2008 » May » 23

Article posted by Nookslayer aka Richey aka Your Mother

This was an interesting article from the Oregonian this morning….

A new agreement to reduce over fishing of salmon off Canada and southeast Alaska could allow an estimated 1 million more Chinook to return to hatcheries or spawning grounds in the Columbia River Basin and Puget Sound over the next 10 years.

The treaty, negotiated over 18 months by the Pacific Salmon Commission, calls for Canada to reduce its catch by 30 percent and Alaska to reduce its catch by 15 percent. That could increase Chinook returns by 3 percent to 7 percent in the upper Columbia River.

At the top end, it could result in 10,000 more Chinook returning annually to spawn in the Hanford Reach, a stretch of free-flowing river near the Hanford nuclear reservation, said Mike Matylewich, a fish manager for the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission in Portland.

Salmon migrate to the ocean from Northwest Rivers and streams as smolts and typically take a hard right once they hit the Pacific. Most travel north to feeding grounds off southeast Alaska or British Columbia, staying there for three to five years before returning to spawn in their home rivers and streams. It’s on the return trip that they’re caught in large numbers by sport and commercial fishermen off Alaska and Canada. “The main thing the agreement does, because of reduced catches in southeast Alaska and the west coast of Vancouver Island, it should return more fish upriver (in the Columbia),” Matylewich said. “It’s a good deal because it lessens harvest impacts and there’s more assurance of sustainability.” But the agreement, which would go into effect, next year, comes with a price tag. The United States will pay $30 million to compensate Canadian fishermen for the reduction. Most of the money will be used to pay fishermen to retire their commercial trolling licenses.

About $7 million will go to reduce commercial fishing in Alaska. Other money will go to salmon habitat improvement and research. The agreement resulted from negotiations involving representatives of four states, one Canadian province, the federal governments of the United States and Canada, and two dozen Native American tribes. In addition to management of Chinook, the plan addresses catch limits, habitat improvement and even egg collection methods for Coho, chum, pink and sockeye salmon. “Chinook was the most complex piece of the puzzle because the fish migrate through many jurisdictions,” said Olney Pratt Jr., executive director of the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission and U.S. tribal commissioner on the salmon commission.

For Alaska, the catch reduction “is a tough position for us to accept,” said David Bedford, the state’s representative on the salmon commission. “While we had to make some sacrifices to reach this agreement, we were convinced that this is a responsible agreement that provides stability for our fisheries and helps ensure the long-term health and sustainability of shared salmon resources.”

Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire called the agreement historic. “This could not have happened had we not come with a common goal and a collaborative approach,” she said. “We now have a fighting chance to save the salmon.”

The agreement must be approved by federal officials and the Canadian government. The money that will be allocated to Canada, Alaska, Washington andOregon needs congressional approval.