A fishery in shambles

A sweeping closure of West Coast salmon fishing looms after years of dithering over water rights in California  

April 10, 2008

The Oregonian

W ith the stroke of a pen, President Bush provided hope for the survival of threatened Sacramento River salmon.

Not today's President Bush. We're talking about his father, more than 15 years ago.

In a White House ceremony on Oct. 30, 1992 , George Herbert Walker Bush signed federal legislation that loosened agriculture's iron grip on water in California 's Central Valley . The new water policy gave priority allotments to fish and wildlife, prompting one jubilant conservation leader to hail it as "the falling of the Berlin Wall."

Pessimists, however, said the action was too little, too late, and they unfortunately appear to have been right. Today, responding to the collapse of the Sacramento River fall chinook salmon run, fish managers are expected to recommend a near-complete closure of the salmon fishery off the Oregon and California coasts.

The shutdown, possibly the most restrictive ever, will devastate a cornerstone of the coastal economy and culture. Stretching from Cape Falcon on the northern Oregon coast to the Mexico border, the Pacific Ocean closure will hurt not just the commercial fleet but also charter operators, recreational fishers and just about every motel, restaurant, food store and bait shop on the coast.

All have had time to dread today's anticipated recommendation from the Pacific Fishery Management Council. Its expert staff warned weeks ago that fewer than 60,000 chinook salmon will spawn this fall in California's Central Valley rivers -- far below the minimum conservation target of 122,000.

So here we go again with yet another disastrous West Coast fishing closure. And this one promises to be at least as costly as the shutdown two years ago following the collapse of the Klamath River salmon fishery.

Yes, there'll be another congressional push for millions of dollars of aid to West Coast fishermen.

Yes, there'll be the familiar pleas for help to economically battered coastal communities.

Yes, there'll be more tiresome debate over what's to blame for the sharp declines in Sacramento River salmon.

Biologists think poor ocean conditions, possibly caused by global warming, are partly to blame. But there's no question that another part of the blame goes to massive diversion of water for irrigation and urban household use in California .

There may be nothing this nation can do to help improve ocean conditions in time to help these endangered fish, but we can improve their habitat in the rivers where they spawn. That, however, requires not just a great deal of money but also some hard decisions.

Fifteen years ago, California reformers claimed that such hard decisions were inherent in the much-ballyhooed water bill signed by the first President Bush.

Events this week suggest the celebration was premature.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, any copyrighted
material  herein is distributed without profit or payment to those who have
expressed  a  prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit
research and  educational purposes only. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml

Source:  http://www.oregonlive.com/editorials/oregonian/index.ssf?/

base/editorial/1207785321145580.xml&coll=7