THE NEWSROOM
increased to 10 fish per day and 20
fish in possession throughout the
basin.
The in-river recreational adult fall
chinook salmon quota is divided
among four sectors in the Klamath
River basin:
KLAMATH RIVER
1. 3,500 feet downstream of Iron
Gate Dam downstream to the Highway
96 bridge – 220 fish.
2. Highway 96 bridge downstream
to the mouth of the Klamath River –
648 fish.
• There is a sub-area closure at the
mouth of the Klamath River when
15 percent of the basin allocation has
been harvested – 194 fish harvested
below the Highway 101 bridge triggers
this closure.
TRINITY RIVER
1. Old Lewiston Bridge to Highway
299 West bridge at Cedar Flat
– 214 fish.
2. Denny Road bridge downstream
to the confluence with Klamath River
– 214 fish.
ACROSS THE U.S.
USFWS Considering Lethally
Removing Cormorants
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
announced a proposed rule and associated
draft environmental impact
statement (DEIS) to lethally remove
double-crested cormorants in the
United States.
Cormorants are fish-eating birds
that have negative impacts on wild
fisheries, fish hatcheries and aquaculture
facilities, resulting in substantial
economic impacts and human health
hazards. Double-crested cormorants
are protected under the Migratory
Bird Treaty Act making any lethal
control of these birds illegal without
explicit authorization from the
Service.
The USFWS released a proposed
rule and draft environmental impact
statement for public comment that
could result in the lethal take of
as many as 123,000 cormorants in
the United States each year. Double-crested
cormorants are protected
under the MBTA. Lethal control of
the birds is illegal without authorization
from the USFWS. Under the
proposed rule, some 8,800 of the
birds could be lethally removed in the
West.
The rule proposes to establish
a new special permit for state and
federally recognized tribal wildlife
agencies to undertake additional
cormorant control activities when
permissible. States and tribes must
first attempt control using nonlethal
methods and determine that those
methods are ineffective before resorting
to lethal control. The activities
allowed under the special permit
would include controlling cormorants
to help reduce conflicts with
wild and publicly stocked fisheries
on state or tribal-owned lands. In
addition, states will have additional
flexibility to manage cormorants at
state or tribal-owned hatcheries and
release sites.
Under this new proposal, a new
special permit for interested states
and tribes would complement existing
measures to address conflicts with
cormorants to protect human health
and safety, personal property and
threatened and endangered species.
The proposed rule was published
in the Federal Register on June 5,
opening a 45-day comment period
until July 20, 2020. The notice and
DEIS will be available at http://
www.regulations.gov, Docket Number:
FWS-HQ-MB-2019-0103, and
will include details on how to submit
your comments.
SFRBTF Reauthorized
Both the U.S. Senate and House of
Representatives have recently acted
on legislation to reauthorize the Sport
Fish Restoration and Boating Trust
Fund (SFRBTF). The SFRBTF,
which is funded in part by the federal
excise tax on fishing equipment paid
by the sportfishing industry, funds
state-based programs for sportfish
conservation and habitat restoration,
infrastructure for boating access and
education for anglers and boaters.
In early June, the Sport Fish
Restoration and Recreational Boating
Safety Act of 2020 was introduced in
the U.S. Senate by leadership of the
Senate Commerce Committee, Chairman
Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and
Ranking Member Maria Cantwell
(D-Wash.). This bill would reauthorize
the SFRBTF through 2024 and
make important administrative improvements
to improve the efficiency
of the program.
In addition, the House passed
a massive infrastructure bill titled
the “Moving Forward Act” (H.R.
2), which included the Sport Fish
Restoration and Recreational Boating
Safety Act. This legislation has been
championed in the House by Reps.
Joe Cunningham (D-S.C.) and Garret
Graves (R-La.), who introduced
standalone legislation last year.
“The Sport Fish Restoration
Program is one of the nation’s most
important conservation programs,
and we are grateful that Congress is
taking action to ensure this successful
program continues into the future,”
said Mike Leonard, vice president,
Government Affairs, for the American
Sportfishing Association. “Since
its inception in 1950, the Sport Fish
Restoration program has provided
billions of dollars to fund fisheries
conservation and public access to
aquatic resources, providing opportunities
for the nation’s 50 million
recreational fishermen to enjoy time
on the water.”
This SFRBTF is funded through
multiple sources of revenue including
the federal excise tax on recreational
fishing equipment, the boat fuel tax,
and import duties. Each year about
$650 million is provided from the
SFRBTF to state wildlife agencies for
fisheries management and restoration
projects as well as boating infrastructure
and other purposes.
The SFRBTF began in 1950 with
the passage of the Dingell-Johnson
Act which established a federal excise
tax on recreational fishing equipment.
These funds, along with state
fishing licensing fees paid by anglers
and private donations from angling
organizations, has added up to more
than $38 billion in conservation funding
since 1951, which underscores
the enormous impact anglers have
on conservation.
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