Saving Seafood

Opinion: Congress should continue investing in salmon recovery fund

May 17, 2019 — Sportfishing is a tie that binds. It can bridge the urban-rural divide, business and conservation interests, Republicans and Democrats. People everywhere love to fish.

But fishing is only possible when there are abundant fish in our rivers. That’s why we need Oregon’s members of Congress to make sure there is funding next year for the Pacific Coast Salmon Recovery Fund.

Congress established this recovery fund in 2000 to help support restoration of the streams, creeks, rivers, and wetlands that salmon and steelhead need to thrive. Salmon recovery is important to Oregon. More than half a million people fish in Oregon each year, spending $1.4 billion per year and sustaining nearly 13,000 jobs, according to the Northwest Sportfishing Industry Association.

Read the full story at The Oregonian

Oregon: Sea lions continue to eat endangered fish

May 29, 2018 — All the time, money and sacrifice to improve salmon and steelhead passage in the Willamette River won’t mean a thing unless wildlife managers can get rid of sea lions feasting on the fish at Willamette Falls.

That was the message Tuesday from Shaun Clements, senior policy adviser for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, who met at the falls with Liz Hamilton, executive director of the Northwest Sportfishing Industry Association, and Suzanne Kunse, district director for U.S. Rep. Kurt Schrader, D-Ore.

The group watched as several sea lions patrolled the waterfalls and nearby fish ladders. Clements said there could be as many as 50-60 sea lions in the area on any given day in April or early May, and the animals are responsible for eating roughly 20 percent of this year’s already paltry winter steelhead run.

As of May 22, ODFW has counted just 2,086 winter steelhead at Willamette Falls. That’s less than half of the 10-year average and 22 percent of the 50-year average.

ODFW applied in October 2017 to kill sea lions from Willamette Falls under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, though Clements said he does not expect a decision from the National Marine Fisheries Service until the end of the year. The department also tried relocating 10 California sea lions to a beach south of Newport earlier this year, only to see the animals return in just six days.

Read the full story at the Capital Press