05-10-2004, 02:16 PM
SEATTLE, WA--A new Bush administration plan to revise protections for endangered Northwest salmon is taking heat from fishing groups.
Under the plan, the National Marine Fisheries Service would count salmon raised in hatchery tanks as well as wild fish when determining a species' population. The increased numbers such counts would likely delist some populations under the Endangered Species Act.
"The result will be delisting of some species of salmon from the Endangered Species Act," said Jan Hasselman, Seattle counsel for the National Wildlife Federation. "The protections provided for those species and the funding devoted to their protection and recovery evaporates immediately."
Salmon protection has triggered broad changes in Washington state, Oregon and Idaho, including reduced irrigation to farmers, restrictions on logging and mining and higher hydroelectric rates from dams forced to reserve water to help fish migrate.
A final version of the plan is due in June.
[signature]
Under the plan, the National Marine Fisheries Service would count salmon raised in hatchery tanks as well as wild fish when determining a species' population. The increased numbers such counts would likely delist some populations under the Endangered Species Act.
"The result will be delisting of some species of salmon from the Endangered Species Act," said Jan Hasselman, Seattle counsel for the National Wildlife Federation. "The protections provided for those species and the funding devoted to their protection and recovery evaporates immediately."
Salmon protection has triggered broad changes in Washington state, Oregon and Idaho, including reduced irrigation to farmers, restrictions on logging and mining and higher hydroelectric rates from dams forced to reserve water to help fish migrate.
A final version of the plan is due in June.
[signature]