Washington Hunter
Well-known member
Fishermen in decline along with salmon
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ASTORIA, Ore. -- On a foggy evening near the mouth of the Columbia River, fisherman Jim Wells was joined by just four other boats, a far cry from the crowds seen during the heyday of commercial salmon fishing.
"You look at the economics of it and you wonder why I'm fighting so hard," Wells said, stepping into a pickup with a 'Salmon Mean Business' bumper sticker. "We know we're threatened. We just don't know how to go about getting ourselves listed."
All fault the hydropower system, proving once again that the fish-versus-dams debate is not settled.
"There are several different things that affect a salmon stock, but by and large, the single biggest thing is the hydropower system and how it's operated," said Steve Fick, a commercial fisherman and owner of a cannery.
More than 400 dams have been built in the 258,000-square-mile Columbia River drainage, including 14 dams on the mainstem Columbia in the United States and Canada.
The development came with a price. Dozens of fish runs in the Columbia basin have been listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act.
Many salmon advocates have proposed that water be spilled over the dams this summer, as well as increasing flows, to help juvenile fish downstream.
President Bush has opposed any talk of breaching dams to aid salmon recovery.
Activists and anglers scored a victory Thursday with a judge's ruling that a government plan that treats dams as part of the environment -- which could block attempts to breach them -- violated the Endangered Species Act. The plan acknowledged the decline of salmon but found that dam operations simply should not increase the rate of decline.
"It's the first time we had seen a plan that actually allows a species to go extinct," said Nicole Cordan, policy and legal director for the activist group Save our Wild Salmon. "This is a fish that provides real jobs for the region," Cordon said. "To allow this fish to go extinct allows communities to go extinct."
In the meantime, salmon fishing was closed on the Columbia this spring -- a move that wreaked havoc on all aspects of the industry, including tribal fishermen who harvest salmon for ceremonial purposes and sustenance.
One sportfishing guide refunded $10,000 -- half his fee -- to 57 customers who canceled in just two weeks, said Trey Carskadon of the Northwest Sportfishing Industry Association.
"They told him that they've had it with the uncertainty of these runs. They don't really want to come back," Carskadon said.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ASTORIA, Ore. -- On a foggy evening near the mouth of the Columbia River, fisherman Jim Wells was joined by just four other boats, a far cry from the crowds seen during the heyday of commercial salmon fishing.
"You look at the economics of it and you wonder why I'm fighting so hard," Wells said, stepping into a pickup with a 'Salmon Mean Business' bumper sticker. "We know we're threatened. We just don't know how to go about getting ourselves listed."
All fault the hydropower system, proving once again that the fish-versus-dams debate is not settled.
"There are several different things that affect a salmon stock, but by and large, the single biggest thing is the hydropower system and how it's operated," said Steve Fick, a commercial fisherman and owner of a cannery.
More than 400 dams have been built in the 258,000-square-mile Columbia River drainage, including 14 dams on the mainstem Columbia in the United States and Canada.
The development came with a price. Dozens of fish runs in the Columbia basin have been listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act.
Many salmon advocates have proposed that water be spilled over the dams this summer, as well as increasing flows, to help juvenile fish downstream.
President Bush has opposed any talk of breaching dams to aid salmon recovery.
Activists and anglers scored a victory Thursday with a judge's ruling that a government plan that treats dams as part of the environment -- which could block attempts to breach them -- violated the Endangered Species Act. The plan acknowledged the decline of salmon but found that dam operations simply should not increase the rate of decline.
"It's the first time we had seen a plan that actually allows a species to go extinct," said Nicole Cordan, policy and legal director for the activist group Save our Wild Salmon. "This is a fish that provides real jobs for the region," Cordon said. "To allow this fish to go extinct allows communities to go extinct."
In the meantime, salmon fishing was closed on the Columbia this spring -- a move that wreaked havoc on all aspects of the industry, including tribal fishermen who harvest salmon for ceremonial purposes and sustenance.
One sportfishing guide refunded $10,000 -- half his fee -- to 57 customers who canceled in just two weeks, said Trey Carskadon of the Northwest Sportfishing Industry Association.
"They told him that they've had it with the uncertainty of these runs. They don't really want to come back," Carskadon said.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
