The following weekly news summary was compiled by the Congressional Research Service from a variety of information sources. New info and changes since 4/17/98 are bracketed {...} New info and changes since 4/23/98 double- bracketed {{...}}
Cleve Steward Sustainable Fisheries Foundation Tel. 425-670-3584
Back to top or back to home page or back to Whats New
Back to top or back to home page or back to Whats New
On Apr. 10, 1998, Superior Court Judge Peter Michalski rejected the petitions of two Seattle-area salmon processors to be dropped as defendants in the $1 billion Bristol Bay fishermen's antitrust class action case.
On Apr. 14, 1998, an Anchorage attorney announced that the one of the Japanese companies charged in this case has offered $6.25 million to settle all claims against it. Court approval of the settlement is required.[Assoc Press]
Back to top or back to home page or back to Whats New
On Apr. 10, 1998, the Pacific Fishery Management Council adopted restrictive salmon seasons for 1998, with no harvest of coho salmon provided for areas south of the northern OR coast.
North of the northern OR coast, coho and chinook quotas were reduced about 40% from 1997 harvests. At the Columbia River mouth, sport fishermen will be able to keep only specially marked hatchery coho salmon. Seasons for chinook salmon are a patchwork along the coast to protect proposed and listed populations and to reduce the incidental harvest of coho salmon. [Assoc Press]
Back to top or back to home page or back to Whats New
On Apr. 8, 1998, NMFS officials notified Nez Perce tribal officials of a proposed cut in the allowable tribal harvest of Snake River "B-run" steelhead trout, listed under the Endangered Species Act as a threatened species, from 20% of the returning adults to a maximum of 7% of the returning adults. This is likely to dramatically limit the fishery for fall chinook salmon, where steelhead trout are taken incidentally. [Assoc Press]
Back to top or back to home page or back to Whats New
On Apr. 1, 1998, WA Governor Gary Locke signed a package of seven bills into state law related to salmon, including measures creating a Governor's Salmon Recovery Office, a framework for salmon habitat restoration, a scientific review panel for salmon recovery plans, a streamlined permit process for volunteer salmon restoration projects, a required marking program to distinguish hatchery chinook salmon, and a program for planting salmon eggs in streams where wild salmon have disappeared.
Together, these measures provide about $36 million for salmon protection and restoration activities. [Assoc Press]
Back to top or back to home page or back to Whats New
On Mar. 31, 1998, the OR Water Resources Commission decided to cancel a 1994 additional water permit for the Grants Pass Irrigation District because the District had not acted as directed by the Commission on removing the Dam, which prevents coho salmon from reaching upstream spawning habitat in the Rogue River drainage. The Commission's action sends this case to a hearings officer for review before a final commission decision, likely in November 1998. {In mid-April 1998, NMFS officials sent the Grants Pass Irrigation District an example of the complaint that NMFS intends to file, asking a judge to prohibit dam operation, unless the District agrees by late April 1998 to remove the dam on the Rogue River, OR. The complaint also would seek a ruling that diversion of water from the river constitutes a "take" of threatened coho salmon under the Endangered Species Act.
On Apr. 22, 1998, NMFS filed a petition in U.S. District Court seeking an injunction to halt irrigation operations associated with the Savage Rapids Dam, on the Rogue River, OR, until the Grants Pass Irrigation District complies with the Endangered Species Act. NMFS negotiations with the Irrigation District to improve anadromous salmon and trout passage at this dam have been unsuccessful.} [Assoc Press, NOAA press release]
Back to top or back to home page or back to Whats New
On Mar. 31, 1998, U.S. and Canadian negotiators (six for each nation) began two days of preliminary discussions in Washington, DC.
On Apr. 15-16, 1998, U.S. and Canadian negotiators began a second round of discussions in Vancouver, BC, on how to cooperatively manage salmon and allocate harvest for the 1998 season. Interim arrangements are being sought by June 1998. Talks are scheduled to continue in Portland, OR, on May 11, 1998. [Assoc Press, Reuters]
Back to top or back to home page or back to Whats New
In late March 1998, nine delegates from the Pacific northwest were scheduled to arrive in Washington, DC, to brief congressional staff on a regional plan for a "Three Sovereigns Fish and Wildlife Governance Process" to oversee salmon recovery in the Columbia River basin. The three "sovereigns" include 1) four Pacific northwest states; 2) 13 Columbia basin tribes; and 3) the federal government. Two versions of a draft agreement on this Process will be introduced at a series of public hearings in the four Pacific northwest states, beginning Apr. 8, 1998. [Assoc Press]
Back to top or back to home page or back to Whats New
Norwegian Salmon. On Apr. 14, 1998, European Union officials imposed definitive anti-dumping duties on imports of farmed salmon from 24 Norwegian companies. Anti-dumping duties of $0.35 per kilogram and countervailing duties of 3.8% were imposed. This action extends some of the provisional anti-dumping duties imposed on 29 Norwegian companies in December 1997, who were cited as having violated an EU-Norwegian agreement on salmon pricing. [Reuters] Back to top or back to home page or back to Whats New {NC Dam Removal. On Apr. 23, 1998, the NC Division of Water Resources announced that it had signed a contract to remove the Cherry Hospital dam on the Little River, near Goldsboro, NC. Dam removal is anticipated to increase spawning habitat available for hickory shad, striped bass, and other fish.} [Assoc Press]
Back to top or
Aquaculture and Aquaria
Freshwater Fisheries
Back to CRC home page
or Back to What's New
or Back to fish subject index