Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of H.R. 1157, which authorizes financial assistance to West Coast states to support restoration and conservation of Pacific salmon. This bill would also support the restoration of a historic industry, comprised of proud fishing men and women and their communities, that provides both food and recreation to the citizens of this nation. I commend my colleague MIKE THOMPSON for his leadership on this issue.
Mr. Chairman, salmon have been an important source of sustenance for the native peoples of the Pacific coast for thousands of years. The modern fishing industry on the West Coast began in my district with the salmon fishery on San Francisco Bay. Salmon from the Bay were harvested to feed the forty-niners headed for the gold fields of the Sierra Nevada mountains. San Francisco Bay is still the migratory route for one of the largest runs of salmon on the Pacific Coast.
Our salmon have suffered mightily over the past century, as spawning and rearing habitat within their natal streams and rivers has been lost. We have lost about 80 percent of the productive capacity of salmon streams in the West Coast as a direct result of various causes of watershed destruction.
According to a 1991 comprehensive scientific study by the American Fisheries Society (AFS), at least 106 major populations of West Coast salmon and steelhead are already extinct. Other studies place the number at over 200 separate stock extinctions in the Columbia River Basin alone. The AFS report also identified 214 additional native naturally-spawning salmonid runs at risk of extinction in the Northwest and Northern California: 101 at high risk of extinction, 58 at moderate risk of extinction, and another 54 of special concern.
The productive capacity of the salmon resource has been enormous. Even as recently as 1988, and in spite of already serious existing depletions in the Columbia River and elsewhere, the Northwest salmon fishing industry (including both commercial and recreational components) still supported an estimated 62,750 family wage jobs in the Northwest and Northern California, including my district, and generated $1.25 billion in economic personal income impacts to the region.
H.R. 1157 continues the program of Federal matching assistance to the West Coast states to rebuild this important fishery. The bill would authorize funding for states and tribal governments to restore damaged and degraded salmon habitat in a scientifically based and cost-effective manner. Emphasis would be placed on the recovery of salmon runs listed under the Endangered Species Act to prevent their extinction and eventually permit the lifting of the restrictions that are set in place when a species is listed. Funds will be spent only for projects approved as part of state and tribal restoration plans.
H.R. 1157 is an investment in a healthful food source, an industry of hard working men and women, and a precious element of our ecosystem and natural heritage. I am proud to be a cosponsor of H.R. 1157, and I urge my colleagues to support the preservation and restoration of West Coast salmon.