Chinook’s Passing By…Cyril Kamir

This is beautiful to watch. Epic, grace, power, bittersweet…the renewal of passage, procreation and death. Only to be followed, hopefully, by yet another similar procession. Watch this short but sweet procession of Chinook Salmon in the Wenatchee River.

Yesterday, I heard a fly shop guide remark about the State of Washington launching a chopper to check on delayed Salmon off the mouth of the Columbia River. Allegedly they spotted a massive 20 some miles long pod of salmon staged some distance from the mouth of the Columbia River. The rains have just started and those fish will be arriving….late, but hopefully with optimum conditions. (back up)

Sturgeon: Another Anadromous Fish

Salmon and Steelhead often dominate the discussion of ocean going fish and habitat considerations inland. That other pre-historic like creature fits into that ocean going circle also..the sturgeon. There are several dozen species of sturgeon around the world. The Western U.S. has these behemoths in several rivers. I recall standing gazing down on the Snake River near Hells Canyon dam at first light. The amazing sight of a giant sturgeon leaping from the water and landing on its’ side broke the morning silence. Dare I say, sturgeon tastes amazing!

Green Sturgeon Range

Sturgeon Restoration Projects, Pacific NW

COLUMBIA RIVER STURGEON RECOVERY EFFORTS

Over Fishing: How Much Cat food, Omega 3 & fillets do we need?

OVER FISHING IN ONE MINUTE

http://see-the-sea.org/topics/commerce/overfishing.htm

Is there really that much demand for fish consumption worldwide? That coupled with an increase in aquaculture shows harvesting five to six times higher in the 48 year span the chart depicts. What has happened in the last 12+ years to catch rates….increased in all probability.

Seafood Consumption Guides by U.S. Region

Alaska’s New AG John Burns on State Sovereignty & the Resources

Alaska’s new Attorney General, John Burns, is an avid fly fisher. He also provides not so subtle clues on his position re statehood, state’s rights, Federal regulations and ‘overreach’, development of resources  and the environment in a piece in the Juneau Empire………

“Burns stated the biggest challenge so far is prioritizing the multitude of issues affecting the state. Outside of Alaska is the concern of state sovereignty and the frustration of dealing with Federal regulations and unnecessary overreach, and the federal government seeking to regulate that which they cannot legislate.”

“From our perspective, the ability of our state to become a state, to become an independent entity is critically dependent on its ability to develop its resources,” Burns said, quoting Parnell. Burns urges all Alaskans to read the Statehood Act as well. “The frustration is that, I strongly believe that anybody that lives in the state of Alaska, who has lived here for a long period of time, is an environmentalist. You cannot live in this great state and participate in all that we have and not want to see it continue. But at the same time we recognize that you can have different and responsible development coexisting with that ability to participate. The frustration that I see is that the rest of the world does not believe that we are competent enough to responsibly develop our resources. I don’t think that they believe we care about this wonderful state. To me that belies comprehension. Every Alaskan I have talked to, who has been here for any length of time, is here because it is such an incredible state. The thought that we would do something to ruin it is beyond comprehension to me.”

I wonder if Mark or Brad at Alaska (Juneau) Fly Fishing Goods (nice shop by the way) might ask John Burns, the next time he drops in to heft that new 6 wt., what his take is on the Pebble Mine issue and that  whole process. Unofficial position, of course.

 

Sandy River (Take Action for What Remains)

Trout Unlimited Chapter 678 McKenzie Upper Willamette put out some info re the state of the Sandy River (while announcing a club event). The facts speak for themselves and beg action.

Call on ODFW to restore Sandy River salmon and steelhead.

The Sandy River flows just 20 miles from downtown Portland and has the potential to be one of the healthiest suburban salmon and steelhead rivers in the world. Over the past decade $75 million has been donated towards Sandy River habitat restoration, yet the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife continues to resist any reductions in their Sandy hatchery programs. This is extremely detrimental to wild fish.

Runs of salmon and steelhead on the Sandy are currently 3-10% of their historic abundance, and continuing to decline year after year. Much of this decline can be linked to an unaccountable hatchery program. In a recent Portland Tribune article, ODFW District Biologist Todd Alsbury said that reducing the Sandy River hatchery program is a last resort.The ODFW has known for decades that hatchery fish reduce the fitness and long term abundance of wild fish, yet they have demonstrated that they are more interested in protecting their hatcheries than in protecting our wild fish. If future generations are to ever glimpse a spawning salmon, this must change.

Sandy River fall chinook, spring chinook, coho and winter steelhead are currently listed under the Endangered Species Act, and chum salmon have gone extinct.

As a supporter of Oregon’s native fish, take action here: http://tu678.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=83b81d79dfb8964f786c6133c&id=0a88b044e7&e=a57a3af76c

This is in my back yard. Ten minutes from my front door. No excuse to not be involved. I just joined the Native Fish Society.

Global Fisheries Need Help…Now

Ok, I had to do something to offset the abysmal statistics and suppositions re the health of our world wide ocean fisheries. Plus, it is about time for my quarterly attempt at matching Moldy Chum’s or The Shooting Head’s Provocateur Factor.

Andrew Purvis provides a lengthy and I must say balanced presentation of assessments re the state of the varied ocean fisheries and what other nations or alliances are doing to rebuild certain fisheries or forestall total decimation.

“Worse still, after stripping our own seas bare, we have “exported fishing capacity to the waters of developing countries”, Professor Roberts warns. Off Mauritania, Senegal and other West African countries, fleets from the rich industrial north are “fishing in a totally unsustainable way with minimal oversight by European countries”. In return for plundering the oceans, which deprives local people of food, and artisanal fishermen of their livelihood, these vessels pay minimal fees that impoverished countries are happy to accept. “It is a mining operation,” Professor Roberts says, “a rerun of the exploitation of terrestrial wealth that happened in colonial days. This is colonialism in a new guise, albeit with a respectable cloak in the form of access agreements.”  (Andrew Purvis @ The Observer)

Salmon Wars (South-Central Alaska: Commercial v. Sport)

” Ricky Gease, executive director of the Kenai River Sportfishing Association, said the sport and personal use fisheries in Southcentral contribute $800 million to $900 million in economic impact to the state.”

“That far surpasses the economic values generated from the commercial fisheries in upper Cook Inlet,” he said. “That’s what the disagreement is about. You can optimize the commercial fishery to gain 5 percent value, but that may come at 5 percent or 10 percent or 20 percent cost to sport fishery. When one is much larger than the other, why are we focused on the smaller one?”

“Forty years ago nobody envisioned that there would be 150,000 sport fishermen licensed in the Anchorage area,” he said. “There are conflicts going back to statehood, but they are getting worse because more people are sport and fewer are commercial in the overall populace. To allocate more resource to sport, you’re going to have to take away from commercial guys. Then you get a natural phenomenon where people are going to fight for it. They’re not just going to give it up.”  >>>>>>

Or is it Sport v. Commercial?

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Ancient Fish Traps, Teifi Estuary in Wales

This is from an article awhile back. Came across and find it interesting.

Teifi Estuary Fish Trap, Dyfed, Wales

Dyfed, Wales Fish Trap

From Comments: “We have similar fish traps around the southernmost tip of Africa. Some are believed to be “ancient” and some we know were built during late 1700 early 1800 when Europeans left the Cape and settled in this region. The ancient ones were, in my opinion, originally built by the Portugese late 1400’s – who were shipwrecked along the coast…”

Fishing v. Vaquita’s Upper Gulf of Cali (Eco Conflict)

“I experienced first-hand what it is like to live in the upper gulf, an area frought with poverty and drugs, and the social and economic consequences that arise from each.

I spent time on the water documenting artisanal fishers setting gillnets from pangas in an epic desert sea brimming with life. I watched hundreds of shrimp trawlers dragging nets along the sea floor all over the upper gulf (including through the vaquita refuge and biopshere reserve), unregulated and out of control. And, I met face to face, the secretive porpoise everyone is talking about – the vaquita marina.

In the blogs I have written about “Expedition Vaquita”, the perspective of the local people is one I feel has not been adequately shared.” (more at Vaquita)

This is an interesting site re the ever typical conflict between enterprises that harvest, over harvest?, and the increasing loss of a non-targeted species (in this case the Vaquita/Porpoise). In short shrimpers and gill nets in conflict in the Upper Gulf of California. Buy outs, conservation education and conflict, amidst trafficantes. (more on the conflict)

Petro Bras~Brazil?

(I am certain the ever vigilant Ted Williams is on this….right?)