Audubon Comments On US Fish & Wildlife Service Report On 2002 Klamath Fish Kill

National Audubon Society
Tuesday, 18 November 2003

Report Confirms that Near-Record Low Flows were a 'Major Factor' in Losses

The US Fish and Wildlife Service has released its long-awaited final scientific assessment of the causes of the disastrous Klamath Basin fish kills in September of 2002. During the massive die-off, more than 34,000 endangered salmon and steelhead perished in the Klamath River. The report issued today confirms that one of the primary causes of the losses was indeed low water flows.

"It is time for the Bush administration to admit that their water policy has failed, and failed badly," said David Eshbaugh, executive director of Audubon Oregon, the state office of the National Audubon Society. "Everyone who works the river, from wildlife biologists, to tribal experts, to commercial fishermen, gave the same advice and message to the administration: adult salmon cannot survive when you cut off their water."

"The Klamath was once a healthy river, but the administration has seen fit to replace its mighty flows with a meagre trickle of water that is in part agricultural waste," he continued. "The administration's willingness to ignore accurate assessments has resulted in the largest documented die-off of fish in the Klamath River's history, and one of the largest killings of fish known in the US."

"This flawed water policy has resulted in putting fisheries worth billions of dollars to lower river and coastal communities' economies in doubt. The Fish and Wildlife Service report confirms the truth of the California and Tribal agency assessments of the risks of this action," Eshbaugh concluded.

"Sadly – this report is hardly more than a post mortem for these highly endangered fish."

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