Feds to release plan to protect chinook salmon
Thursday, Jun. 04, 2009
SAN FRANCISCO—Federal fisheries regulators are planning to release a court-ordered plan to protect chinook salmon in the Central Valley.
The plan to be unveiled Thursday could end up further limiting the amount of water pumped to farmers and Southern California residents. Commercial fishing for the struggling species has been canceled off the California coast for two seasons.
The agency had to redo its management plan for the fish because U.S. District Judge Oliver Wanger in Fresno threw out its previous plan last year. He found that allowing the Delta water pumps to continue operating as they have would threaten the species.
Fishing industry representatives argue the Sacramento River salmon need adequate river flows and relatively uninterrupted transit through the Delta.
