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Monthly Newsletter of Water4Fish.org
May, 2010

April 1st Salmon Summit was a Smashing Success

If you missed the April 1st event in San Francisco, you missed the best salmon rally ever.  Dozens of the 500 participants spoke up and testified about the economic and recreational devastation that has occurred without salmon seasons for the last two years.  The event was highlighted by the participation of Congressmen George Miller and Mike Thompson along with Jared Huffman, Chairman of the Assembly Water Parks and Wildlife Committee.  In commenting, Miller said, "This is the beginning of the long struggle to right what is wrong in our water system in the state of California, to right what is wrong in terms of Delta protections and to make sure all of you can continue to rely on a livelyhood."  Mike Thompson said, "We've got the law on our side, we've got the science on our side and you've seen today the beginning of a very, very strong organization."  The bottom line of the event was "We Want our Salmon Back".  Miller and Thompson assured the group that they will provide Washington DC leadership but they want and need continuing support from fishermen and their supporting organizations.  Salmon Water Now has produced a powerful video of the event.  It is a must see at http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=10811827       

Letters to Your Congressmen are Needed to Support Salmon Recovery

The follow up from the Salmon Summit is very important.  The survival of California's Central Valley salmon is under political and legal attack by the Westlands Water District and others in the San Joaquin Valley.  They have spent millions in a PR campaign (fish vs. people).  They have also filed 13 lawsuits and have made six attempts to pass legislation in congress that would gut the Endangered Species Act or negate the biological opinion of the National Marine Fisheries Service which protects endangered salmon.  It is urgent that congress hear from fishermen and supporters or we may lose the salmon forever.  Please help with letters to your congressman to stop this nonsense.  There are two draft letters on this website at http://www.Water4Fish.org/salmon-letters/  You can go there and copy and paste the letters to your word processor.  It will also show you how to look up the name of your congressman. 

Federal and State Regulators Set Abbreviated 2010 Salmon Seasons  

 

On April 15th The Pacific Fishery Management Council set the ocean seasons and on May 5th the California Fish and Game Commission planned to vote on the "in river" seasons.  The Commisssion vote was delayed for lack of a quorum but it appears both seasons will be significantly curtailed from previous years in order to protect the seriously diminished populations from further damage.  The ocean recreational season runs from May 1st to September 6th with no fishing allowed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.  The minimum size limit was also changed from 20 inches to 24 inches. 

Thanks for your continuing support.  Almost 78,000 supporters have now signed our petitions demanding better water policies for fish.

Dick Pool - editor

 

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