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Washington, DC -- As Oregon sport and commercial fishermen anxiously wait to hear to what extent ocean salmon fishing will be allowed this season, Congressman David Wu continued to fight for real solutions for salmon recovery.
Today Congressman Wu sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Commerce and U.S. Department of the Interior, two federal departments with agencies that make policy decisions affecting salmon recovery.
In the letter, Congressman Wu explains that the forthcoming decision from the Pacific Management Fishery Council to possibly reduce sport and effectively close commercial salmon fishing off the coasts of Oregon and California will not restore Klamath River system salmon runs.
Rather, Congressman Wu asks the federal government to look at the major causes of salmon decline, water management and environmental degradation.
Congressman Wu has expressed this position in several letters and meetings to the Pacific Management Fishery Council and with Interior and Commerce Department representatives, including Dr. William Hogarth, director of the National Marine Fisheries Service.
Below is the full text of Congressman Wu's letter:
April 6, 2006
Dr. William T. Hogarth
Director, National Marine Fisheries Service,
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
U.S. Department of Commerce
Room SSMC 3
14th Street and Constitution Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20230
John W. Keys III
Commissioner, Bureau of Reclamation
U.S. Department of the Interior
Room 7654
1849 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20240
Subject: Closure of Sport and Commercial Salmon Fishing
Dear Dr. Hogarth and Mr. Keys,
I am writing about the interim decision made on Tuesday, April 5, 2006 by the Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC). As you know the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has consistently recommended complete closure for both sport and commercial salmon fishing from roughly San Francisco to the Columbia River.
Before we implement an extreme policy such as reducing sport and effectively closing commercial salmon fishing, the administration should do the right thing in the Klamath River system. The federal government needs to look at the causes of salmon decline rather than focus on minuscule to non-existent contributors such as fishing. No other approach can or will ever restore the Klamath fall Chinook run.
On March 29, you will recall I attended a briefing with you and your colleagues from the U.S. Department of the Interior and NOAA. In answer to a direct question from me, the director of NOAA's Office of Protected Resources, Mr. Jim Lecky stated that water management and environmental degradation, not ocean fishing, are the causes of salmon decline in the Klamath River system.
Let me repeat this - Mr. Lecky stated that bad water management and environmental degradation are the causes of salmon decline, not ocean fishing. Therefore, any policy recommendation should focus on water management and environmental degradation in the Klamath River system instead of shifting blame to communities that did not create this problem.
Further, let me point at that the Klamath River fall Chinook is not either threatened or endangered. NOAA's 35,000 spawner fish requirement is an artificial floor set by the agency. You admitted the arbitrary nature of this floor at the March 29 meeting. As a matter of common sense, it seems to me that a temporary adjustment of this artificial floor is needed while a real fall Chinook restoration plan is implemented.
Reducing sport and effectively closing commercial fishing is a policy with a high price that will not solve the problem. Every job lost on the water results in loss of three jobs on dry land in our coastal communities. Estimates of the economic impact are in the millions. All this sacrifice with no benefit to the fall Chinook is an ineffective band-aid for bad public policy.
Most importantly, you are attacking the cultural roots of the Pacific Northwest. If effectively close the salmon fishery, you are not just terminating an economy; you are ending a way of life. Fishing for salmon is an integral part of who we are. Folks who fish for salmon have made innumerable changes and sacrifices to restore the salmon runs. It is time for this administration to distribute the pain fairly rather than attack coastal communities alone.
I am grateful that the PFMC decided yesterday to permit a limited sport and commercial salmon fishing season. However, given the real reason for the decline of the Klamath River system fall Chinook (bad water management and environmental degradation), I respectfully request that NOAA NMFS permit the greatest ocean salmon fishing season possible consistent with a true recovery plan for the Klamath River system fall Chinook. The recovery plan should focus on upriver conditions, not ocean fishing.
Let us not repeat the mistakes of the past and instead work together on real solutions for salmon recovery. Closing the fishery is not the solution.
Very truly yours,
David Wu
Member of Congress
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