EducationFor the SalmonAid Festival we will organize a positive, fun, educational event that strengthens existing relationships and builds new relationships between the salmon constituencies across the Pacific Coast (CA, OR, WA, ID, and AK): conservationists, tribal communities, commercial fishermen, and recreational fishermen. Our goal is to educate the public to understand the critical importance of protecting and restoring habitat in order to protect and restore healthy, self-sustaining, abundant, and fishable runs of wild salmon and steelhead; and to mobilize them to take action calling for leadership to achieve these goals. In this section you will find articles that will provide insight into the issues faced today by fisherman and pacific salmon alike. A brief interview from NPR's "Living on Earth" show.Zeke Grader, executive Director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations about the declines of Salmon Populations in the Sacramento River - what it means to our fishermen, and what it means for the American consumer. 'We can do better' for fish, judge saysColumbia salmon - A federal judge promises "very harsh" measures if a solution is not found. The federal judge pressing the government to remedy the damage Columbia River dams wreak on protected salmon warned Wednesday of "very harsh" consequences if federal agencies fail to find a solution. U.S. District Judge James Redden did not specify the consequences, but he has previously mentioned draining reservoirs and diverting water from other uses to help fish. That could curtail the cheap electricity the dams generate, a mainstay of the Northwest economy. It also could limit irrigation supplies and barge traffic on the river. During a hearing in his Portland courtroom, his message for the federal government appeared to be that the draft government plan to help salmon is inadequate and must do more for fish. "We can do better than that," he said after reading part of a list of measures the federal agencies proposed. Redden said he was pleased that collaboration among federal agencies, states and tribes had yielded some progress. But he said the government must explore other options to meet requirements of the Endangered Species Act. The federal government has struggled for years to find a legal way to operate the dams while also making up for the protected salmon that dams injure and kill each year. Federal agencies have proposed millions of dollars in dam upgrades, habitat restoration and changes at fish hatcheries. But Redden has thrown out two federal proposals because they were based on flimsy and uncertain commitments. He told attorneys in a letter last week that the government's newest draft has many of the same weaknesses. He said he wanted to hear other options to help salmon. He specifically mentioned an idea by Oregon officials to draw down the reservoir behind John Day Dam, which he termed one of the worst dams for its impact on salmon. Fish migrated with the quick, cool current of the river before the dam was built but now struggle through the warm water that backs up behind it. Redden asked for details on the impact of lowering reservoir levels, such as how it would affect irrigation and barge traffic. He said he recognized that the federal government would not pursue breaching four dams on the Lower Snake River, though he asked for that to be considered. "But what can we do in addition to that?" He set a March 18 deadline for the federal government to complete a final strategy on how to legally operate the system of dams while reducing the effect on protected fish. He will consider appointing a panel of independent scientists to help him sort through the measures that would help salmon, he said, although federal attorneys questioned whether he could do that. Attorneys from the federal government, states and tribes occasionally sniped at one another during the hearing. An attorney for Montana, which wants to retain water for fish and other demands at the upper end of the Columbia system, chastised Oregon officials for bypassing other states and tribes and pushing the John Day option directly with the federal government. Oregon's behavior "is nothing short of appalling," said Mark Stermitz, representing Montana. "It's like dad didn't give them what they want, so they're going to mom." Another judge found in a separate court case involving protection for Oregon coast coho that Oregon officials "will cherry-pick scientific evidence to suit their own purposes, " Stermitz said. Lawyers for conservation groups said they probably would seek an injunction asking for extra measures for salmon until the government comes up with a legal plan to operate the dams. Federal attorneys said such a move would distract from the federal effort to finish the plan. The government would be willing to extend provisions of the court order that provided extra help for salmon last year to cover 2008 if conservation groups agreed not to pursue a new injunction, they said. Conservation groups said they'd consider it. "I think it's a pretty good offer," Redden said. Michael Milstein: 503-294-7689; 137 Species Rely on Pacific SalmonPacific salmon do a strange thing. After they spawn, they die. Winter Run Salmon Slowly Rebounding
In 1991 the winter run of Sacramento River king salmon, a species once numbering in the hundreds of thousands, stood at a mere 211 adult fish. From a high of 118,000 adult winter run salmon counted in 1969, a steady downward spiral through the 1970’s and 80’s made it clear something was driving these fish to extinction. That something was a combination of dams that cut off access to spawning habitat, water diversions that sucked water and baby salmon out of the Sacramento River and lethal temperatures in the river during drought years. Pollution from mines, ranch and farm runoff and overall habitat loss in Sacramento River tributaries were additional factors. By the early 90’s it seemed clear the Sacramento River winter run salmon would soon join the San Joaquin River spring run salmon, which once also numbered in the hundreds of thousands, in the category of fish formerly found in California but now extinct. Like the winter run, the San Joaquin spring run were driven to extinction using the same formula of dams and water diversions for agriculture, spawning habitat loss and water pollution. Just as all hope for the winter run seemed lost, the Endangered Species Act came to the rescue and the winter run was brought back from the brink. In 2001 officials estimate about 8,000 adult fish returned to spawn and in 2002 9,000 came back. The winter run salmon were being hurt mostly by projects directly or indirectly under federal control. So when ESA protections kicked in and forced the federal agencies to change the ways the Sacramento River was managed, the winter run responded. Among the steps taken to reverse winter run salmon declines:
all other salmon, steelhead and trout species in the Sacramento. Commercial and sport fishermen have enjoyed healthier stocks of returning Sacramento Fall, Late Fall and Spring run salmon as a result of the modifications to the river environment forced by the ESA listing of the winter run. The entire ecosystem got a big boost from the modifications. Battle to save the fish. Apparently Sherwood was a little too ahead of his time in this case. The federal district court had never seen a case like this before and wasn’t prepared to arrive at the right legal conclusion. The court ruled against Sherwood who immediately appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. In 1989 the winter run returned to the Sacramento River at much lower levels than expected. Instead of the average run size of 2400 fish that had annually appeared between 1982 and 1988, the 1989 run was estimated at about 533 fish; a 75 percent decline and far below the 86,000 average between 1967 and 1969, the last years prior to the Red Bluff Diversion Dam’s impact. In 1989, with Sherwood’s case before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the National Marine Fisheries Service acknowledged the wisdom of Sherwood’s claims and finally listed the winter run chinook salmon as threatened under the ESA. They also designated the Sacramento River from Red Bluff Diversion Dam to Keswick Dam (a regulatory dam immediately below Shasta Dam) as a critical habitat. The move came none too soon. By 1991 data available indicated that year’s returning run would be verging on non-existent. Scientists expected between 88 and 200 fish. NMFS had concluded that a bare minimum of 200 adults was required to avoid irretrievable genetic losses (independent non government scientists have calculated 500 adult fish is the real number needed to avoid long term loss of genetic variation). When the counting was over in 1991 a mere 211 winter run salmon had returned to spawn in the Sacramento. Sherwood of Earthjustice and his clients at the American Fisheries Society asked NMFS to reclassify the status of winter run from threatened to endangered under the ESA. NMFS agreed to take another look at the status of this salmon species. In 1992 they reported that the population of winter run Chinook salmon had dropped by almost 99 percent over a 25-year period from 1966 to 1991. Even though this species of fish was disappearing in front of them, it took until 1994 for NMFS to act. In January 1994, NMFS issued its final rule reclassifying the winter run chinook salmon as an endangered species. The action came just in time because in 1994 winter run hit their all time lowest return with just 186 adult fish returning to spawn. Not all is peachy Ongoing threats All Fish Have Benefited Epilogue |