An important message to NSIA Businesses and our Friends in Sport fishing Advocacy from B.G. Eilertson, Dan Grogan and Scott Harden.





SAFE for Salmon Website Launched!



SAFE for Salmon today announced the launch of its website (www.safeforsalmon.com) as an important tool in its ongoing campaign to create better fishing opportunities for all Columbia River users.



SAFE for Salmon, a wide coalition of conservation and sports fishing groups is pushing legislation in Salem that will end the longstanding catch allocation dispute between commercial and sport fishers that has gridlocked Columbia River fisheries management. This will be achieved by prioritizing the mainstream for sport fishing through the relocation of commercial gillnets into SAFE areas. In brief, the bill:

· Moves all non-tribal commercial fishing into well-established (and perhaps some new) selected SAFE zones off the mainstem Columbia River below Bonneville Dam.

· Increases the number of hatchery smolts released in those zones.

· Prioritizes the lower Columbia mainstem for sport fishing.

· Ends wasteful gill-net bycatch of federally protected salmon and small sturgeon.

· Reduces stray hatchery salmon on spawning grounds.

· Increases smolts (especially coho and fall chinook) entering the Pacific Ocean.

BG Eliertson of Joe’s encourages visits to the website. “www.safeforsalmon.com is your one shop stop for making a difference. Visitors can and should donate, volunteer and endorse the campaign right online. People need to see this site and learn more about this effort which is why I am challenging every angler with a website or blog to put a link to www.safeforsalmon.com on their homepage. It truly is a link to the future and a link to success. Let’s put in the effort and get a management framework that works.”

“This is the most important issue in the sports fishing community right now,” said Fishermans Marine and Outdoor President Dan Grogran. “The industry is facing economic disaster because anglers cannot get out on the water. SAFE for Salmon will lead to regular seasons, better fishing and brighter days for our ailing industry. We need the entire community to rally around this effort”

Scott Harden of All Sports agreed, “SAFE for Salmon is a way out of the woods. The status quo is killing us and killing fish. SAFE for Salmon offers a win-win solution that legislators can get behind. Anglers who are tired of early closures and short seasons need to be asking themselves, ‘what can I do to support this campaign’.”

SAFE for Salmon Campaign Director Colin Cochran reiterated the importance of the campaign and hailed the website launch as an important step. “This is a fight we can and must win,” said Cochran. “Our campaign is conducting an intensive lobbying effort that is gaining serious traction in Salem. Legislators are realizing that the price of inaction is irreparable harm to the resource, the commercial and sport fishing industries and the economy as a whole. The timing is right and we will win this campaign if we are able to launch a massive and sustained wave of constituent contact towards Salem. We need every concerned angle and citizen writing, calling, emailing and visiting their legislator on a regular basis and we need them to start now. The website will give supporters tips on the best way to contact their elected representatives, which is why it is such an important tool.”