HomeMy WebLinkAbout040925 email - Re_ Impacts of Cancelled Federal Funding on Salmon FisheriesALERT: BE CAUTIOUS This email originated outside the organization. Do not open attachments or click on links if you are not expecting them.
Heather, Amy may have more to add, but I have a few more observations. NOAA has restricted travel for almost all of their staff. This impacts the Pacific Fisheries Management Council
meetings. (council.org <http://council.org> ) Regarding the management of salmon, NOAA staff are responsible for ensuring ESA compliance of the Salmon Fisheries Management Plan (FMP)
implementation in any year. The implementation of the salmon FMP is the way both conservation requirements and fair fisheries seasons are written for the west coast. Because individual
runs have different forecasts the weakest runs dictate what the season will look like.
NOAA has critical input into the harvest of ESA listed salmon (for instance Puget Sound Chinook, Snake River Fall Chinook, Lower Columbia River Chinook, Oregon Coast Natural Coho, Lower
Columbia River coho…) as well as the allocation of salmon between Treaty and Non-Treaty fisheries. Even though the Boldt Decision said 50%, the more practical way to manage fisheries
is by management unit i.e. all Puget Sound Chinook. However, without NOAA in physical attendance every meeting is via video conference. This is cumbersome and a lot of stuff gets missed
because there is no face to face interaction.
Hope this update helps.
Joel
On Feb 8, 2025, at 12:33 PM, Amy Grondin <ajgrondin@gmail.com <mailto:ajgrondin@gmail.com> > wrote:
Dear Jefferson County Commissioners,
Please accept the below forwarded email I am sharing with you on behalf of Joel Kawahara and myself. We are commercial fishermen from Quilcene and Port Townsend and we both have our
boats moored in the commercial basin in Port Townsend.
Joel’s email was sent to Representative Emily Randall in response to her request for how cuts in federal funding could and would impact her constituents in the 6th District of Washington.
Joel outlines the potential impacts to both the fish and the fishermen in the email below. The funding cuts stand to be both ecologically and economically devastating on a local, state,
federal and international level.
We appreciate how the current day by day changes that come from DC are making your work of managing and supporting our county difficult. Thank you for all you do!
Sincerely,
Amy
- - -
Amy Grondin
Duna Fisheries, LLC
Port Townsend, WA
206.295.4931
Ajgrondin@gmail.com <mailto:Ajgrondin@gmail.com>
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Joel Kawahara <joelkaw@earthlink.net <mailto:joelkaw@earthlink.net> >
Date: Friday, February 7, 2025
Subject: Cancelled federal funding
To: "Katy.Crabtree@mail.house.gov <mailto:Katy.Crabtree@mail.house.gov> " <Katy.Crabtree@mail.house.gov <mailto:Katy.Crabtree@mail.house.gov> >, "Shanta.Katipamula@mail.house.gov <mailto:Shanta.Kati
pamula@mail.house.gov> " <Shanta.Katipamula@mail.house.gov <mailto:Shanta.Katipamula@mail.house.gov> >
Cc: Amy Grondin <ajgrondin@gmail.com <mailto:ajgrondin@gmail.com> >
Good Morning Katy and Shanta,
I am responding to the email alert from your office this morning requesting information about the impact of cancelled federal funding on our lives. Since this morning a new cancellation
has come to our attention. Apparently NOAA has been told to cease communication with foreign scientists on issues such as international treaties and fisheries conservation measures.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2025/02/06/noaa-fisheries-international-communication-doge/ <https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2025/02/06/noaa-fisheries-internati
onal-communication-doge/>
I have been in contact with scientific staff and policy support people who attend Pacific Salmon Treaty meetings and they have been told by the State Department to go ahead and attend
the meeting next week (Feb 10-14 in Portland, Oregon). While the folks I have communicated with are hoping they can get something done in terms of technical exchange of information,
as of today, no one seems to know what will happen.
The importance of cooperation with Canada on salmon management can not be over stressed. Because salmon migrate across the US Canada border at multiple places, international cooperation
and coordination is the only means of responsibly managing the fish. From the violent rhetoric we have heard from the Trump administration already regarding international relationships,
we fear the outbreak of a fish war with Canada. There will be no winner in such a war because the only weapon is to hurt salmon stocks with unsustainable fishing. In addition, the Canadian
government can restrict the transit of fishing vessels from Washington and Oregon to Alaska, as they have in the past.
Both the US and Canada have seen this show before and there is no desire to have a rerun. We in Washington know Canada has no reason to back down from escalation of tensions in this
arena. Canada has not done so in the past and has shown they have no reason to do so today. The Canadian government is already upset with the US over the tariffs shenanigans of last
week, and has no desire to deal with another round of the bullying from the Trump administration.
A second and perhaps more important treaty between Canada and the US that affects the entire Northwest is the Columbia River Treaty. Because the treaty deals with water, NOAA atmospheric
scientists are heavily involved. The Columbia River Treaty is currently in final negotiations between Canada and the US, having reached an agreement in principle under the Biden administration.
Disruption in the Columbia River Treaty threatens hydroelectric power generation by Bonneville Power Administration and the Mid Columbia Public Utilities Districts. All of Washington,
Oregon, Idaho and Montana are threatened with higher electric rates should the Columbia River Treaty be disrupted.
As far as I could tell from the email from Representative Randall this morning your office was simply trying to find people who are impacted by the administration’s actions. If you
want or need more detail, I will be available to help in any way I can.
Sincerely,
Joel Kawahara
Quilcene, WA
--
—
Amy Grondin
Duna Fisheries
Ajgrondin@gmail.com <mailto:Ajgrondin@gmail.com>
206.295.4931
Sent from Mobile