If you feel a bit down and figure life in the Washington area isn’t all that good, how would you like to be a California or Oregon salmon angler and wake up one morning to discover salmon fishing has been stopped along the West Coast?
That’s exactly what happened Thursday when salmon fishing was put on hold for the first time in 160 years. What it will do to various local economies is anyone’s guess, but it surely will not be beneficial. The companies that sell boats and tackle and anyone who depends on tourism brought about by the salmon fishery are sure to suffer greatly.
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency last month and asked for federal disaster assistance, which then was followed by U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez declaring a commercial fishery disaster that might be an avenue to help those who can show they will be in economic straits.
All this began when the National Marine Fishery Service (NMFS) agreed chinook salmon off the California and Oregon coast were available only in small fractions of their former number. A population crash was occurring, and the NMFS closed the commercial and recreational fishing for chinooks. Then the Pacific Fishery Management Council, realizing something similar had happened to king salmon, recommended the same for the famous pink fish.
Spawning schools of salmon have been declining all along the West Coast, but none suffered more than the Sacramento River and its tributaries, which saw such a low number of the fish return that the entire California and Oregon salmon fishery had to be halted.
Sharks without fins? — The National Coalition for Marine Conservation says shark finning — the practice of catching a shark and cutting off its fins to be sold as exotic ingredients for Asian dishes and potions — is continuing.
It all began in 2002 after an American ship, which was loaded with 65,000 pounds of shark fins, was stopped off the coast of Guatemala. The cargo was confiscated because, it is illegal for a fishing vessel to possess shark fins unless the rest of the shark’s body is also there, according to the Shark Finning Prohibition Act of 2000. However, various judges in the six years hence have ruled that if an American vessel is not an actual commercial fishing boat, it can contain shark fins that were loaded onto the vessel by the foreign shark finners.
Rep. Madeleine Z. Bordallo, Guam Democrat, wants to put a halt to all this. The chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife and Oceans has introduced the Shark Conservation Act of 2008 (H.R. 5741) that would strengthen existing laws to forbid the practice.
Watch those foreign invaders — A number of National Wildlife Refuges (NWR) are being invaded by foreign plants and animals. Nearly 2½ million acres of NWR land is infested with invasive plants. Also, animals from the muskrat-like nutria to brown tree snakes now inhabit NWR lands.
Nutria were brought from South America by fur traders who thought the big swamp critter was an ideal addition for local trappers. The brown treesnake is taking over the Guam NWR. Invasive species strike teams are at work in Arizona, New Mexico, the Upper Missouri/Yellowstone/Upper Columbia River basins, South Florida, North Dakota and Hawaii and the Pacific islands.
The one success story comes from the Blackwater NWR on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Blackwater used to be home to large numbers of nutria, but refuge personnel have gotten rid of all of them. Now it is hoped neighboring land owners do all they can to control the prolific furbearers.
• Look for Gene Mueller’s Outdoors column Sunday and Wednesday and his Fishing Report on Thursday, only in The Washington Times. E-mail: gmueller@washingtontimes.com.
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