Politics and Fish Movement

From digmovements

Contents 1 Politics and Fish? 1.1 Outdated Hatchery Programs 1.2 Dams 1.3 Destruction of Habitat 1.4 Commercial Gillnetting 1.5 Politics 1.6 Politically Active Groups 2 Politics and Fish Movement Main Article - My Campaign Movement - Politicly Active Fishermen Web Sites- Politics and Fish Movement Annotated Bibliography - Resume Doug Richert - My Blog

[edit] Politics and Fish?

An adult salmon swims up the river where it was born, burrows an opening in the gravel (called a redd), spawns, and then dies. The eggs hatch and continue to live in the redd receiving their nourishment from the egg sac that is still attached. Thy emerge from the gravel as fry, some immediately make the journey down the river to saltwater. Some stay in the river for up to two years. After the fry develop into the smolt stage they migrate to saltwater where they will reside in the estuaries until they are large enough to travel into the open ocean. Once in the ocean, they will live for two to five years until they migrate back to the river in which they were born.

Salmon and steelhead are vanishing in all our rivers here in the Pacific Northwest. Where there used to be twenty thousand fish, only a tenth of the fish make up the current run. Where have all the fish gone? It is an amalgamation of problems…. Poor hatchery practices, commercial gill netting, dams, habitat degradation and politics.

Unlike humans, salmon need good suitable conditions to complete their life cycle. Salmon can adjust to some adverse conditions. They need rivers with clean water, stable temperatures, good water flow and clean gravel to lay their eggs in. Salmon are said to be the “Canary in the coal mine” of our environment, meaning as the fish runs decline it is more than likely due to the deterioration of our (and their) environment. Dams, hatcheries, and habitat all affect the salmon’s environment directly. Commercial gill netting and politics affect their environment indirectly. For this essay I will examine the largest of rivers in Washington, the Columbia River, for it has suffered all the dire consequences, poor hatchery practices, dams, habitat degradation and political idiocy.

[edit] Outdated Hatchery Programs

Salmon hatcheries have been operating on the West Coast since the late 1800s. They operated as a fix for extremely high harvest rates to support the commercial canning industry, which totaled 55 on or near the Columbia, packing 630,000 cases of 48 one-pound cans valued at $3 million, using only Chinook… The Chinook catch reached a peak of 43 million pounds on the Columbia in 1883.^[1] These early hatcheries collected eggs from wild fish spawning in the rivers. These eggs were hatched and raised until they were old enough to re-enter the river environment as fry. Originally, hatchery managers used hatcheries only to increase numbers of wild salmon.

With the heavy harvest of the salmon, the runs declined steadily through the 1920’s and 1930’s and remained low through the 1940’s and 1950’s. In the 1960’s the runs increased dramatically due to research, which improved treatment of disease in hatcheries and the formulation of more nutritious feed.^[2] Hatcheries can increase the number of fish going to the ocean by artificially spawning and raising fry until they reach the smolt stage. Oregon Fish Commission hatcheries egg take jumped from 6 million eggs in 1953 to 45.6 million eggs in 1962.^[3] Everyone was declaring the hatchery program a total success. Yet as we can see today with the trouble our fish runs are in, it was just the opposite. The fish runs continued to grow through the early 1970’s, and then in 1977 the runs collapsed. “The harvest dropped from a peak of 3.9 million fish in 1976 to a million fish the next year. Less than twenty years later, in 1997 only 28,000Coho were harvested”^[4] Hatchery managers were at a loss as to what happened to the fish. They had failed to keep vital records and statistics.

Today researchers are slowly learning that a salmon is not just a salmon. Where managers take salmon eggs from one river and plant them in another, they are learning each salmon has certain genetic traits, which nature designed for a specific river system. When managers introduce these fish to different rivers, their genetic makeup may not be suited for that particular environment.

As we can observe if we do not make drastic changes in our hatchery practices and manage them in such a way that does not affect our wild stock, we will stand by and watch many of our salmon and steelhead runs disappear. Hatchery operational plans need to be developed case-by-case in individual watersheds following comprehensive review and analysis of each program and the wild populations with which they interact.^[5]

[edit] Dams

What does a fish say when it hits cement? Dam! What a fish does after that is the question.

The Columbia River Basin is the most hydroelectrically developed river system in the world. More than 400 dams -- 11 run-of-the-river dams on the mainstream -- and hundreds of major and modest structures on tributaries block river flows and tap a large portion of the Columbia's generating capacity: more than 21 million kilowatts. Rock Island Dam on the middle river was the first major hydropower producer on the Columbia. Completed in 1932, Rock Island Dam is small compared to the behemoths -- Bonneville and Grand Coulee -- that the federal government completed in 1938 and 1941 respectively. The last dams built on the Columbia came on line during the 1960s and 1970s.^[6]

Dams are detrimental to fish in many ways. They block passage to spawning grounds, and they create lakes behind the dams that cover up prime spawning habitat. These lakes also slow down the flow of river current, which makes it harder for the smolt to navigate their migration down river. It also leaves them more susceptible to predation. Another dilemma with dams is total dissolved gas (TDG). Dams increase water spill certain times of the year to facilitate out-migrating salmon and steelhead. As the water plunges over the dam, it pulls the air bubbles to depth downstream of the spilling dam, increasing dissolved gas in the water. This can harm fish in the same way the bends affects humans. TDG can cause bubbles in eyes and body tissue and can be lethal.^[7]

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[edit] Destruction of Habitat

It is estimated that prior to 1850 more than 163,000 square miles of habitat were available to salmon and steelhead in the Columbia River Basin. This represented 14,666 stream miles — 11,741 miles above Bonneville Dam and 2,925 miles below it. By 1930, the impacts of mining and logging, and the depletion of streams by irrigation diversions, had reduced the best habitat for spring and summer Chinook salmon, and steelhead, particularly in the headwaters of tributaries, by half.^[8]

Logging, mining, irrigation, and farming can all be destructive to river habitat. Logging and mining strips the earth of its cover, and allows water to wash the soil into rivers and streams. Farmers saw that by taking the water out of the river, they could turn the dry acrid soil into fertile farmland, which put warm water, pesticides, and fertilizers back into the river system. Farmers also grazed their cattle along streams and rivers, which destabilized stream banks.

As rules change and a new generation of people is taking over the operations, things are changing. Logging practices have become more environmentally friendly. Smaller, more spread out clear-cuts are being implemented. Larger buffer zones are required when logging around rivers and streams. Farmers are fencing off stream and riverbanks to keep cattle from damaging stream banks. More efficient ways of irrigation are being put into practice. Habitat can be restored, it is up to us to educate the public on its benefits.

[edit] Commercial Gillnetting

Gillnets kill. That is how they are designed to work. A gillnet is a curtain of netting that hangs in the water at various depths, suspended by a system of floats and weights or anchors. The netting is almost invisible to fish as they swim into the gillnet. The mesh spaces are large enough for a fish’s head to pass through, but not its body. As the fish tries to back out, its gills entangle in the net.^[9] The fish then suffocates and dies. This herein lays the problem. For the most part gillnets are nonselective, meaning they do not distinguish between targeted hatchery fish and non-targeted wild fish. Gillnetters will attempt to lead the public to believe they are selective, by the mesh size they use to target certain types of fish. While a larger mesh size may allow some unwanted fish to pass through, it catches others. “Some fisheries that occur in coastal Washington and the Columbia River that target white sturgeon or salmon take green sturgeon as bycatch.”^[10]

Using gill nets and purse seines, commercial fishermen incidentally harvested Steelhead, coho salmon and other non-targeted fish as they return from the ocean. In particular, the early run Steelhead that enters the rivers in August and the mid-season fish that enter the rivers in September have suffered significant mortalities. This problem on fish “bycatch,” or killing of nontargeted fish, is a classic management problem confronting mix-stocked fisheries, or fisheries where fish of various species inhabit the same waters.^[11]

Gillnets do not have the capability to selective harvest other than their mesh size. Even then, they catch unwanted species of fish. Until we go to a method of fishing, which allows complete selective harvesting, our wild fish will continue to suffer.

To learn more about the destructive nature of gillnets go to: Gill Nets Kill Theater

[edit] Politics

It’s not illegal to deplete a fishery by management, but it should be.

The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission consists of nine members serving six-year terms. Members are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the senate. The Commission receives its authority from the passage of Referendum 45 by the 1995 Legislature and public at the 1995 general election. The Commission is the supervising authority for the Department Fisheries and Wildlife, the Commission has comprehensive species authority as well.^[12] The Commissions mission statement is: Sound Stewardship of Fish. and Wildlife. Yet as we read an excerpt from a Commission meeting we can see they have different ideas other than a sound Stewardship of Fish. The Commission's action on the incidental catch issue followed a determination by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that a commercial bycatch of up to 6 percent of the wild winter steelhead returning to the Columbia River would not jeopardize recovery of those runs, many of which are protected under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA). By law, no wild steelhead can be retained by commercial or recreational fishers on the Columbia River or its tributaries. Commission Chair Ron Ozment said the 4 percent ceiling on the commercial bycatch will help WDFW avoid an early closure of the commercial salmon fishery while holding the incidental catch of wild steelhead below the ESA threshold approved by NOAA."Obviously, the Commission would rather see no wild steelhead taken during the fishery," Ozment said. "But we, like the department, have a responsibility to maintain viable fisheries as well as viable fish populations. This action is designed to strike a balance between those two responsibilities, with a clear intent to take another look at the situation next year."^[13]

By law, no wild steelhead can be retained by commercial or recreational fishers on the Columbia River or its tributaries. This statement means any fish listed under the ESA must be thrown back, alive or not. Oregon has an established delayed mortality rate of “40 percent for wild spring chinook and 30 percent for wild steelhead caught in large mesh commercial nets.” And “The mortality rate for wild spring chinook and steelhead released from the tangle nets was established at 18.5 percent.”^[14]

These mortality rates are utterly intolerable for runs of fish, which have been declared either threatened or endangered. Yet even though the Commissioners state, "Obviously, the Commission would rather see no wild steelhead taken during the fishery," They allow a fishery with a mortality rate as high as forty percent to exist and fish on threatened and endangered fish stock. In 1999 Dr. Jeff Koenings, Director of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) gave a speech to teachers in Bellingham where the question was asked, “is there politics in salmon?” He started his speech by giving his credentials: I received a BS in Fisheries Science/management, an MS in Water Resources, and a Ph.D. in Natural Resources at various colleges within the University of Michigan. I then did a NSF two-year post-doctoral fellowship at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researching the productivity relationships in coastal estuaries. I have published many peer reviewed publications in the world's leading scientific journals Koenings then goes on to explain how he learned the “Language of fish politics is spoken and are appropriately, spoken and understood.” Moreover, how he learned this through the school of hard knocks. He then states: I argue that resource conservation comes first in fish management decisions and that is guided by good fish science. You simply need the core reproductive populations of salmon on the spawning grounds or the necessary number of breeding pairs of elk or geese for the population to survive and to produce a yield–either consumptive of non-consumptive–but a yield. Here science is the compass.^[15]

Koening gave this speech almost ten years ago, he is still the director of Washington State Dept. of Fish and Wildlife and we have to look at the dismal shape of our fish runs, for the proof he is not putting resource conservation first. Koening speaks of good science. This good science involves managing fish runs for minimum escapement. Rivers, such as the Hoh on the Pacific coast are managed for minimum escapement of 2400 fish when historically it had runs of 7,938-13,230 winter steelhead.^[16]

The drawback with managing fish using this approach is, there are too many problems that can occur in nature, such as floods, low water, poor ocean conditions or over harvest, each can have a detrimental effect on a run. When this happens, the river, which is managed at its minimum escapement goal, all of a sudden is in trouble. Until the people put in place to manage our fish, in reality start to manage the fish, instead of managing the politics of the fish, the fish will continue to lose.

[edit] Politically Active Groups

There are many groups that are applying pressure on WDWF to better manage our salmon and steelhead. Wild Steelhead Coalition (WSC) is one such group http://www.wildsteelheadcoalition.org/ The WSC web site is very informative with current topics and issues that need to be acted on. One of the biggest issues sportsmen face today is our inability to bring together a united front. On May 31 of this year, the WSC took the first step in solving this problem by hosting the Steelhead Summit Alliance. The intention of the Summits was to bring clubs and organizations together to discuss contemporary issues and science regarding steelhead and create a unified voice for steelhead to work together and reverse their plight.

Another such group, The Coastal Conservation Association (CCA) http://www.ccapnw.org/ is a new conservation group, just in its infancy in the Pacific Northwest. CCA has been involved in fish conservation on the East Coast for the last thirty years. There they have pioneered many changes in way fish are managed. It is yet to be seen if the format that worked so well on the East Coast, will work here on the West Coast. Some have their doubts, but many people are excited with CCAs past track record.

One important tool that has become available to all groups is the advent of the Internet. These groups use the Internet for communication, education, membership, fund raising, and gathering information. The Internet has leveled the playing field for these groups. Previously only the government had the technology to access the vast amounts of information. With the speed and ease at which information can be retrieved off the Internet today, it has made the government become more accountable for their actions and allowed sportsmen to better play the watchdog. “Open access of information, models and analyses is essential for salmon recovery. The World Wide Web is our best means of achieving open access.”^[17]

1. ↑ Cone, Joseph. Ridlington, Sandy. The Northwest Salmon Crisis A Documentary History. Oregon State University Press. Corvallis, Oregon Copyright 1999
2. ↑ Lichatowich, Jim. Salmon Without Rivers: A History of the Pacific Salmon Crisis Island Press Washington D.C. Copyright 1999
3. ↑ Lichatowich, Jim. Salmon Without Rivers: A History of the Pacific Salmon Crisis Island Press Washington D.C. Copyright 1999
4. ↑ Lichatowich, Jim. Salmon Without Rivers: A History of the Pacific Salmon Crisis Island Press Washington D.C. Copyright 1999
5. ↑ Kraemer, Curt. (retired 9/2005) Fisheries Biologist from WDFW Marysville, Washington Retrived on May 28, 2008 from http://www.piscatorialpursuits.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/436630/1/New_Paper_regarding_wild_hatch
6. ↑ Lang, Bill. Center for Columbia River History. Retrieved on May 23, 2008 from http://www.ccrh.org/river/history.htm
7. ↑ Hallock, Stephanie. Director Department of Environmental Quality. Memorandum. Retrieved May 25 2008 from http://209.85.215.104/search?q=cache:VpRqw-riTy8J:www.deq.state.or.us/about/eqc/agendas/attachments/2006june/E-ColRiverSpillSeasonStaffRpt.pdf+columbia+river+dams+gas&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=5&gl=us
8. ↑ Northwest Power Council and Conservation.Columbia River History. retrieved on May 30, 2008 from http://www.nwcouncil.org/history/Habitat.asp
9. ↑ http://www.Fishing Gear Facts Card.QXP Retrived May 24 2008 from cardwww.montereybayaquarium.org/.../content/media/MBA_SeafoodWatch_Dredging&GillnettingFactCards.pdf
10. ↑ Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants: 90-Day Finding for a Petition to List North American Green Sturgeon as Threatened or Endangered under the Endangered Species Act. Retrived May 25 2008 from http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/EPA-IMPACT/2001/December/Day-14/i30930.htm
11. ↑ Frontiers Farwest. Retrieved on May 24 2008 from http://www.frontierfarwest.com/node/21
12. ↑ Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife Commission retrieved on May 27, 2008 from http://wdfw.wa.gov/com/comintro.htm
13. ↑ Meeting Feb. 4-5, the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission http://wdfw.wa.gov/do/newreal/release.php?id=feb0705b
14. ↑ Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife News Release. Retrieved on May 26 2008 from http://www.dfw.state.or.us/news/2004/releases/22.asp
15. ↑ Salmon Politics Director, Jeffrey P. Koenings Speech made to teachers in Bellingham, WA on July 16, 1999 Retrieved on May 26, 2008 from http://wdfw.wa.gov/depinfo/director/jul1699a.htm
16. ↑ Nick Gayeski Resource Analyst, Wild Fish Conservancy. Historic Steelhead Abundance: Washington NW Coast and Puget Sound. Retrived May 30, 2008 from http://www.wildsalmoncenter.org/pdf/mcmillan_gayeski_report/extended_summary.pdf
17. ↑ Anderson, James University of Washington. Decline and Recovery of Snake River Salmon. Retrieved on June 2, 2008 from http://www.cbr.washington.edu/papers/jim/testimonies/house.june.html

[edit] Politics and Fish Movement Main Article - My Campaign Movement - Politicly Active Fishermen Web Sites- Politics and Fish Movement Annotated Bibliography - Resume Doug Richert - My Blog