Any natural or man-made disaster ... could really wipe out many of these animals. |
Because the population has such a small number of sexually active males in it, a catastrophic event -- an oil spill, a chemical spill -- could really make a huge difference in the population. |
Between the time we proposed to list these animals as threatened and now, we've discovered the population is in a more delicate situation than we had assumed. |
Clearly, if we don't do anything, I think it's accurate to say a number of populations of salmon will be extinct or close to extinct in 100 years, |
It is a very slow and laborious process. It's not a practical way to deal with nuisance animals, especially on a large scale. |
It's a done deal. It will affect ocean fisheries up and down the coast. |
Taking five whales a year would not have any biological impact on the population. |
The actual hunt is a long way off. This is not a rubber-stamp process. |
The Makahs are hardly responsible for what somebody else does. The Makah have a clear right (under an 1855 treaty) to hunt gray whales. |
There is no question that it is a distinct population. |
This doesn't meet the standard that says in the foreseeable future these fish will become endangered. We proposed a year and a half ago to list them as threatened. But we have been convinced, in large part because of the hatchery and harvest reforms that were undertaken very aggressively, that a listing is not warranted. |
This is not the sort of thing that you crank out in a weekend, |
This would be unprecedented and, needless to say, would have tremendous effects on fishermen. But we don't see around this, is what we're saying. No flexibility. |
We did an independent analysis of Oregon's numbers, and we came to the conclusion that their science was pretty tight, and accurate. Our own biological assessment says these fish have a lot of pluck. They're very resilient. They're subject to considerable fluctuations, depending on ocean conditions, but they seem to bounce back if they're given the opportunity. |
We feel like there's a bit of a glass ceiling in San Francisco. We're full out -- we're so ... driven but, and I may be wrong, it seems like there's very little industry here. |