Rally for the Klamath Salmon and fishermen

Announcement From Congressman Mike Thompson's Office:

On Monday, April 24th, Congressman Mike Thompson (CA-01) will be holding a salmon rally at 10:00 a.m. on Pier 47. The purpose of the rally is to bring attention to the salmon season off the coasts of California and Oregon, and to also roll-out a disaster assistance bill that is aimed to help the communities in need. Another aspect of the bill will have a conservation component to help restore and monitor the salmon of the Klamath River.

As you know, the reason for the dramatically shortened salmon season is because the Klamath River will not meet the 35,000 natural spawner floor for fall-run chinook for the third consecutive year. The reported result will likely be a near closure of Oregon and California's commercial ocean, in-river Klamath and tribal fisheries for 2006.

The impacts on the California coastal economy from last year's season, which was cut by 60-percent due to poor Klamath River returns, combined to a near closure of this year's season, would be catastrophic and could very likely have permanent affects on the salmon fishing industry and related businesses in both states.

As you also know, the declining salmon populations in the Klamath River basin are not due to over fishing by tribes, the commercial salmon fishing industry or recreational anglers. They are due to federal mismanagement of the Klamath River system which hurt both farmers and fishermen. This mismanagement led to the fish kill in 2002 when up to 78,000 adult salmon died on the Klamath River. It also led to the outbreak of Ceratomyxa Shasta (C. Shasta) which has reportedly infected 80-percent of juvenile salmonids. Mortality from C. Shasta is 100-percent.

The congressman, tribes and commercial and recreational fishermen will speak about the need for good, long-term management of the Klamath River and it's resources. If your members are interested in attending, we would welcome all of their support at Monday's rally.