Salmon Summit Aims to Rebuild California’s Bay-Delta Salmon Runs

Contact: Zeke Grader, PCFFA, 415-561-5080 ext 224
Marc Gorelnik, Coastside Fishing Club, 510-333-6600
Dick Pool, Pro-Troll Fishing Products, 925-963-6350
Jim McCarthy, SalmonWaterNow, 541-941-9450

Salmon Summit Aims to Rebuild California’s Bay-Delta Salmon Runs

Fishermen, businesses, salmon advocates stress devastating costs of collapse of salmon fishery, seek solutions to prevent salmon declines

(San Francisco, CA—April 1) Hundreds of sport and commercial salmon fishermen and people in related fishing and seafood businesses reeling from recent cancelled salmon fishing seasons in California and Oregon today called for better management of water in the California Bay-Delta at a Salmon Summit in San Francisco. The fishing industry representatives also called for immediate steps to rebuild strong salmon runs in the Bay-Delta during the Summit hosted by U.S. Reps. George Miller (D-Martinez), Mike Thompson (D-Napa Valley) and other elected officials.

“Californians want local, healthy sustainable food and we want to provide it to them,” said Larry Collins, a commercial fisherman and president of the Crab Boat Owners Association of San Francisco, the oldest fisherman’s association on the West Coast. “We can restore one of the great sustainable wild fisheries in North America, a fishery that provides healthy, natural, delicious food to millions of people. But to do that, we have to take our rightful share of the water back from the agribusiness bigwigs who have seized it for their own.”

An economic study commissioned by Southwick and Associates revealed that the collapse of the salmon industry has collectively cost California and Oregon 23,000 jobs and more than $2 billion per year in lost revenue. Recent economic estimates indicate that a full recovery of the California fall-run salmon would yield approximately $6 billion in revenue and create 94,000 new jobs.

All-time record low returns of adult Sacramento River king salmon from the Bay-Delta have been recorded in the last three years. The record lows of salmon coincide with the all time-high levels of water exports from the Sacramento Bay-Delta. The higher pumping kills juvenile salmon as they migrate from the Sacramento River to the ocean.

“If we could bring the stocks back from their pre-crash numbers, we could reclaim thousands of jobs and the economic prosperity they generate,” said Paul Johnson, founder and president of the Monterey Fish Market, a wholesale and retail seafood supplier based in San Francisco. “Wild, sustainable fisheries are the kind of business California needs. But if the salmon are going to give us what we need, we have to give them what they need: their fair share of the water.”

Scientists and conservationists joined California and Oregon fishermen in urging members of Congress to support the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) salmon plan released in June 2009 and other federal and state wide plans that require adequate flows in the Bay-Delta and that calls for a more balanced approach to water diversions to rebuild salmon runs. A National Academy of Sciences panel recently affirmed the NMFS plan is scientifically sound. However, junior water rights holders have attacked the plan and are seeking to “muddy the waters” by removing any accountability on their part to reduce excess water diversions from the Bay-Delta and to weaken the Endangered Species Act.

“We can bring the salmon back and resuscitate communities that are languishing along the North Coast,” said Zeke Grader, executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, a federation with members spanning the U.S. West Coast from San Diego to Alaska. “We can provide local restaurants, markets and consumers with the delicious, wholesome fish that was once considered a birthright of all Californians. There are plenty of water sources available for farmers to grow their crops, but not if we keep giving away record high amounts of subsidized water to corporate farmers in the Central Valley.”

“It’s not rocket science to know that fish need water,” said Tina Swanson, biologist and executive director of the Bay Institute. “By pumping too much water from the Delta and its watershed we are jeopardizing the long-term health of the Bay-Delta ecosystem and the valuable fisheries that depend on it. But, by destroying the ecosystem, we are also jeopardizing the quality and reliability of drinking water supplies for many Californians.”

Fishermen also asked for support of native fish protected by the Endangered Species Act and to push back on San Joaquin Valley agricultural operators with junior water rights who want to take water that is critical for salmon survival. By law, these water users should get water only after other high priority water uses, including flows for salmon, are met.

“When you fish for salmon, you're connected to the ocean and nature in a special way,” said Marc Gorelnik, board member of the Coastside Fishing Club, a community of recreational fishermen. “Sport fishermen thrive on spending time on the ocean fishing for salmon. We love sharing our connection to the ocean - and delicious salmon fillets and steaks - with our families and friends. We support the local economy as we spend more money than we'd like to admit to maintain boats and purchase tackle and bait. It makes sense to manage the rivers, streams and delta to maintain healthy salmon stocks available to all. It is wrong to manage water policy to benefit a small segment of agricultural operators with junior water rights.”

“We need to stop the political maneuvering and get on with the requirements of the Biological Opinion before the runs decline even further and the recovery problems are compounded,” said Dick Pool, owner of Concord-based Pro-Troll Fishing Products, which specializes in equipment designed for salmon fishing. “The state and federal biologists spent six years using the latest technology to find where and how juvenile salmon perish in the rivers and the Bay-Delta. Their data represents the ‘Best Available Science’ on actions that must be taken to stop the bleeding and recover these fish.”

The Summit was held at Fort Mason Center in advance of the Pacific Fisheries Management Council’s planned announcement on the 2010 salmon fishing season. For two years, both commercial and sportfishing seasons have been cancelled in California and in much of Oregon and this year only a limited season is expected.

Read blogs from the following water and salmon protection advocates:
· Fair play for California's salmon and fishermen by Zeke Grader, executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations
· Fishermen Need Fish to Survive by Larry Collins, commercial fisherman and president of the Crab Boat Owners Association of San Francisco, the oldest fisherman’s association on the west coast
· The Human Cost of the Salmon Crisis by Dick Pool, owner of Concord-based Pro-Troll Fishing Products, which specializes in equipment designed for salmon fishermen
· The water wars: California's salmon vs. agribiz interests by Paul Johnson, founder and president of the Monterey Fish Market

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