served as the president of the Open Space Institute. He has also served as the chair of the Catskill Mountain- keeper Advisory Board since that orga- nization was founded in 2007. Martens’ appointment came with none of the controversy that marked the dismissal of his predecessor, Alex- ander “Pete” Grannis. While he is rec- ognized as a strong advocate of conser- vation, he also recognizes the need for healthy economic climate within the state, and is expected to try to strike a balance between the two sometimes competing considerations. However, Martens’ greatest chal- lenge may be to find some way just to carry out the DEC’s mission in the wake of the budget and personnel cuts imposed on it by the Patterson admin- istration. In the current economic cli- mate, when every budget item will be viewed with the strictest scrutiny, rebuilding the DEC into an agency fully able to carry out its duties will be an extremely difficult task. However, CCA New York is looking forward to working with the new Commissioner, and in providing whatever advice and assistance is appropriate to our joint mission of conserving the marine resources and serving the marine anglers of the State of New York.
OREGON
UWR salmon, steelhead recovery plan
This plan will provide the frame- work for recovery of Endangered Species Act-listed salmon and steel- head, and guide future policy in the management of Willamette River. It is a cooperative effort between NOAA Fisheries and the State of Oregon to form one plan to govern the Upper Willamette River (UWR).
Management practices that are
addressed by this plan include: hatch- ery production, recreational and com- mercial fishing, forestry, agriculture, predation and dams. CCA Oregon members have engaged in the process by attending the public meetings and providing written comments to NOAA Fisheries outlining our concerns with the plan. CCAOregon does not believe the plan places enough emphasis on the need to
control the growing
marine mammal and avian predation problem impacting UWR Chinook and steelhead.
58
Incubator boxes delayed
Last year, CCA Oregon help pass the “The Incubator Box Bill” in order to reintroduce salmon and steelhead to Rogue Valley streams. Since that time, our southernmost chapter in the Rogue Valley has been working hard to see this plan enacted. In a recent meeting with the Sen. Jason Atckinson, the sponsor of the bill, and the director of the Oregon Department of
Fish Wildlife, CCA
Oregon volunteers expressed con- cern with the lack of progress to date.
PACIFIC NORTHWEST
Columbia River hatcheries threatened
NOAA Fisheries issued its Draft
Environmental Impact Study (DEIS) concerning the Columbia River hatch- eries, and all new options include reductions in hatchery plants by as much as 50 percent. CCA submitted official comments pointing out the plan’s failure to consider the benefits of selective fishing as way to maintain hatchery production levels consistent with wild salmon recovery. CCA also
believes that NOAA
Fisheries cannot look at hatcheries in isolation. Indeed, hatchery and harvest management should be integrated to ensure that production and harvest levels don’t negatively impact salmon recovery efforts. Unfortunately, in many ways, the two have been man- aged in complete isolation from one another. The Mitchell Act Draft EIS largely continues this failure by ignor- ing the role selective harvest plays in removing hatchery fish from the sys- tem. We believe NOAA Fisheries should add another alternative to this EIS to outline what effect full imple- mentation of selective fisheries in the United States would have on salmon recovery efforts and hatchery produc- tion in the Columbia basin. Visit
www.ccapnw.org for more information and a complete copy of our comments.
SOUTH CAROLINA
Lowcountry Oyster Festival — a shell of an event! For the fourth year in a row, the
“CCAOyster Recovery Team” sporting international orange t-shirts and vests, worked overtime to reclaim shells left over from the 28th Annual Lowcountry Oyster Festival at Boone Hall Plan-
www.joincca.org
“This is not easy work, but it is at the very heart of conservation. This effort has a direct and tangible impact on the quality of our fisheries, and CCA members understand that link,” said Gary Keisler, CCA SC Topwater Action Campaign Coordinator. “We are grateful to the festival promoters, vendors, and attendees, for taking the time to under- stand what these simple oyster shells mean to our state’s marine resources.” Each year, tens of thousands of bushels of oysters are harvested in South Carolina. In addition to being delicious, they are a vitally important species for our marine ecosystem as one mature oyster is capable of filtering up to 50 gallons of water per day. Usually found in clusters along the South Atlantic coast, oyster reefs pro- vide habitat for more than 70 species of fish, shrimp, crabs, and other marine animals. The reefs also act as a natural barrier to habitat erosion along the many waterways of the Palmetto State. However, many factors have com-
bined over the past several decades to create a shortage of oyster shell for habitat purposes and shell has had to be purchased to supplement the state’s stock of shells. The shortages have lim- ited the amount of habitat restoration work that the state is able to undertake. After identifying the problem, CCA South Carolina worked to be a part of a two-pronged solution. As a part of the Topwater Action Campaign, pur- chased shell was donated to the South Carolina Department of Natural Re- sources, but greater returns were soon realized simply by raising the public’s awareness of the importance of recy- cling shell for habitat. “People want to do the right thing,” said Michael Smith, CCA SC State Chairman. “We just needed to make peo- ple aware how valuable all the shell that was going into dumpsters behind restau-
TIDE
tation. A team of 44 CCA South Caro- lina members, volunteers, and partners gathered up almost 75,000 pounds of oyster shell last weekend that might otherwise have gone straight to a land- fill. Thanks to their hard work, those shells are headed instead right back into the marshes and estuaries to cre- ate new marine habitat along the coast of South Carolina.
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