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February 10, 2013             Headlines::     DFG Commission Rejects Striper Proposal

The ocean salmon fishing season is set to open on April 2 and fishery managers estimate that coastal waters currently boast more salmon than at any time in the past five years. Indeed, it appears that the severe drop in the Chinook salmon population in recent seasons has reversed. But the question is why? Is it more rain and snow in the Sierra, resulting in more freshwater in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta? Or, is it more food for salmon in the Pacific Ocean?
Actually, some scientific data indicate that the salmon resurgence is artificial and has nothing to do with the health of the delta or the ocean. In fact, data from a program that tags young salmon and recaptures them suggest that an elaborate system that trucks salmon from Central Valley fish hatcheries and deposits them into San Pablo Bay is primarily responsible for the salmon recovery. Some experts believe that without this artificial life-support system, the salmon in the Sacramento River might all but vanish. That's because the trucking system enables fish to bypass the delta and avoid the deadly pumps that send water to the San Joaquin Valley and Southern California.Biologists with the California Department of Fish and Game and the US Fish and Wildlife Service found that tagged salmon, or smolts, born in hatcheries, loaded into tanks, and transported to release sites near the Carquinez Strait are several times more likely to appear as adults in catch surveys than those that are left to travel unassisted downstream, through the delta, and out to sea. Experts suspect that non-trucked salmon are dying in the delta, where pumping facilities create hazards for small fish, either killing them directly or drawing them into sloughs and backwaters, where predators await.
Information collected by the National Marine Fisheries Service has shown that as many as 92 percent of young, non-trucked salmon die in the delta. "Getting the fish around the delta is critical," explained Roger Thomas, captain of the Salty Lady, a party fishing boat in Sausalito, and a board member of the Golden Gate Salmon Association. "Until we improve the health of the (river's) ecosystem, we'll have to keep trucking the fish."
The revelations about salmon survival rates come from a joint effort by state and federal fishery managers to tag a portion of the 30 million fish they produce annually in Central Valley hatcheries and observe their rates of survival into adulthood. To make the young fish identifiable as adults, hatchery managers clip the salmon's fleshy dorsal lobe, called the adipose fin, from 25 percent of smolts prior to release. The same fish are fitted with nearly-microscopic "coded wire tags" imprinted with numeric data. Last year, 121 of these fin-clipped salmon — caught as adults — were reported by sport fishermen on boats out of Sausalito. Fish and Game biologists who removed and analyzed the coded wire tags from the 121 fish found that 81 — or 66 percent — had been trucked around the delta and released into San Pablo Bay.
In addition, coded wire tags turned over by commercial ocean fishermen that same summer showed that fish born in 2008 at the Coleman National Fish Hatchery on the Sacramento River and trucked to San Pablo Bay were seven times more likely to reach adulthood than fish from the same hatchery that were released into the river. Wild salmon must also navigate their way to the sea unassisted and presumably face the same threats as the non-trucked hatchery fish in the delta region.
Fishery data also suggest that the recent collapse of the salmon fishery may have been due in part to a suspension of the salmon-trucking system in 2005 and 2006, an interruption caused by state budget constraints. Adult salmon populations crashed in the following years. The program has resumed in force, and salmon numbers appear to be climbing. Biologists estimate that 1.1 million adult fish are currently off the California coast — about three times the estimated ocean population of last spring.
However, some experts blame other factors for the salmon collapse and recovery. Two panels of government biologists appointed by the Pacific Fishery Management Council, or P-Council, proposed in a recent report that the salmon collapse over the past few years was due to food shortages in the Pacific Ocean in 2005 and 2006 caused by a lack of upwelling of nutrient-packed waters from the ocean floor.
Still, other experts, including a coauthor of the report, Chuck Tracy, a P-Council salmon staff officer, believes excessive water diversions from the delta played a major role in the collapse of the fall-run salmon population. The run hit rock bottom in the fall of 2009, when 39,000 spawning adults returned to the Sacramento River — down from 800,000 in 2002. In an interview, Tracy said high delta pumping levels in the spring of 2007 combined with half or less the rainfall of normal years to create "a ratio of pumping to water in the river that was much higher than usual."
The conflicting data and opinions have left some fishery experts unsure as to the impact of the trucking program. For example, Melodie Palmer-Zwahlen, a biologist with Fish and Game's Ocean Salmon Project who is currently analyzing data from the coded wire tags collected last summer by Bay Area ocean sport fishermen, remains undecided as to what is driving the rise and fall of salmon numbers. "Is something happening to these salmon in the river," she asked, "or is something happening at sea?"
But Dick Pool, president of the Concord-based fish conservation group Water4Fish, feels certain that the key problems dwell in the delta. "The ocean conditions did zap a lot of the fish in 2005 and 2006, but since then we've had excellent ocean conditions, but the fall run collapsed into a disaster zone," said Pool. He believes the delta environment remains as devastated as ever and that the salmon population could easily crash again. "Without that trucking program," he said, "we might have no ocean fishery."


 

INTERIOR POSTS ONLY HALF OF A SCIENTIFIC INTEGRITY POLICY — Draft

Would Punish Scientists But Not Protect Against Political Manipulation

Washington, DC — Seeking to rehabilitate its tattered reputation, the U.S. Interior Department today proposed rules to improve the accuracy and integrity of its scientific work. Disturbingly, the proposal ignores political manipulation of science and instead focuses on punitive measures against scientific specialists, according to Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). A report issued this year by its Office of Inspector General (IG) faulted Interior for lacking any policy to ensure the integrity of its scientific work. The proposed rules published today in the Federal Register would subject Interior scientists to discipline for actions such as falsification of data, disclosure of proprietary data and avoidance of conflicts of interest. Significantly, the rules do not apply to agency managers or bar alteration of scientific reports by non-scientists for political reasons. “The scientists within Interior are not the ones rewriting

documents inappropriately. Scientific misconduct stems from Interior’s political appointees and hand-picked senior managers but these folks are not covered by the policy,” stated PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch, pointing to a recent Government Accountability Office report that found Interior managers short-circuiting environmental reviews of offshore drilling in its Alaska office. “Interior’s approach to scientific integrity in essence penalizes the victims and gives a free ride to the perpetrators. ”In the Gulf of Mexico, Interior managers waived environmental and safety reviews on the BP Deepwater Horizon rig and signed off on a shoddy spill response plan that listed walruses and seals as local wildlife, among other absurdities. This spring, Interior

Secretary Ken Salazar and top aides overlooked scientific warnings about the risk of oil spills and the lack of response capacity before approving a major expansion of offshore drilling, just days before the disastrous BP explosion and spill. “Interior’s performance in the Gulf raised a host of troubling questions – all of which this proposal avoids,” added  Ruch, noting that agency scientists are already subject to discipline and negative performance reviews for scientific deviations and errors. “Reform at Interior needs to start at the top.” The draft Interior policy also appears at odds with a directive issued by President Obama in March 2009 that agencies work with the White House to develop policies providing transparency and peer review to technical work, protecting scientific data from being “compromised” and extending whistleblower protection to scientists. The Interior draft rules contain none of these key elements.

The proposed rules are subject to a 20-day public comment period.
 

U.S. FARMERS MAY FACE CRACKDOWN ON PESTICIDE USES AFFECTING SALMON:
The nation's farmers could face new restrictions on the use of pesticides as environmentalists and fishermen’s groups, spurred by a favorable ruling from a federal judge in Washington state, want the courts to force federal regulators to protect endangered salmon and steelhead from the ill effects of many commonly used agricultural chemicals.  The eight-year-old ruling by a federal Judge in Seattle required the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to review whether 54 pesticides, herbicides and fungicides were jeopardizing troubled West Coast salmon runs.

The agencies moved recently to restrict the use of three of these chemicals, methomyl, carbofuran and carbaryl, near bodies of water that flow into salmon-bearing streams, and they're considering restrictions on 12 additional chemicals. But the Washington State Department of Agriculture says such restrictions would prevent pesticide use on 75 percent of the state's farmland.  A federal judge in California has issued a similar ruling that involves 11 endangered and threatened species and 75 pesticides in the San Francisco Bay area. 

The Endangered Species Act (ESA), which was signed into law in 1973, requires federal agencies that are contemplating any action that could "jeopardize" listed species to consult with the Fish and Wildlife Service or the National Marine Fisheries Service and come up with a plan to alleviate or lessen the effects. The National Marine Fisheries Service has jurisdiction over some anadromous fish species, such as salmon, and the Fish & Wildlife Service covers everything else.  The EPA has jurisdiction over pesticides, but environmentalists said it had largely ignored the endangered species requirements.  "For years and years and years, EPA didn't do these consultations on pesticides," said Steve Mashuda of the Seattle office of Earthjustice, the law firm that brought the 2002 suit on behalf of the Washington Toxics Coalition and others.  "Those days are over."  PCFFA and IFR were both co-plaintiffs in that case.  

 

More information about methomyl: http://pmep.cce.cornell.edu/profiles/extoxnet/haloxyfop-methylparathion/methomyl-ext.html.  More information about carbofuran: http://pmep.cce.cornell.edu/profiles/extoxnet/carbaryl-dicrotophos/carbofuran-ext.html.  More information about carbaryl: http://pmep.cce.cornell.edu/profiles/extoxnet/carbaryl-dicrotophos/carbaryl-ext.html   To see the full 23 July McClatchy Newspapers article by Les Blumenthal go to: www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/07/25/98047/us-farmers-may-face-crackdown.html.  For a related article about a controversial herbicide being sprayed along logging roads near salmon streams in B.C. go to:  www.timescolonist.com/Herbicide%20spray%20raises%20concerns%20Shirley%20area/3317806/story.html.


Gillnets Wiping Out Trinity Salmon Run
Tribal gillnets are literally wiping out the entire 2009 Trinity salmon run. It's tough enough the salmon have to make it through one gauntlet on the Lower Klamath but it's the second set of nets at the Hoopa reservation on the lower Trinity that are inflicting the biggest toll. The numbers of fish fighting their way to the spawning grounds on this important tributary to the Klamath are at all time lows. 

We have been highlighting this travesty for the past month and it finally looks like the main steam media is starting to pick up the story and bring it to light to those outside the fishing community. We encourage out readers to help us continue to spread this message.

For the week ending today November 4th only 16 king salmon made their way through the weir on the main stem Trinity at Willow Creek. That brings the Trinity river / Willow Creek weir count since October 1st to 111 fish. Cal F&G just posted a new message on their weekly Willow Creek weir count announcement to clarify actually escapement which reads "Attached is the most recent summaries for the weirs and hatcheries. An important reminder- the weir counts are not complete counts of fish passing the site, only a sub sample, usually less than 15% of the total number of fish passing the weir site, please do not cite weir counts as total counts. Also, all data is considered preliminary until final editing has been completed, please cite as such."

That's good news as it brings the total salmon escapement to roughly 740 fish.  This is still far too low of an escapement for a major river system and shows that F&G and the tribes have no idea how to manage this fishery. If the best they can come up with is a "clarification of the weir numbers" it only shows that they are more concerned in "covering their ass" than they are in engaging in their real mission which is supposed to be the "managing California fisheries and wildlife", and we wonder why our fisheries continue to collapse.

This over harvest of salmon was avoidable and in terms of the percentage of returning fish the gillnets have taken (harvested or whatever term one wishes to use) appears to be over 90% this year's entire Trinity fall run of kings. This complete disregard for sustainable runs will be felt for years and could lead to the continued closures of sport and commercial fishing along the California and Oregon coasts and both tribal and sport fishing in the lower Klamath in 2012 and 2013.

On October 22nd over 20,000 pounds of Trinity river salmon netted by Hoopa gillnetters (approximately 2000 + fish)  was intercepted by NOAA enforcement officers at a fish processor at pier 45 in San Francisco. Unfortunately the bust was unable to be prosecuted because the Hoopa tribe has never submitted a harvest plan. These processors sell to one so called "eco minded" chain (think health food) that profess that they sell only fish from sustainable fisheries".  My only question is that if you can't prosecute the netters why can't you go after the state licensed commercial fish buyers for purchasing illegally caught fish? This catch also violates three (of the total of four) the Hoopa tribal fishing codes.
Despite the fact that the Hoopa netters were busted with 20K pounds of "subsistence" fish (being sold commercially) that they broke their own laws to catch the netting continues unabated. Dozens of nets are still in the river and likely catching 100s of fish nightly. Yes, the tribes certainly are the stewards of the river, or at least it's demise.

This picture (left) taken the second week of September on the lower end of the Hoopa reservation clearly shows a series of three nets that are set bank to bank that allows little to zero escapement. The nets are set to capture all salmon moving up through a deep hole where the majority of salmon stage and rest. Due to competition, gillnetters always try to set below others making for little chance of escapement. These are just three nets of 44 that were counted. Tribal anglers call this subsistence fishing. With 44 nets stacked in just a small section of river  plunder  or rape may be a better choice of words. The angler who sent us this picture said every hole had two to three nets and was "impassable, unless the fish grew wings". 

Not all tribal members of the many along the Klamath and Trinity agree with what is happening. There are individuals and groups that are totally against gillnetting  but have little say on the fishery practices of others through their own counsel. Many agree that gillnetting is not sustainable and is destroying their true native fisheries. You will find only truth in that statement today on the lower Trinity.
 
Guides and businesses along the river are afraid to speak up for fear of reprisals and threats of violence. Personally I have received (and documented) many threats against me and even my children for exposing what I and many believe to be the over harvest of salmon by tribal gillnetters on the Klamath and Trinity rivers for the past many years.

To be fair it was white cannery operators who first wiped out the Klamath salmon runs in the early 1900s (pictured right) but runs recovered once commercial netting stopped. Then, like now gillnets and greed were the reason for the collapse. The only difference between then and now was that at that time no dams had been built and fishery laws were enforced to allow a come back. Today with no accountability on the tribes to properly manage their harvest the run is being wiped out yet again and maybe for good.

The Hoopa's are entitled to a 6000 fish quota this year. There is no telling how many fish of that quota they have caught (on top of the 2000 + they tried to illegal sell) because they have no harvest plan and don't report catches to any outside fishery agency.

Gillnetting  and sportfishing quotas are all based on wild ass guess (WAGS) theories of ocean abundance and river returns that are made months in advance. More often than not these WAGS are wrong and when they are overly optimistic can result in far too many salmon being harvested. This year again shows how overly optimistic WAGS result in far too many fish being harvested.

It's time for West Coast fishery managers (PFMC, CDFG, NOAA, USFW) to do away with the WAG and practice modern fishery management here in California.

Alaska has had great results in managing both sport and commercial salmon harvest by using sonar counters on many rivers.  I feel that sonar (or weirs where they are better suited) would be ideal to manage the Klamath and Trinity river fisheries. It would do away with the WAG and harvest would be controlled by escapement. That is sound management and ensures enough salmon make it back  to seed future returns.

(Pictured Left: One can clearly see the gillnet marks on this Trinity steelhead. The fish was just small enough to be able to push through the nets. Today a smaller fish is much more likely to survive as most larger brood stock salmon and steelhead are taken out by the nets)

The 101 bridge on the lower Klamath would be an ideal spot for a primary sonar counter or a weir. It's an area where the channel is small and the transponders could be easily mounted onto the bridge pilings to count all returning fish.

For instance if the Yurok tribe is allowed 20% of the in-river return for their commercial fishery they would be allowed to harvest no more (or less) of the escapement that moves past the counter at the 101 bridge.  10,000 fish move past the counter they could harvest 2000 fish, no more or less. 100,000 fish move up they get 20K, no more or less but no fishing until minimum escapement goals have been met ABOVE THE 101 BRIDGE.

Currently using the WAG,  Yurok tribal netters harvested over 35000 (+ DUE TO ALL THE UNCOUNTED FISH AND THOSE NEVER REPORTED) fish in just 17 days early in the season. In the time being sport anglers harvested just 3501 of their 32,000 fish quota in 2009. In 2008 sport anglers landed just 10% of their quota 22.5K fish quota but the Yurok tribe took their full allotment of 22,500 fish before 10% of the run even migrated above tide water.

To maintain an accurate count, sonar (or weirs) should also be installed at the mouth of the Trinity and in the main stem Klamath just upriver from the Trinity. Fish that turn into the Trinity could be counted at the mouth and again at the Willow Creek weir. The Hoopa's would be allowed to harvest their allotment of fish that make it past the Willow Creek weir, no more, no less but no fishing until minimum escapement has been met AT THE WILLOW CREEK WEIR.

Over harvest by subsistence netters on the lower Klamath has been a big problem for years but the actual impact in numbers of fish is unknown. By having sonar counters along the length of the river the true impact of legal and illegal gillnetting would be known and harvests and allotments could be adjusted to make up for these impacts in real time or loss of fishing rights in the following years.
 
Just a few ideas based on what has worked in Alaska which has tribal and commercial gillnetting, resident dip netting and sportfishing to manage on the same rivers. They are able to adjust fishery harvest in real time and always error on the side of the fish. It's a proven method of proper fishery management. After all what sense is there is spending 10s of millions to tear down dams and restore the rivers if tribal gillnetters continue to over harvest the brood stock.

It's time that for new styles of fishery management but unfortunately it's too late for Trinity river bound kings and coho this year. The over harvest this season will effect future seasons of both California and Oregon sport and commercial salmon anglers for the next several years. There can be a better future for salmon if we are bold enough to give up old practices and work together to rebuild the salmon runs.
We owe it to future generations to correct what we ALL have screwed up so badly.
Mike Aughney
fishsite@aol.com
----------------------
Editor's Feedback:
I want to thank the scores of readers who have written us about this story. This is a "live" story and we will continue to update it as weir counts, pictures and new information comes in. The message is getting out and we are starting to see some related stories. This one from WON written by Jim Jones makes some excellent points.  wonews.com/t-FreshReport_trinity_river_110209.aspx

And this one from the Record Searchlight in Redding  http://www.redding.com/news/2009/nov/08/are-gill-nets-decimating-klamath-and-trinity/

Many other emails have been from guides and local business owners (who for years have been muzzled by threats of violence from the tribes when they speak out) saying thanks for what they cannot risk saying. One was from Yurok tribal member who has been ostracized because he had spoken out against nets. In response to letters from some tribal members I will say that this issue has NOTHING to do with race. You can play the race card all you want but more often than not that is the first card played by the tribe (s) every time their netting practices are questioned. I only wish that the gillnetters in question were all lily white. Then I could come out with both barrels.
Unfortunately CDFG, NOAA, PFMC and USFW are a big reason this story ever came to be. They have done nothing to enforce harvest. Harvest plans that should have been submitted by the Hoopa's in the 1970s are still not filed. Cal Fish and Game wardens have the audacity to check sport anglers for their license and punch card while (and I have seen this twice the past five years) Yurok netters are shooting sealions right in front of them and they do nothing. Last and least, why does it take someone like me to state the obvious that sonar counters may be one of the best ways to manage harvest and escapement?
We have lost the Sacramento Valley salmon fisheries and in turn ocean sport and commercial fisheries worth 100s of million $$$$$$$$$ due to water diversion, greed and politics and now the Trinity to gillnetting and greed and for what? $50,000 worth of fish to the Hoopa tribe. This $50K worth of fish to the tribe will cost $10s of millions to the California economy come 2012.
My final question..... is when are Federal and State fishery managers going to start working with the tribes to manage these fisheries? If recent history is any inclination they will only step up when the run has completely collapsed.
I encourage sport anglers, especially those who live in the "State of Jefferson" to speak out about this travesty and to contact the media and their state assembly and congress members and ask for answers.
Mike



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