231 



STATEMENT OF THANE TIENSON ON BEBALF 



OF 



SALMON FOR ALL, 



TO THE ENVIRONMENT SUBCOMMnTEE 



OF THE 



HOUSE MERCHANT MARINE AND FISHERIES COMMITTEE 



Hearing on the Snake River Salmon Recovery Team Final Recommendations 

 Washington, DC 

 June 30, 1994 



My name is Thane Tienson, and I am testifying on behalf of Salmon for All, a nonprofit 

 organization representing the lower Columbia River gillnet fishing industry, including both fishing 

 fimiilies and fish processors, located at the mouth of the Columbia in the community of Astoria, OR, 

 where I was bom and raised Our associate members include an additional 130 marine suppliers, 

 stores, retailers and other small businesses in our community which are economically dependent 

 upon salmon as a resource The gillnet fishing industry is also an industry whose economic needs 

 must be considered every tut as relevant to this discussion as those of the Cohmibia River Alliance 

 and its members, if not more so 



In feet, we are the industry most seriously and most directly affected by the destruction of salmon 

 in the Columbia RIvct Furthomore, the salmon fishing industry as a whole (of which the gillnetters 

 we represent are a part) has long been a major economic factor in the entire regional economy of the 

 Pacific Northwest It is not only the Columbia River gillnetters who have been affected - the loss 

 of Columbia River stocks has triggered major closures up and down the entire Pacific coast 

 (including Alaska) for the entire multi-billion dollar salmon fishing industry. Sabnon closures 

 caused by Columbia river declines are also on the verge of triggering an international "fish war" with 

 Canada The current dispute over the Pacific Salmon Treaty is also directly related to the decline of 

 Cohmibia River stocks because endangered north migrating Columbia River stocks are being 

 harvested by Canadian fishermen who are not restricted (as we are) by the Magnuson Act or the ES A 



Likewise, the recent coastwide closure of the entire salmon season in the lower 48 states is also 

 in no small part driven by the disastrous situation in the Columbia and the need to protect these 

 weakest stocks when they mingle with otherwise abundant stocks. 



