A public meeting will be held on Jan. 31, 5-8:30 p.m. at the Humboldt Area Foundation (373 Indianola Rd. between Arcata and Eureka) on the National Marine Fisheries Service draft Southern Oregon/Northern California Coast Coho Recovery Plan.  

The Southern Oregon Northern California Coast ('SONCC') Evolutionarily Significant Unit ('ESU') includes coho populations from the Mattole River in southern Humboldt County to the Elk River near Cape Blanco, OR.

The plan identifies actions that may be taken to stop the downward trend of the species and return the species to a viable, naturally self-sustaining condition, establishes criteria for delisting SONCC coho salmon, and presents recovery actions necessary to reduce stresses and threats for species recovery.

The entire Recovery Plan can be viewed HERE.

Comments due March 5!

Other public meetings in northern CA and southern OR:

February 1 – Willits
February 2 – Brookings
February 14 – Yreka
February 15 – Medford area (Central Point)

For more information on these meetings, contact Julie Weeder at NMFS: 707-825-5168 or julie.weeder@noaa.gov.

Size comparison of an AquAdvantage® Salmon (background) vs. a non-transgenic Atlantic salmon sibling (foreground) of the same age. Photo: AquaBounty Technologies, www.aquabounty.com.

Let your state legislators know what you think about Assembly Bill AB 88 (Huffman), which requires all genetically engineered salmon sold in California to be clearly labeled. AB 88 is set to come before the California Assembly Appropriations Committee soon.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) may soon approve AquAdvantage transgenic salmon as the first genetically engineered animal intended for human consumption. The only recourse for states is to require clear labeling.

Recent polls by Consumers Union, Thompson-Reuters and others show that 90 to 95 percent of consumers want genetically engineered animals sold for food to be required to be labeled. Yet the FDA argues that these GE salmon don’t need to be labeled!

The genetically engineered salmon before FDA has not been adequately evaluated for either health or environmental risks. Health problems include increased risks of potentially fatal food allergies and decreased nutritional value.  Furthermore, a number of scientists are also concerned that this salmon, which grows to maturity five times as fast as normal salmon, could pose a threat to wild salmon populations, including those on the West Coast, due to competition or spread of disease, if it escapes from fish farms.

Call or email your representative
before January 18!

To contact your state representatives, click HERE.

To learn more about the environmental impacts of GE salmon, click HERE.

To read the text of AB 88, click HERE.