Fishermen decry political tampering

James Faulk

The Times-Standard
Eureka Times Standard

July 31, 2007

EUREKA -- On the eve of a House committee hearing on the role Vice President Dick Cheney played in Klamath River management decisions, fishermen decried the impact of political tampering on their ability to earn a living.

Congress, beginning today, is investigating Cheney's role -- if any -- in denying sufficient water for salmon in the Klamath River to support farmers in the upper Klamath Basin , despite the recommendation of scientists and others.

On Monday, several fishermen called in from their boats to attend a conference call with the group Earth Justice and described the impacts such management decisions had on their livelihoods.

Dave Bitts, a salmon fisherman out of Eureka , said that last year he and others in the industry caught only one-fifth of the fish they'd have normally landed in a year.

”When our opportunity to fish is attacked in this manner, it's not just us but it's the future of the fish themselves that's under attack,” Bitts said. “For 30 years, we've been learning to be stewards of the resources and do what we can to make sure that these fish can thrive in the rivers and in the ocean -- if we're driven off the ocean, we're not going to be able to do that anymore.”

The House hearing, scheduled before the House Natural Resources Committee, is being called “Crisis of confidence: The political influence of the Bush Administration on agency science and decision-making.”

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Nick Rahall agreed to conduct hearings after Rep. Mike Thompson and 35 lawmakers from California and Oregon asked for an inquiry following a recent Washington Post article.

The article covers Cheney's involvement in Klamath River issues, as well as in pressing for air quality controls friendly to industry, among other matters. Cheney's influence led to full irrigation deliveries in 2002, the article contends. Later that year, more than 65,000 salmon died in a hot, low river.

Al Ritter, a fishermen out of Newport , Ore. , said that 2005 was the worst season of his decades-long career.

Those who have been in the business for a number of years can, maybe, withstand such a terrible season, but those younger fishermen who've just gotten into the business are really hurting, he said.

And there's already a limited number of young people in the business, he said.

”This is the closest we've ever come to losing this industry in all the years I've been doing this,” he said. “It'd be a crying shame to lose this.”

It's become political, he said.

”We're the ones that are paying,” Ritter said.

Larry Collins, out of San Francisco , said that he's never seen it “as tough for the fleet as it has been the last four years.”

The mismanagement of water resources hurts the fishing industry, he said, and can hinder fishermen from keeping up with boat maintenance and making insurance payments. It can even force people to find land jobs to supplement their income, he said.

It also weakens the fishermen's associations, and dwindles California wild king salmon's share of the market, in favor of farm-raised fish, he said.

It's bad when the public loses access to its own resources, he said, “especially because of a cheap political stunt like this.”

Kristen Bolyes of Earth Justice, who moderated the teleconference, said political interference on matters surrounding endangered species has been a hallmark of the Bush Administration.

The 2002 Klamath River fish kill, brought about by the administration's decision to put farmers ahead of fish despite the concern of scientists, led the death of some 65,000 adult salmon and to later deaths of juvenile salmon, she said.

Regulators then severely limited the amount of fish allowed to salmon fishermen to protect the dwindling stocks. Because authorities regulate for the least healthy river systems, fishermen had to dramatically curtail their catch -- especially in 2005 -- to protect Klamath salmon, despite the fact that salmon from other river systems were abundant.

For every Klamath fish saved by the fishing restrictions., fishermen had to pass up between 50 to 100 salmon from other rivers, Bitts said.

Fisherman Duncan MacLean of El Granada said he hopes the hearings aren't the end of the discussion.

”I think it's unreasonable and unfair and unjust what has happened here to us, and I think there should be more than just a hearing ... because what they've done to these coastal communities is criminal and somebody should have to pay for it,” he said.

The water management plan favored by Cheney, and eventually adopted for the Klamath River , was eventually thrown out in court, Bolyes said.

But a new plan is expected in 2008, and given the history, fishermen and others are worried about what will be proposed, she said.

Meanwhile, a broad group of parties with stakes in the Klamath River say they remain committed to hashing out a settlement over the future of the river's hydropower dams nearly two years after official talks got under way.

Tribes, irrigators, fishermen and others released a statement last week saying they have come up with a framework for addressing the wide-ranging issues. The groups should have a final agreement by November, they said.

James Faulk can be reached at 441-0511 or jfaulk@times-standard.com.

On the Web: Link to House hearing witness list: http://resourcescommittee.house.gov/index.php?option=com_jcalpro&Itemid=32&extmode=view&extid=85