The following weekly news summary was compiled by the Congressional Research Service from a variety of information sources. New info and changes since 10/30/98 are bracketed {...} New info and changes since 11/05/98 double bracketed {{...}}
Cleve Steward Sustainable Fisheries Foundation Tel. 425-670-3584
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On Nov. 17-19, 1998, the Northwest Power Planning Council (NPPC) has scheduled a public workshop in Portland, OR, on their Multispecies Framework Project to begin work on devising a new, unified, science-based, decision-making policy framework for Columbia River fish recovery.}} [NPPC press release]
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On Nov. 3, 1998, the Canadian Press reported that a confidential 81-page Canadian parliamentary Commons Committee report on west coast salmon fisheries recommends that the federal Dept. of Fisheries and Oceans be restructured to better manage west coast fisheries, that more funds be provided for scientific research on fisheries, that immediate action be taken against the United States to preserve coho salmon and conclude a treaty on Pacific salmon, that a salmon license buyback program be continued to reduce fishing fleet size, and that increased aboriginal participation in the commercial fishery be achieved by buying and transferring commercial licenses to Native fishermen.} [Canadian Press]
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On Nov. 3, 1998, NOAA held a groundbreaking ceremony for a $4.6 million habitat restoration project along the Lower Duwamish River, WA. The project will focus on 16.5 acres at the former site of Seaboard Lumber, and serve as a model for restoration projects in urban industrial waterways.} [NOAA press release]
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On Oct. 27-28, 1998, the OR Dept. of Fish and Wildlife held a workshop on "Management Implications of Co-Occurring Native and Introduced Fishes" in Portland, OR, in partial response to state legislative concern that the Dept. address fish predation on salmon and steelhead trout.} [Portland Oregonian]
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On Oct. 27, 1998, President Clinton signed H.R. 4079 into law as P.L. 105-295, authorizing 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]
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On Oct. 27, 1998, the former president of a Japanese fishery company was arrested on suspicion of professional negligence for allegedly knowingly selling salmon roe tainted with E. coli bacteria that sickened dozens of sushi customers in Japan in April and June 1998. [Assoc Press, Dow Jones News]
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In late October 1998, the 5-state Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission, meeting in Sun Valley, ID, endorsed the natural river option (returning the river to more natural conditions) as the best biological choice for salmon recovery on the Columbia and Snake Rivers. [Assoc Press]
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On Oct. 21, 1998, President Clinton signed the conference report on H.R. 4328, the FY1999 omnibus consolidated appropriations bill, into law, including provisions providing an additional $35 million for the Corps of Engineers Columbia River fish mitigation project, bring the FY1999 appropriation for this project to about the same level as was provided in FY1998. [Congr. Record]
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On Oct. 17, 1998, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Sen. Ron Wyden, and OR Governor John Kitzhaber announced conclusion of an agreement whereby the federal government will pay $193 million over a 15-year period to farmers in OR for planting natural buffers of trees and other vegetation along waterways to improve coho salmon and steelhead trout habitat as part of the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program. The state of OR will contribute about $38 million and landowners about $19 million toward this effort to restore habitat on as much as 4,000 miles of waterway.
On Oct. 19, 1998, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman and WA Governor Gary Locke announced a similar 15-year $250 million program for WA state, aimed at protecting and restoring chinook salmon habitat along about 3,000 miles of WA streams.
In WA, the federal government will provide $210 million, with WA state and private landowners contributing about $40 million to the effort. [Assoc Press]
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On Oct. 14, 1998, Canadian Fisheries Minister David Anderson announced a new program to buyback Pacific salmon commercial fishing licenses, to begin immediately. This voluntary salmon license retirement program will solicit selling bids from interested fishermen to be reviewed by an independent advisory committee. Although the total amount to be spent on buybacks was not released, an initial round of license buybacks is likely to be followed by at least one and possibly two more buybacks. [Canadian Press]
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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." On Oct. 15, 1998, Portland State University sponsored a Columbia River Conference, where numerous speakers discussed evolving salmon restoration regimes for the Columbia River system. [Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce press release, Assoc Press, Dow Jones News]
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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]
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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]
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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]
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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]
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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]
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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]
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In the Oct. 30, 1998 issue of Science, an international groups of scientists expressed concern for problems associated with certain types of aquaculture in an article "Nature's Subsidies to Shrimp and Salmon Farming."} [Assoc Press]
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On Nov. 5, 1998, officials of 20 federal agencies announced a federal plan with 50 new initiatives seeking to better protect Chesapeake Bay, with one element being the identification of dams and other obstacles on federal land and their removal by 2003 to improve migratory fish access to 50 miles of habitat.}} [Reuters]
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On Nov. 4-5, 1998, federal biologists were scheduled to reintroduce about 12,800 Gila trout into a NM stream in Black Canyon in the Gila National Forest where these fish no longer lived. The reintroduction was delayed until this date after saboteurs allegedly dumped non-native brown trout fingerlings into the stream.} [U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service press release, Assoc Press] Back to top or back to home page or back to Whats New On Oct. 2, 1998, the Humane Society of Canada released a report outlining 25 scientific, legal, and humane reasons why they believe killing of whales should end. The document reportedly accuses Japanese interests of inflaming the controversy by providing support to Native American groups. [Humane Society of Canada press release] Back to top or back to home page or back to Whats New In early October 1998, the Progressive Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) filed a federal lawsuit challenging U.S. Coast Guard regulations requiring all vessels to stay at least 500 yards from the Makah whaling canoe and requested a restraining order to halt whaling until the matter is resolved. On October 19, 1998, officials of The Humane Society of Canada filed formal complaints with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and with Canadian Immigration & Citizenship authorities, charging that Mr. Anderson had violated Canadian law by issuing a license to Makah whalers for allegedly illegal activities and without public consultation. {On Nov. 1, 1998, a violent confrontation occurred at the Neah Bay marina between Makah individuals and anti-whaling protesters, with four protesters being arrested by tribal police and their inflatable boat confiscated. On Nov. 2, 1998, the Makah Tribal Council issued a permit allowing tribal whalers to begin hunting gray whale. The permit remains valid for 10 days.} [Assoc Press, personal communication, The Humane Society of Canada press release]
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{Gila Trout.
Anti-Whaling Report.
Makah Whaling.
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