Date: Tue, 15 Apr 1997 08:39:52 -0400
From: Kate Wing <[log in to unmask]>
Fishing Access. On Apr. 4, 1997, the Madison County (MT) Board
of Commissioners {held a two-hour hearing and unanimously voted
to repeal a September} 1995 ordinance prohibiting landowners from
constructing fences designed to hinder fisherman access on county
rights-of-way easements near bridges. After the ordinance was
originally enacted, five landowners filed suit against the
County, claiming the ordinance condemned a portion of their
property without providing compensation. These landowners said
they would drop their lawsuit if the ordinance was repealed.
[Assoc Press]
Fishing Access Purchase. On Mar. 31, 1997, NY Governor George
Pataki announced that NY will purchase $1 million worth of public
fishing access rights during the next fiscal year. The purchase
would be funded by money approved by voters in the 1996 Clean
Water-Clean Air Bond Act. [Assoc Press]
Chippewa Treaty Fishing. On Apr. 2, 1997, the MN Dept. of
Natural Resources held the first of 7 public information meetings
scheduled to explain Treaty fishing rights before the 8 Chippewa
bands begin spearfishing and gillnetting on Lake Mille Lacs and
28 other central MN lakes. {On Apr. 7, 1997, MN Governor Arne
Carlson gave a statewide televised address during evening news
broadcasts to stress the importance of avoiding tension and
preventing violence in implementing treaty fishing rights. Both
the MN House and Senate have approved spending $6.5 million to
help with Treaty enforcement, but differ on from what account
these funds are to be taken. On Apr. 9, 1997, the 8th U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals ordered a stay on the exercise of Treaty
fishing rights by 8 Chippewa bands in east-central MN until the
Court had the opportunity to rule on the state of MN's appeal.
Arguments on the appeal are scheduled for June 1997.} [Assoc
Press]
Barton Springs Salamander Protection. On Mar. 26, 1997, U.S.
District Judge Lucius Bunton ruled that Interior Secretary
Babbitt violated the Endangered Species Act in 1996 when he
withdrew the proposed listing of Texas' Barton Springs salamander
after state agencies agreed with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service on a cooperative conservation plan for the species.
[Assoc Press]
Bull Trout. On Mar. 25, 1997, 2 MT conservation groups asked
U.S. District Judge Robert Jones to order the Fish and Wildlife
Service to immediately list bull trout as a threatened or
endangered species. {On Apr. 7, 1997, the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service filed a brief informing Judge Jones that it will
propose listing Klamath River and Columbia River bull trout
populations as endangered or threatened species.} [Assoc Press,
NW Fishletter No. 30]
Eurasian Ruffe Symposium. On Mar. 21, 1997, the National Sea
Grant College Program is sponsoring an international symposium in
Ann Arbor, MI, on eurasian ruffe, an unintentionally introduced
species in the Great Lakes. [Sea Grant press release]
Uncollected Fishing License Fees. On Mar. 18, 1997, state
examiners released an audit of the WA Dept. of Fish and Wildlife
indicating as much as $730,000 is owed the Dept., mostly from
1994 hunting and fishing license sales at retail outlets. At
least 155 outlets failed to submit license revenues. [Assoc
Press]
Marine Mammals
Polar Bear Hearing. The House Resources Committee has
tentatively scheduled a hearing for Apr. 30, 1997, on H.J.Res.
59, a joint resolution to disapprove a rule affecting polar bear
trophies from Canada issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service. [personal communication]
{DOLPHIN INTERACTION. ON APR. 10, 1997, SEA WORLD OF FLORIDA
BEGAN A DOLPHIN INTERACTION PROGRAM, WHEREIN EIGHT PARTICIPANTS
PAY FOR A DAY OF EDUCATION ABOUT AND INTERACTION WITH DOLPHINS.}
[SEA WORLD OF FLORIDA PRESS RELEASE]
Tuna-Dolphin Hearing. On Apr. 9, 1997, the House Resources
Subcommittee on Fisheries Conservation, Wildlife, and Oceans held
a hearing on H.R. 408, amendments to the Marine Mammal
Protection Act to support the International Dolphin Conservation
Program. [personal communication]
{Mexican Whale and Dolphin Emergency. On Apr. 7, 1997, Mexican
environmental authorities reported that 162 dolphins found dead
on Gulf of California beaches earlier this year probably had been
killed by red tide toxins, discounting earlier reports that a
toxic spill or cyanide chemicals used by drug traffickers had
caused these deaths.} [Assoc Press]
Atlantic Large Whale Protection. On {Apr. 7, 1997, NMFS
published a proposed take reduction plan and implementing
regulations for northern right whales, humpback whales, fin
whales, and minke whales in the Federal Register that would
restrict fishing times in whale habitat off New England and the
mid-Atlantic} in Cape Cod Bay, the Great South Channel, and
several other areas. In addition, fishing gear modification
would be required to allow whales to break free of gear in case
of incidental entanglement, and response and assistance for
entangled whales would be improved. {Maine officials contend the
required gear modification will cost the lobster industry between
$40 million and $70 million.} Public comments will be received
until May 15, 1997. [Assoc Press, Federal Register]
{WHALING PROTESTER. ON APR. 3, 1997, DUTCH POLICE ARRESTED PAUL
WATSON ON A NORWEGIAN WARRANT ISSUED BY INTERPOL. WATSON WAS
CONVICTED IN ABSENTIA IN MAY 1994 FOR PARTICIPATING IN SINKING A
NORWEGIAN WHALING VESSEL. WATSON IS BEING HELD BY DUTCH
AUTHORITIES WHILE A DUTCH COURT DECIDES WHETHER TO EXTRADITE HIM
TO NORWAY.} [ASSOC PRESS]
Canadian Sealing. On Mar. 29, 1997, the International Fund for
Animal Welfare released a video claiming to show illegal hunting
of young, whitecoat seals by sealers in the Gulf of St. Lawrence
in mid-March 1997. Federal authorities reported that some
white-looking seals can be older and technically not the younger,
whitecoat seals. [Assoc Press]
West Coast Pinniped Draft Report. On Mar. 27, 1997, NMFS
released a 17-page draft report to Congress on west coast
pinnipeds (seals and sea lions). The report recommends, under
certain situations, killing some particularly voracious Pacific
harbor seals and California sea lions to protect endangered
salmon. In addition, the report suggests that fishermen be
allowed to kill sea lions and seals as a last resort to protect
gear and catch. West coast seal and sea lion populations are
reported to consume 217,000 metric tons of fish and shellfish
annually. [Assoc Press]
NZ Sea Lion Protection. On Mar. 25, 1997, New Zealand officials
closed a squid fishery in the Southern Ocean for the remainder of
1997 to protect a population of Hooker's sea lions. In balancing
economic interests against ecological damage, fishing industry
representatives claimed early closure of the fishery would result
in a $13.9 million loss in export income to protect the rare sea
lions after an estimated 100 animals were drowned in squid nets.
[Reuters]
Japanese Coastal Whaling. On Mar. 19-21, 1997, an international
workshop convened in Sendai, Japan, to consider Japan's request
to the International Whaling Commission (IWC) for permission to
conduct a limited coastal hunt to kill 50 minke whales.
Recommendations from the workshop will be presented at the annual
IWC meeting in October 1997 in Monaco. [Dow Jones News]
Gully Protection. On Mar. 19, 1997, World Wildlife Fund Canada
launched a campaign to obtain federal government commitment to
protect The Gully, an underwater canyon near Sable Island off
Nova Scotia, said to be deeper and wider than the Grand Canyon.
The Gully is habitat for a population of northern bottlenose
whales, a species added to Canada's List of Species at Risk in
1996. Concerns include petroleum exploration and development
near The Gully. [World Wildlife Fund Canada press release via
Dow Jones News]
Ballard Locks Sea Lions. On Mar. 17, 1997, NMFS officials
reported a dramatic decline in the amount of time sea lions have
spent around Ballard Locks, WA, feeding on migration steelhead
trout and salmon -- from 91 hours in the first 2 months of 1996
to only 16 minutes during the same period in 1997. NMFS believes
that capturing and retaining 3 sea lions in captivity in May 1996
is responsible for the difference. [Assoc Press]
Greenland Minke Whale Quota. On Mar. 14, 1997, the Greenland
newspaper Sermitsiak reported that Greenland officials had
announced the 1997 aboriginal minke whale quota, with 148 minke
whales for western Greenland communities (99 of which are to be
taken by fishing boats equipped with harpoon guns) and 12 whales
for eastern Greenland communities. Since 1997 is the final year
of Greenland's 3-year aboriginal quota from the International
Whaling Commission (IWC), the IWC will consider new quotas at its
October 1997 meeting. [High North Alliance News]
NAMMCO Scientific Committee Meeting. On Mar. 10-14, 1997, the
Scientific Committee of the North Atlantic Marine Mammal
Commission (NAMMCO) met in Tromso, Norway. Discussion focused on
the role of whales and seals in the marine ecosystem. New
information on the abundance of several whale stocks was reviewed
-- 72,000 for the central North Atlantic stock of minke whales;
22,800 for fin whales in the North Atlantic east of Greenland;
and 9,250 for sei whales in the North Atlantic east of Greenland.
New survey data were reported to have confirmed earlier estimates
of northeast Atlantic pilot whale abundance as stable at 778,000.
In reviewing ecological studies, the Scientific Committee
concluded that minke whales, harp seals, and hooded seals may
have substantial direct and/or indirect effects on commercial
fish stocks, but recommended that knowledge be improved. The
annual meeting of NAMMCO's Council will be held on May 27-30,
1997, in the Faroe Islands. [High North Alliance News]
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