House of Reps Funding Measure Attacks Central Valley Salmon

For Immediate Release: February 13, 2011

Contact: Victor Gonella, Golden Gate Salmon Association, 707-762-2300
Zeke Grader, GGSA, PCFFFA, 415-606-5140
Dick Pool, GGSA, Pro Troll, 925-963-6350

House of Reps Funding Measure Attacks Salmon

Fishing Group calls on Senate to keep salmon protections in place

San Francisco -- Salmon fishermen and related businesses and communities throughout California oppose legislative language added to a must-pass federal spending bill that would seize water needed for salmon and hand it to corporate agribusinesses.

Members of the House of Representatives attached the salmon-jobs-killing language to a continuing resolution (CR) needed to fund the federal government. The continuing resolution must be signed into law by March 4 in order to guarantee the government meets its fiscal obligations.

The Golden Gate Salmon Association, comprised of salmon fishermen and related businesses, is asking members of the Senate to make sure this salmon job killing language doesn’t make it into the final version of the CR that is sent to the White House for the president’s signature.

“We’ve just come through the three worst years in history for salmon businesses, families and communities due to the type of water mismanagement the House is now trying to force on us,” said Zeke Grader, executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations (PCFFA). “If the Senate doesn’t block these efforts, our salmon will die and so will the tens of thousands of jobs salmon provide.”

An estimated $1.4 billion in economic activity was lost in both 2008 and 2009 due to the forced diversion of water from salmon streams to a handful of junior water rights holders in California’s San JoaquinValley. These figures are based on state and federal data analyzed by the economists at Southwick Associates.

This same analysis showed 23,000 jobs were lost because of the very ill-informed water mismanagement decisions the House legislation calls for. Rules governing water diversions were rewritten in 2008 and 2009 leaving more water to restore the salmon fishery. The salmon job killing proposals from the House seek to turn back the clock by wiping out the new, better rules.

“My business has been hurt badly by the salmon closures and we’ve barely been keeping our head above water the last three years because the water needed to give us a decent run of salmon has been hijacked by a handful of millionaires and billionaires who covet that same water,” said Dick Pool, president of Pro Troll Fishing Products, Concord California.

“After a few really bad salmon fishing years, things were just starting to look a little better for the year ahead. Now we learn about this move in Congress to kill our salmon, which kills our jobs,” said Jonah Li of Hi’s Tackle in South San Francisco.

“We provide service to boat owners throughout California and salmon fishing is what motivates most of these people to invest in their boats,” said Galen Onizuka of Johnson Hicks Marine. “Coastal communities throughout the state and far up into Oregon all rely on the salmon that some members of the House now want to wipe out. We need the Senate to save our salmon.”

“We represent thousands of fishermen and related business people and we ask Senators Feinstein and Boxer to work on our behalf to make sure this bad salmon job-killing is stripped out of this bill,” said Victor Gonella, president of the Golden Gate Salmon Association.

Senator Dianne Feinstein passed legislation to fund an independent scientific investigation into the current federal rules governing water diversions in the Sacramento/Bay delta. The scientific body doing the investigation is made up of specialists from across the country from the National Academy of Sciences’ National Research Council.

This independent scientific body issued an interim report last March finding that the current rules governing balancing of delta water to satisfy both the needs of salmon while allowing some exports to San Joaquin Valley junior water rights holders are “scientifically justified” and have a “sound conceptual basis." This research group is continuing to analyze the rules and will have a final report later this year.

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The Golden Gate Salmon Association (GGSA) is made up of fishermen and environmentalists working together on behalf of the Central Valley salmon to protect its habitat, aid in its revival and recovery, and provide for its long-term sustainability as a recreational, commercial and cultural resource. Our partners are elected officials, regulatory agencies, as well as legal, educational, and outreach organizations.