onathan Birdsong, staff to

Representative Mike Thompson
231 Cannon Office Building
Washington, DC 20515

jonathan.birdsong@mail.house.gov


Support for California Salmon Hatchery Reform funding:

As a recreational salmon fisherman I am concerned that we have recently experienced no fishing opportunities as a result of poor returns to the Sacramento River system.  Recognizing that there is limited habitat for wild fish production, and that hatchery fish are absolutely essential to maintaining a sustainable fishery, it is critical that our state and federal hatcheries be operated in a manner that maximizes protections for wild fish while producing harvestable quantities of fish.  A necessary step in assessing hatchery operations and ensuring optimum hatchery operations is to understand the science behind modern hatchery operations and the interaction of these fish with wild stocks.  To enable these investigations it is required to distinguish between wild and hatchery fish; and 100% mass marking of hatchery fish provides that mechanism.

Consequently I support funding of scientific studies to address hatchery reform in California and to evaluate management measures that will achieve these objectives.  We encourage you to include $4.5 Million ($3.0M for adipose fin marking equipment, and $1.5M for hatchery reform studies) for California as part of the congressionally funded hatchery review program within the FY2010 appropriations.

With this appropriation, recreational salmon fisherman may again see an opportunity for a sustainable ocean fishery.  Thank you for your past and ongoing support of our salmon fishery.

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