Number: 1979-26
WHEREAS, salmonoid fish runs on the Pacific Coast are in serious jeopardy, some to the extent that some runs and species are becoming endangered; and
WHEREAS, these fishes appear to be most seriously impacted by declines in fresh water spawning habitat and commercial overharvest; and
WHEREAS, the management and regulation of these species also suffers from a lack of timely and definitive information regarding abundance and vitality, particularly in the marine environment; and
WHEREAS, too little effort is being made to assess spawning stream conditions, marine and smolt feed abundance, oceanic influences, predation, and the impacts of various fisheries;
WHEREAS, too little effort is being made to identify those responsible for conditions adversely impacting these depressed stocks;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation, in annual meeting assembled March 22-25, 1979, in Toronto, Canada, hereby urges the immediate implementation of a more intensive and vigorous program directed toward the conservation, management, and enhancement of Pacific salmon and steelhead runs, an effort to be directed cooperatively by state and federal fisheries agencies, and the Pacific Fishery Management Council with the participation of all other agencies having functions for other uses of natural resources ultimately affecting the habitat of salmonoid fishes;
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization urges:
- a program designed to increase public awareness to the value of the fishery resource and its management problems;
- efforts to prevent overharvest of the resources, better spawning escapement, and smolt survival;
- stream improvement projects beneficial to anadromous fish;
- increased law enforcement at points where fishery regulation violations are likely to occur; and
- publicly identify developers, projects, and water users that kill fish.