On Oct. 8, 1998, the Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Drinking Water, Fisheries, and Wildlife is scheduled to hold an oversight hearing on scientific and engineering issues relating to Columbia/Snake River system salmon recovery.} [personal communication]

{Delisting of Pacific Salmon.

On Oct. 6, 1998, NMFS announced (63 Federal Register 53635) that a July 8, 1998 petition to delist all west coast salmon from the endangered species list presented no substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that delisting was warranted.} [Fed. Register]

{Seattle Funds Salmon Recovery.

On Oct. 5, 1998, the King County Council voted to appropriate $4.2 million to begin restoration and preservation of salmon habitat, including acquisition of land, riverbank planting, and replacing culverts that block salmon passage. The County has identified $250 million in watershed projects to be completed during the next 20 years.} [Assoc Press]

{Salmon Processing Technology.

In early October 1998, the Board of the AK Science and Technology Foundation awarded a $0.5 million grant to TBRS Technology for further refinements on a machine created to remove all bones from salmon and for development of a marketing plan.} [Assoc Press]

{Petroleum and Salmon.

On Oct. 3, 1998, NMFS scientists reported at a international conference in Anchorage, AK, that contaminants, especially longer-lived polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, from lingering oil after the Exxon Valdez spill at concentrations as low as one part per billion will continue to stunt pink salmon growth and cause other chronic problems for generations. Exxon scientists disputed these findings.} [Reuters]

PATH Review.

On Sept. 30, 1998, four scientists, chosen to objectively review the Corps of Engineers Plan for Analyzing and Testing Hypothesis (PATH) panel findings, released a 32-page report concluding that breaching the four lower Snake River dams is key to saving spring chinook salmon. Their report concludes that allowing the lower Snake River to flow unimpeded would result in a 79% chance of restoring chinook populations within 48 years as opposed to a 40% chance if current river conditions continued. [Assoc Press]

Pacific Salmon Treaty.

On Sept. 28, 1998, a report for the David Suzuki Foundation (Vancouver, BC) was released, concluding that the existing Pacific Salmon Treaty should be discarded, and a new comprehensive agreement negotiated to emphasize the use of selective fishing techniques necessary to protect stocks of Pacific salmon threatened with extinction. [Reuters, Assoc Press]

WA Salmon Management.

On Sept. 25, 1998, the WA Governor's Salmon Recovery Office, released a working draft salmon recovery plan "Extinction is Not an Option," calling for a statewide carrot-and-stick approach to protecting and restoring salmon habitat. This strategy would rely on vigorous enforcement of existing environmental law as well as use of tax and other financial incentives to encourage landowners to voluntarily protect and restore habitat. An updated draft is to be prepared by December 1998, and be used as a basis for action in the 1999 WA Legislature. The final document is scheduled for completion in summer 1999. [Assoc Press]

Corps of Engineers FY1999 Salmon Funding.

On Sept. 24, 1998, the House and Senate conference committee on FY1999 energy and water appropriations was reported to have agreed to provide $60 million for FY1999 Corps of Engineers fish recovery programs on the Columbia and Snake Rivers.

In FY1998, about $95 million was appropriated. [Assoc Press]

BC Salmon Management.

On Sept. 18, 1998, Canadian Fisheries Minister David Anderson appointed former Fisheries Minister John Fraser as chairman of the newly established Pacific Fisheries Resource Conservation Council and named 8 additional members to serve on the Council. This independent body will report annually on the status of BC's salmon stocks and conservation issues.

On Sept. 29, 1998, the Peckford public inquiry issued its findings, concluding that BC fishermen and businesses were badly hurt by Canadian federal salmon regulations during the 1998 season, that the Pacific salmon industry needs emergency assistance comparable to that provided Atlantic maritime fishermen for dealing with the cod stock collapse, and that all stakeholders formalize a process to develop a management plan for the 1999 sockeye salmon fishery. {{In early October 1998, BC Hydro announced that it would spend C$7 million to enhance salmon habitat, including a C$5 million contribution to Fisheries Renewal BC, a government corporation promoting jobs in the fishing industry and recovery of fish habitat from logging damage. The remaining $2 million will be spent on BC Hydro salmon enhancement projects, including fish screens and salmon spawning channels.}} [Assoc Press, Canadian Press]

Savage Rapids Dam.

On Sept. 17, 1998, a subcommittee of the OR Legislative Emergency Board voted 3-2 to endorse a proposal to appropriate $450,000 from watershed enhancement funds to improve fish screens on the Savage Rapids Dam as an interim measure pending dam removal. The full Board voted 11-6 to approve this proposal for funding on Sept. 18, 1998.

Appropriate design for the screens remains to be determined. [Portland Oregonian, Assoc Press]

Folsom Dam Temperature Control.

On Sept. 15, 1998, the House passed by voice vote H.R. 4079 proposing to authorize the construction of temperature control devices at Folsom Dam, CA, to benefit the recovery of fall-run chinook salmon and steelhead trout in the American River. [personal communication]

AK Salmon Disaster.

In mid-September 1998, the Small Business Administration agreed to make available low-interest, long-term loans to provide working capital for western AK fishermen.

In mid- September 1998, AK Governor Tony Knowles named six individuals to the task force to study the causes of western AK fisheries disasters.

In late September 1998, Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala announced that $10 million in emergency funds had been approved to provide heating oil for villages hurt by the salmon disaster.

On Sept. 30, 1998, the Assoc Press reported that House and Senate conferees on the FY1999 Dept. of Agriculture appropriations bill had agreed to a $50 million in assistance package for western AK -- $18 million in disaster assistance, $15 million in economic development projects, $7 million for salmon fishery research, and $10 million in small business loans and funding to improve the competitiveness of AK fishermen. [NOAA press release, Reuters, Assoc Press]

Salmon Meetings.

On Sept. 13, 1998, Vice President Al Gore and Council on Environmental Quality Chair Katie McGinty held a town hall meeting on salmon in Seattle, WA, with the focus on the Administration's efforts to work with local and state governments on salmon restoration. {On Oct. 8-10, 1998, the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce is scheduled to hold a Leadership Conference in Vancouver, BC, on the topic "Saving Salmon in an Urban Setting -- The Science and Politics of Preserving the Puget Sound Chinook."} [personal communication, NW Fishletter No. 67, Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce press release]

Columbia River Salmon Fishery.

On Sept. 12, 1998, and in response NMFS's Sept. 10th biological opinion, the Columbia River Compact extended and adjusted fishing times.

On Sept. 18, 1998, Columbia River Compact managers announced that sport fishing for salmon in the mainstem Columbia River would be prohibited beginning Sept. 21, 1998, after determining that sport anglers had caught nearly twice as many wild Snake River fall chinook salmon as had been predicted. Tribal salmon fishing continues through Sept.

26, 1998, but no fishery is anticipated for non-tribal commercial salmon gillnetters. The sport fishery for steelhead trout remains open. [Assoc Press, Portland Oregonian]