abqjournal.com/paperboy/text/news/740366news07-25-02.htm

6:05/10. WASHINGTON COURTS UPHOLD INSTREAM FLOWS FOR FISH: In a recent decision with major implications, the Washington State Supreme Court upheld the power of state agencies to protect the quality of public waterways, fish and wildlife resources by requiring minimum instream water flows, even when those requirements cut into existing water rights. The decision upheld state authority to require a dam operator to leave enough water in the river to protect fish, even though this permit condition cut into the use of the dam owner's water rights. The decision validated the power of Washington State agencies to do all that is necessary to regulate against "pollution" and defined pollution broadly enough to include water diversions that seriously impact fish, wildlife and recreational values held in trust for the public. The decision, Public Utility District No. 1 of Pend Oreille County v. Washington Department of Ecology (Docket No. 70372-8) was filed 18 July 2002 and litigated for the public interest by the Center for Environmental Law & Policy (CELP) as an intervenor. For more information and a copy of the ruling see: www.celp.org/html/sullivancreek.html.

6:05/11. SALMON REPORT BLASTS B.C. FISHERIES MANAGEMENT: A recent report issued by the Rainforest Conservation Society, "Ghost Runs: The Future of Wild Salmon on North and Central Coasts of British Columbia," documents how serious declines in British Columbia wild salmon stocks have been masked by increasing use of hatcheries and artificial spawning channels, while monitoring of habitat and stream health has declined 47 percent. The report highlights an alarming lack of information on most (70 percent) of the central and north coast British Columbia salmon runs, and a disturbing trend of habitat destruction and wild run declines for those areas from which there is information. The report also emphasizes the risks to wild salmon from expanding salmon aquaculture. For the Executive Summary see: www.raincoast.org/research_salmon.htm.

6:05/12. LAWSUIT THREATENED TO REINSTATE SALMONID CRITICAL HABITAT PROTECTIONS: On 31 July, a group of conservation and fishing organizations, including PCFFA and IFR, sent a 60-Day Notice of Intent to Sue to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) asking that agency to redesignate "critical habitat" for listed salmon and steelhead runs that should be protected under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA). The ESA requires that NMFS designate critical habitat, to the maximum extent prudent and determinable, concurrent with the listing of a species (16 U.S.C. 1533(a)(3)). However, in a settlement of a lawsuit by the National Association of Homebuilders and a number of other property rights and landowner groups, the Bush Administration earlier this year agreed to terminate what it deemed flawed critical habitat designations for 19 of the 26 west coast salmon and steelhead stocks now listed (see Sublegals 5:11/01), but has taken little or no action toward relisting critical habitat for those stocks as required by law.

In their letter, the groups proposed that NMFS commit to an acceptable schedule within which to complete redesignation of critical habitat in order to avoid litigation, offering to meet with NMFS staff to work out such a schedule. Without protection of critical habitat, a number of activities, including urban development, could take place in what would otherwise be protected areas necessary for their survival. The groups are represented by Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund. For more information see: http://www.earthjustice.org/news/display.html?ID=420.

6:05/13. DUELING SALMONID LISTING/DELISTING PETITIONS RECEIVED BY NMFS: The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has accepted an Endangered Species Act (ESA) delisting petition from the Central Coast Forest Alliance, a timber industry coalition, asking for the delisting of the Central California Coast coho salmon, based on the Alsea Valley Alliance ruling (161 F.Supp.2d 1154, D. Oregon 2001) (see Sublegals 4:24/19; 4:20/08; 4:18/02; 4:11/02), a ruling that was later stayed on appeal. "This is yet another in the 'Alsea Valley look-alike cases' by which industries and landowners are seeking to overturn existing ESA protections for salmon and steelhead all along the west coast," said PCFFA Northwest Regional Director Glen Spain (refer also to Sublegals 6:04/08).

NMFS also accepted two listing petitions from conservation and fishing groups (including PCFFA and IFR) asking for the relisting or revised listing of 16 evolutionarily significant units (ESUs) of chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), coho salmon (O. kisutch), chum salmon (O. keta), and steelhead (O. mykiss) that are currently listed as threatened or endangered under the ESA. This is a petition organized by Trout Unlimited asking NMFS to make new listing determinations that would overcome the problems raised by the Alsea Valley Alliance case (see Sublegals 5:17/05; 4:26/08). NMFS accepted the three petitions for review in a notice published in the 25 July Federal Register (Vol 67, No 143, pp. 48601-48603). However, by the time NMFS has to make a decision (1 year from acceptance) the procedural problems NMFS faced in the Alsea Valley Alliance decision will likely be moot, either because of a ruling on that case from appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, or the finalization of a new NMFS hatchery stock ESA listing policy (see Sublegals 6:04/09). To access the Federal Register, go to: www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/aces/aces140.html.

6:05/14. GREEN STURGEON LISTING MUST WAIT, SAYS NMFS: Nearly a month after missing a statutory deadline to determine whether the North American green sturgeon (Acipenser medirostris) warrants ESA protection (see Sublegals 5:23/12), NMFS scientists are still "reviewing the ancient fish's status" and a decision is not expected until this fall, reports the 25 July Humboldt Times-Standard. The fish once roamed widely throughout the west coast from the San Francisco Bay Delta to British Columbia, but water quality and quantity problems have severely impacted the species and caused an 88 percent decline in its historic range. The fish still spawns in the Trinity River and Klamath River of Northern California, in the San Francisco Bay Delta and possibly in Oregon's Rogue River Basin. The green sturgeon, unlike other sturgeon, spawns in cold water and gravel habitat similar to what is required for salmon and steelhead. Siltation by logging, dewatering of rivers, and agricultural and land development has largely eliminated many of the deep holes that they require. The petition for listing can be found on the web at: www.sw-center.org/swcbd/species/grnsturgeon/petition.pdf.

6:05/15. NEW MAGNUSON ACT STUDY HIGHLIGHTS SUCCESSES AND FAILURES: An institutional review of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation & Management Act by the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) has concluded that the nation's principal fisheries law achieved its major successes in the early 1990's, but has since degenerated into a morass of conflicting goals and management crises as U.S. fisheries management has been forced to move from allocating abundance and encouraging exploitation to managing scarcity and controlling overfishing. The report, "Congress, Courts, and Constituencies: Managing Fisheries by Default," noted that: "A system that performed well in its prior role increasingly struggled under the burdens of conservation, environmental protection, over-exploitation, and increasing statutory and policy mandates" and today is largely dysfunctional.

The report identified lack of allocation by Congress of resources for the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to do its job while continually increasing its obligations, leading to lack of agency expertise to deal with increasingly difficult problems, and noted that lack of accountability coupled with processes that do not meet statutory requirements have created institutional gridlock and exposed the agency to increasing litigation. As a case in point, the report found that of the 42 fishery management plans (FMPs) in place, 11 have been successfully challenged in court in just the last three years and four more have court challenges pending; 19 FMPs have been required by court order to have new environmental impact statements (EIS) completed in 2003-2005; 30 FMPs have not had an EIS updated within the last five years, and; 7 FMPs have never had an EIS, even though required. 21 of these FMPs involved overfished or endangered species. The report is expected to have a major impact on the current Magnuson Act reauthorization fight in Congress and can be found at: www.napawash.org.

6:05/16. TIME TO REPLACE THE REGIONAL FISHERY MANAGEMENT COUNCILS?: That is the subject of PCFFA's article in the August issue of The Fishermen's News (pp. 15-17). Given conflicts of interest, the collapse of the New England and Pacific Coast groundfish fisheries and the give-away by the North Pacific Council of the Bering Sea crab fishery to processors, the article asks, is there a better way to manage U.S. fisheries? The Fishermen's News is inviting comments on the questions asked in the article; comments should be made to: dsipes@rhppublishing.com. A copy of the August Fishermen's News article is posted on the PCFFA website at: www.pcffa.org/fn-aug02.htm.

6:05/17. CORRECTIONS: In the article on carbaryl use in growing oysters (6:04/06), it was erroneously stated that Larry Warnberg was on the PCSGA board; he was only among its general membership -- from which he was expelled. By way of clarification, among the Shoalwater Indian Tribe 90 percent of their pregnancies ended in miscarriage, stillbirth, or infant death within the first year of birth between 1990 and 1992. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) performed a "snap-shot" study over two years (1994-96) to determine if this problem was related to environmental toxins. They reported that at least at that time suspect environmental toxins were at acceptable levels except from cranberry bogs where levels exceeded state and federal water quality standards. The report also recommended that long term ecological impacts of carbaryl and glyphosate applications be studied.

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).

"Fishlink" is a registered trademark of the Institute for Fisheries Resources. All rights to the use of this trademark are reserved to IFR.

Last Week