Klamath Water Users Association

2455 Patterson Street, Suite 3

Klamath Falls , Oregon 97603

(541)-883-6100   FAX (541)-883-8893

kwua@cvcwireless.net

www.kwua.org

 

 

 

 

 

 

NEWS RELEASE

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

Contact:   Greg Addington, Executive Director

      greg@cvcwireless.net

 

 

Pacific Fisheries Management Council Decision on Salmon Harvest

 

 

The Klamath Water Users Association (KWUA) has obvious concern about the decision of the Pacific Fisheries Management Council (PFMC) with regard to the 2006 Salmon Harvest.

 

Steve Kandra, President of the Klamath Water Users Association says Klamath Project irrigators are sympathetic and want to help.

 

“Farmers and ranchers in the Upper Basin have tremendous empathy for the fishing families, rural coastal communities and Tribal cultures in Oregon and California that will bear the brunt of this decision. We want to see fishermen and Tribes catching fish”.

 

Kandra went on to say “We see the severe restriction of the 2006 fishing season as devastating an action as shutting off the Klamath Irrigation Project in 2001.  The benefits are debatable and unknown, but the adverse impacts on people and communities are assured”. 

 

While lacking the detailed technical understanding of fisheries regulation necessary to “second-guess” the regulatory decision, KWUA has had the position that regulators should take all possible steps to provide a justifiable fishery for the short and long-term.

 

The Klamath Water Users Association is heartened by the practical tone and common sense response of leaders throughout the West.  The Governor’s of Oregon and California and a local board of County Commissioners have all addressed this issue.

 

The Coos County Board of Commissioners, in a letter dated April 3, 2006 to Senators, Congressmen, the Secretary of Commerce and the Governor of Oregon stated the following:

 

“The crisis on the Klamath River arises from a collision of opposing ideologies, not of resource management”.

 

…”We call to your attention that Klamath Basin farmers and coastal salmon fishermen have already been visited with too much sacrifice on behalf of the minority’s ideology. These men and women have been forced to see their careers as an annual struggle for mere subsistence.”

 

The letter goes on to describe a variety of factors that seem to be largely ignored by some in the media or merely glossed over in favor of assigning blame.  These include:

 

 

On April 5, 2006 in separate letters to the Secretary of Commerce, Governor’s Ted Kulongonski and Arnold Schwarzenegger urge that the Department of Commerce determine their has been commercial fishery failure.

 

In the letters, both states resource managers have determined that the causes of poor (salmon) recruitment are associated with several significant factors including: drought, poor ocean conditions, Klamath River water quality and parasites.

 

 KWUA is actively engaged with many other parties in efforts to protect and restore fisheries.  Any solutions will likely be multifaceted and will need to be driven by the stakeholders throughout the watershed.  We are encouraged by very constructive dialogue that has occurred with tribes, fishing interests, environmental interests, and others, and are optimistic about our progress in addressing mutual interests in a responsible manner. Parties dedicated to solutions are moving beyond simplistic finger-pointing and recognizing the need for a comprehensive approach to the many challenges of the Klamath watershed.  

 

KWUA supports federal disaster relief for fishermen and coastal economies. We will be investigating other options available for lending support.