 |
|
||
October 19, 2005
Klamath Falls Herald and News
By DYLAN DARLING
WILLIAMSON RIVER - Chinook salmon arrived in the
Klamath Basin Monday, riding in blue rubber garbage cans in the back of a
pickup.
Federal scientists put sets of about 30 of the year-old, hatchery bred fish in
four separate 2-foot mesh cubes and then submerged the cubes in Upper Klamath
Lake and the Williamson River.
The mesh cubes with salmon were placed in pairs at a
spot in the lake and a spot in the river. One of each pair will be in the
water for three days and others will be in for two weeks. That's enough time
to see how the fish handle the water as they start to undergo changes to ready
for a swim into salt water, scientists say.
“Fish are so intimately attached to their water that you see these changes
fairly quickly,” said Alec Maule, a physiologist with the United States
Geological Survey.
Scientists will euthanize and dissect the salmon after pulling up their cubes.
Tests will gauge changes from hormones the fish produce and the shimmer of
their scales as they go through smoltification, the physical changes needed to
get ready for salt water.
Results from the tests aren't expected until Jan. 1. A repeat of the tests is
planned for the spring.
The fish were collected from stocks at the Iron Gate Fish Hatchery, at a dam
about 50 river miles downstream from Klamath Falls. Iron Gate dam is currently
the ending point for the migration of chinook salmon in the Klamath River.
Power dams on the river, starting with Copco No. 1 in 1918, prevented chinook
from swimming to the Klamath Basin, Hamilton said.
The biological opinion - “BiOp” in government jargon - is an analysis required by the Endangered Species Act to determine whether a federal action, such as irrigation through the Klamath Reclamation Project, jeopardizes the survival of a threatened species. It is a key part of the struggle over water in the Basin.
|
|
||
In this case, the biological opinion found the
irrigation project jeopardized salmon survival, but allowed it to continue
operating as long as steps were taken to provide sufficient water for fish.
Tuesday's ruling drew differing responses from opposing parties in the
lawsuit, echoing debate over the Endangered Species Act in the Congress.
“It's another prime example of why we need to update and amend the
Endangered Species Act,” said Greg Addington, executive director of the
Klamath Water Users Association, which represents farmers. “It puts
everything on the back of the Project.”
He said the current biological opinion had been a
“reasonable balance” and a way to ratchet up flows for the protected
salmon.
But downstream American Indian Tribes and commercial fishermen had a different
reaction.
|
|
||
“We think this court decision is an example of how
the ESA works,” said Craig Tucker, spokesman for the Karuk Tribe. “Our
perspective is increased flows will help recover coho.”
And those increased flows could start next spring, he said.
Glen Spain, spokesman for the Pacific Coast Federation
of Fishermen's Associations, a commercial fishing group and lead plaintiff in
the appeal, said the ruling was an important step in providing balance in the
continuing fight over water in the Klamath Basin.
‘‘It comes at a time when, because of past Klamath water problems and fish
kills, the West Coast fishing industry is suffering enormous losses,'' Spain
said.
Bob Gasser, a Klamath Basin fertilizer and pesticide
dealer, said it was a terrible ruling for Klamath farmers, but they would
survive.
‘‘People are trying to solve 100 percent of the salmon problems on the
back of the Klamath project,'' he said.
Addington said the irrigation project would have a hard time coming up with
the water the ruling demands.
‘‘That's going to be a difficult thing unless we have a whole lot of
snow,'' Addington said.
NOAA Fisheries spokes-man Jim Middlebury said the agency was reviewing the
ruling, and had no immediate comment.
After the irrigation shutoff in 2001, NOAA Fisheries, the federal agency
responsible for protecting salmon, came up with a plan to phase in over eight
years the full amount of water needed for coho in the Klamath. As part of the
plan, the Bureau of Reclamation created a water bank, paying farmers $7.6
million this year for extra water for fish.
In the fall of 2002, after full irrigation was restored to the Klamath
Project, tens of thousands of adult chinook salmon died in the lower Klamath
from diseases associated with low and warm water, as well as some coho. Untold
numbers of juvenile salmon died in the spring. Federal fisheries managers this
year sharply reduced sport and commercial ocean harvests up and down the West
Coast to reduce the likelihood Klamath fish would be killed.
‘‘The reasoning behind the agency's plan cannot be reasonably discerned,''
Judge Nelson wrote. ‘‘The agency's decision appears to conflict with the
analysis in the BiOp.''
- H&N natural resources reporter Dylan Darling contributed to this report
Source: http://www.heraldandnews.com/articles/2005/10/19/news/top_stories/top1.txt
