June 2, 2003
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
EUREKA, Calif. (AP) -- Commercial fisherman Paul Pellegrini never agreed with much the environmentalists had to say, still resents that Indian tribes can stretch their salmon nets across the Klamath River, and chafes at federal fishing restrictions.
But in the aftermath of last summer's fish kill that left 33,000 salmon dead on the banks of the Klamath, Pellegrini finds himself linked with environmentalists, Indian tribes and federal fishery managers in a common quest for more water for fish.
Somewhere between the farms that draw water for crops and the harbors from which salmon boats range the Pacific for salmon, a line has been drawn in the gravels of the Klamath and Trinity rivers.
``It all boils down to economics,'' said Pellegrini.
Michael Orcutt, fisheries director for the Hoopa Valley Tribe, understands it is hard for some to overcome the long-standing divisions between commercial fishermen and Indians, but feels there is a growing spirit of cooperation on the lower river with the goal of more salmon for everyone.
``There's been a lot of change that's positive,'' said Orcutt. ``We're kind of up against the wall. The resource we both depend upon is critical.''
When the federal government was forced by the Endangered Species Act to shut off water to most of the farms on the Klamath Reclamation Project in 2001 to let more flow down the Klamath River for threatened coho salmon, farmers quickly mobilized.
Already organized into irrigation districts and the Klamath Water Users Association, farmers staged demonstrations that were broadcast nationwide on television. They found a sympathetic ear in the Bush administration, and received $100 million in emergency aid from Congress.
``They are driving the bus,'' said Jimmy Smith, a former salmon fisherman who is now a Humboldt County supervisor. ``If it wasn't for the tribes and the alliances they forged, the folks of Northern California would be at a real loss.''
Fishermen have been much slower to react. Until last summer's salmon kill, those that kept fishing were suffering quietly, ranging farther and farther from home as federal regulations allowed them fewer and fewer fish and the market paid them less.
Though Pellegrini had his best salmon season ever last year for fish caught, the price has been driven so low by fish farms that he wonders if he should keep fishing.
Last year, the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations, which has long allied with environmental groups to build up salmon stocks, filed a lawsuit challenging the federal government's plan for protecting threatened coho salmon in the Klamath Basin.
The government's plan is known as a biological opinion under the Endangered Species Act. It sets minimum flows the Bureau of Reclamation must provide for salmon down the Klamath River. More water for salmon means less water for farms on the Klamath Reclamation Project.
A federal judge in Oakland is considering whether to issue a court order sought by commercial fishermen that would put more water down the Klamath for salmon.
In the aftermath of the salmon kill, Humboldt, Del Norte and Trinity counties, the cities of Eureka, Arcata and Fortuna and the Hoopa and Yurok tribes have joined the fishermen's federation and environmental groups in the lawsuit.
``This is a major economic interest,'' said Glen Spain of the fishermen's federation. ``Behind every fish, people are trying to make a livelihood on a resource being systematically destroyed by federal mismanagement.''
Last September, the balance crafted by the federal government between water for farms and water for fish broke.
Chinook salmon began dying by the thousands in the Klamath River from a fast-spreading gill-rot disease while waiting for higher flows that would allow them to swim upriver to spawn.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has yet to say what caused the kill, but the California Department of Fish and Game and members of the American Fisheries Society pointed their fingers at the low amount of water released down the Klamath River after irrigating the Klamath Project.
The Pacific Fishery Management Council, which has had to keep one eye on the precarious state of Klamath salmon since 1986 while setting fishing seasons up and down the West Coast, sent a letter to the Department of the Interior this year urging water releases to prevent another massive fish kill.
California Resources Secretary Mary Nichols also called for more water, saying there is not enough going down the river to prevent another fish kill.
As part of the Bush administration's plan for protecting Klamath coho and meeting federal obligations to maintain tribal fisheries, the Bureau of Reclamation is spending $4 million to move 50,000 acre feet of water from farms to fish. But with the snowpack 89 percent of average in the mountains, some worry that both crops and fish could die for lack of water this year.
The Klamath's biggest tributary, the Trinity River, is also caught between farms and fish, with more than half of its flows sent through a tunnel to generate power and irrigate farms hundreds of miles away in the Central Valley.
The Interior Department's efforts to make good on a promise from Congress to leave more water in the Trinity to restore salmon has been stalled by a lawsuit brought by the Westlands Water District, which irrigates farmland outside Fresno.
Meanwhile, Ronnie Pellegrini wonders how long the fishing tradition will last in her family.
``It's very hurtful and hard to hear my daughter say, 'When is my daddy not going to be able to fish anymore?''' she said. ``There's been a Pellegrini fishing out of Eureka every year since 1910. It's done once my husband's done.''
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On the Net:
Hoopa Valley Tribe: http://www.hoopa-nsn.gov
Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations: http://www.pcffa.org/
Klamath Basin Irrigators: http://www.klamathbasincrisis.org/
Reclamation Bureau Klamath Basin office: http://www.mp.usbr.gov/kbao/index.html