The following news summaries were compiled by Gene Buck, Senior Analyst in the Congressional Research Service. Capital letters denote new information that did not appear in previous summaries.
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TRIBES ABANDON SALMON POLICY REVIEW PROCESS.
ON MAY 15, 1997, THE YAKAMA, WARM SPRINGS, UMATILLA, AND NEZ PERCE TRIBES ANNOUNCED THAT THEY NO LONGER WOULD PARTICIPATE IN THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE FORMED TO CONSIDER DISPUTE RESOLUTION CONCERNING FEDERAL SALMON RESTORATION POLICY. THE TRIBES EXPRESSED CONCERNS THAT FEDERAL POLICY DECISIONS APPEARED TO GIVE LIMITED CONSIDERATION TO THE TRIBES' POSITION ON THE ISSUES. [ASSOC PRESS]
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On May 9, 1997, the OR House Transportation Committee approved a license plate design showing a salmon, with a portion of the funds from plate purchase to be dedicated to salmon restoration. [Assoc Press]
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On May 7, 1997, a coalition of fishing and environmental groups filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court (Portland, OR) against the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and NMFS, challenging NMFS's opinion that the Northwest forest plan was adequate to protect endangered Umpqua River cutthroat trout. The plaintiffs are asking for specific measures to better protect this species. [Assoc Press]
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In early May 1997, nitrogen saturation levels were reported to have reached 140% below John Day Dam on the Columbia River and 128% below Ice Harbor Dam on the Snake River. [Assoc Press]
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On May 2, 1997, BC Premier Glen Clark released a 38-page discussion paper calling for renewed discussion with the federal government to reduce duplication of government services and outlining a sport fishing proposal with 3 goals for fisheries -- 1) protection of fish stocks and habitat, 2) creating sustainable fishery jobs and stable communities, and 3) enhancing BC's role in fisheries solutions. On May 5, 1997, BC Premier Glen Clark announced a C$1.5 million grant to a Community Fisheries Development Centre to select and manage a range of community-based fisheries initiatives over 3 years to support displaced fishery workers and fund salmon habitat restoration work. [Assoc Press]
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On May 2, 1997, two seafood processors agreed to pay $2 million to settle a 1995 $1 billion class-action lawsuit alleging price-fixing in the Bristol Bay salmon fishery from 1989 through 1995. Although 14 smaller processors previously settled for about $500,000, about 40 defendants remain. [Assoc Press]
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The May 1997 issue of Fisheries published the results of a study by three Pacific Northwest fishery scientists concluding that few in-stream habitat enhancement projects have resulted in any long-term success for the fish. To succeed, such efforts must be combined with restoration of ecological processes within an entire watershed including modification of upslope and riparian conditions, these individuals suggest. [Fisheries]
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On Apr. 25, 1997, NMFS announced that northern CA and southern OR coho salmon would be listed as "threatened" while northern and central OR coastal coho salmon would not be listed in response to the state of OR's negotiated recovery plan, but identified as a "candidate" species for future consideration. On Apr. 30, 1997, a coalition of 25 environmental and sport/commercial fishermen's groups notified NMFS that they intend to file suit on the decision not to list OR coastal coho salmon under the Endangered Species Act. [Assoc Press, Reuters]
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On Apr. 25, 1997, talks among Canadian and U.S. fishermen and fishing industry representatives in Juneau, AK, ended with negotiators agreeing to consider setting catch quotas for two southern southeast AK salmon the river's sport fishery, or take other action. On Apr. 30, 1997, the AK House approved a bill that would authorize the state to regulate and license sport fishing guides. [Assoc Press] Back to top or Back to home page On Apr. 23, 1997, officials of the Clinton Administration announced details of a draft $125 million-per-year land management strategy, prepared by the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management, to increase logging, create jobs, and better protect fish in 7 western states. Land use restrictions near streams inhabited by fish on more than 72 million acres of national forest and other public lands would be broadened. This strategy was the preferred alternative in a draft environmental impact statement for the Interior Columbia Basin Ecosystem Management Project. The draft strategy now begins a 120-day public comment period. ON MAY 15, 1997, THE SENATE ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES SUBCOMMITTEE ON FORESTS AND PUBLIC LAND MANAGEMENT HELD A JOINT HEARING WITH THE HOUSE RESOURCES SUBCOMMITTEE ON FORESTS AND FOREST HEALTH TO REVIEW THE COLUMBIA RIVER BASIN ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT. [Assoc Press, Reuters] Back to top or Back to home page Sikes Act Hearing. On May 22, 1997, the House Resources Subcommittee on Fisheries Conservation, Wildlife, and Oceans has tentatively scheduled a joint hearing with the House Committee on National Security on H.R. 374, proposing to amend the Sikes Act to enhance fish and wildlife conservation and natural resource management programs on military installations. [personal communication] Back to top or Back to home page COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - When the Ohio River and its tributaries recede from the high levels of the spring thaw, wildlife officers from Ohio and West Virginia prepare for the annual onslaught of unwanted visitors - poachers who plunder riverbeds of millions of pounds of freshwater mussels. The poachers, often outfitted with diving gear and maps of mussel beds, slip across the border under cover of darkness. They can scoop up thousands of dollars worth of the clamlike creatures in one night and smuggle their take to buyers in states where mussel harvesting is legal. Eventually, the mussels wind up at one of the handful of exporters in Tennessee, Alabama and Iowa before being shipped to Japan and other Asian countries for use in the $3 billion-a-year cultured pearl industry. The shells are processed into pieces the size of a match head. The pieces are then inserted into oysters to shorten the production time for pearls. Some types of mussels are protected by the government as endangered species. In Ohio, there is a daily limit of 15 mussels per person, and they can be used only for bait. A bill passed by the state House and pending in the Senate would outlaw the taking and selling of mussels entirely. Andrew Pierce, a special agent with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Delaware, Ohio, said poachers started moving into Ohio and West Virginia in 1991, looting the waters of the Muskingum River near Marietta and other areas of the Ohio River basin. Since then, the Ohio Division of Wildlife has put two or three full-time officers on mussel enforcement throughout the summer and fall. They scour seldom-traveled roads, boat launches and motel parking lots for trucks with out-of-town license plates. ``Tennessee, Alabama, Kentucky and Arkansas have been depleted of commercial shells,'' Pierce said. ``What's left are too small to harvest.'' An average night's work can bring a poacher $1,000, though some haul in $4,000 worth of shells in one shift. Shells generally sell for $2 to $4 a pound, but prices have shot up as high as $13. A few poachers who have been taken to federal court have been given jail time. But a typical sentence is probation and a fine of a couple of hundred dollars. North America is home to about 300 species of mussels. About 20 percent of them are on the federal endangered species lists. Mussels can live for decades and grow as large as a foot wide and weigh several pounds. ``Freshwater mussels are probably the most endangered animals in North America,' said Cindy Chaffee, a biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Bloomington, Ind. About 8,000 tons of mussels are pulled from streams each year, and roughly 6,000 tons are shipped to Japan, Korea and China, said Lonnie Garner, president of exporter U.S. Shell Co. in Hollywood, Ala. The others are lost or die en route. In addition to the damage by poachers, mussels have been hurt by pollution, vanishing habitat and the arrival of foreign zebra mussels that overwhelm the native species. So, what are mussels good for? Determining water pollution, for one thing, Ms. Chaffee said. ``They are probably the best indicator we have for water quality. When they start dying off or become unable to breed, we know there are problems with other wildlife and humans in the area.'' Tom Watters, a mussel expert with the Ohio Biological Survey at Ohio State University, offered another reason for protecting mussels: ``They've been here for 500 million years, and they have a right to remain here. ``We don't understand ecosystems enough to say ... what kind of domino effect their disappearance might have.'' But Garner, while not supporting the poachers, thinks the environmentalists' concerns are overblown. ``Shells are a renewable resource,'' he said. He said the state could stop poaching if they legalized musseling. He estimated that Ohio alone could support a mussel industry worth $5 million to $8 million a year, employing 1,500 people. Since that is not likely to happen, enforcement efforts are on the rise. The West Virginia Division of Natural Resources, which is responsible for enforcing wildlife regulations on the Ohio River, has worked closely on anti-poaching efforts with officers from Ohio. But only last month did the state begin routine mussel enforcement operations, said Lt. Terry Dunn, head of the division's law enforcement section. ``It was a little bit out of guilt or shame,'' Dunn said. ``Ohio was carrying the ball, and we wanted to pick up our end.''
Pacific Salmon Treaty.
Clinton Administration Western Land Management Strategy.
Freshwater Fisheries
Poachers Plunder Midwest Mussels