FWS Bull Trout Coordinator Explains New Recovery Plan

One of the authors of a new plan to save the threatened bull Trout in Montana says that’s not an easy task, nor is measuring what it will take to get the fish off of the endangered species list.

LINK (via: Montana Public Radio)

DNR delays decision on water rights for salmon vs. coal mine

A decision due this month by the state Department of Natural Resources on water rights for salmon streams or a coal mine at Upper Cook Inlet has been delayed until after an August hearing. At issue is competing claims filed in 2009 by the Chuitna Citizens Coalition and PacRim Coal of Delaware and Texas.  

The Coalition wants to protect spawning tributaries of the salmon-rich Chuitna River; PacRim wants to dewater the streams and dig Alaska’s largest coal mine. Based on PacRim data, the first phase alone would remove and dewater 20 square miles of salmon habitat, dig down 300 feet and discharge 7 million gallons of mine waste a day into the Chuitna River.

LINK (via: Alaska Fish Radio)

Atlantic Salmon Federation calls on Greenland to cut catches

Some are calling on Greenland to scrap its commercial factory salmon fishery as part of a multinational effort to protect the stock that migrates north to feeding grounds off its west coast from rivers in Canada, the States and other countries.

The Atlantic Salmon Federation released figures Wednesday indicating that Greenland caught 63 per cent of a certain type of salmon that spent two winters off its coast, while Canada harvested 35 per cent of them.

LINK (via: CBC News)

The so-called "Strengthening Fishing Communities and Increasing Flexibility in Fisheries Management Act"

Don't be fooled by the public relations spin.

H.R. 1335, the so-called Strengthening Fishing Communities and Increasing Flexibility in Fisheries Management Act, is bad for fish and bad for fisherman.

How bad is it?

“If the President were presented with H.R. 1335, his senior advisors would recommend that he veto the bill."

The Administration strongly opposes H.R. 1335, which would amend the Magnuson Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA), because it would impose arbitrary and unnecessary requirements that would harm the environment and the economy. The MSA currently provides the flexibility needed to effectively manage the Nation's marine commercial, recreational, and subsistence fisheries. In contrast, H.R. 1335 would undermine science-based actions to end and prevent overfishing.

As always, Charles Witek delivers the straight scoop.

When a bill’s primary sponsor has to reassure his constituents that his bill won’t hurt them, regardless of how it might impact anyone else, and that their fisheries managers “will continue to use sound scientific data in their management decisions” even if, because of his bill, others stop doing so, it’s a pretty good indication that the guy promoting the bill understands that it has some really big problems.

LINK

DNR Wrongfully Issued Pebble Permits

Another day, another Pebble beat down.

The Alsaka Supreme Court unanimously overturned a 2011 ruling in a case that challenged whether the DNR permits issued for exploratory work at the Pebble site should have included some public notice.

LINK (via: Alaskas Public Media)

WDFW forced to release hatchery steelhead into inland lakes again this year

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) was hoping that NOAA's completion of a draft environmental assessment would lead to approval of their steelhead hatchery operations and clear the way for the releasing of steelhead into several Puget Sound rivers. Unfortunately for the state and hatchery welfare advocates, NOAA's decision to go with the more rigorous environmental impact statement means that a decision on approval of the WDFW hatchery programs would come after the 2015 release window which stops the program for another year.

LINK

Here's to the power of grassroots advocacy.

According to NOAA the decision was based, in part, on more than 2,000 public comments that expressed a wide range of questions and concerns about the environmental impact of hatchery steelhead programs.

Needless to say the WDFW and their pro hatchery constituents are not happy.