Rivers of a Lost Coast

• Posted on 01/26 at 06:59 AM

2009 salmon season . . . probably not.

Information from the “Water 4 Fish: Targeting California’s Water Management” newsletter provides another bleak outlook for the 2009 salmon season.

“More 2009 salmon season bad news. Most of the fall run salmon return data is now available and the news is not good.  It appears there can be no salmon fishing season in 2009.  In 2007, 90,000 fall run fish returned to the Central Valley system to spawn.  The fishing season was closed because a minimum of 121,000 returns are needed for the species to survive long term. In 2008, the returns are estimated to be only 60,000 fish, a 23% drop from 2007 and the 2008 fishing season was completely closed.  The disaster deepens.  Stakeholder groups are asking for another year of trucking hatchery fish around the delta to avoid the low water and delta problems.  DFG, NMFS, and The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will truck again in 2009 but the levels are yet to be established.”

Another lost season will force more people away from the sport and industry. As anglers and related industry personnel continue to walk away we run the risk of losing a significant portion of the voice needed to protect our fisheries. Continued closures, although needed to protect the resource can make it difficult to maintain a strong voice. We invite you to share your thoughts.

Posted by Justin on 01/26 at 06:59 AM in Conservation • (22) Comments • Permalink

• Posted on 01/23 at 11:22 AM

Mining and Dredging

A recent editorial in the Fresno Bee lays out a strong argument against recreational mining in California.

The Fresno Bee: “State moves too slowly on new rules to protect salmon”

It’s not news that salmon populations have declined drastically. Last year, regulators voted to ban all salmon fishing along the Pacific coast of California and Oregon. Their actions wiped out the livelihoods of thousands of commercial fishermen, fish processors and charter boat operators.

The threat is so dire that regulators are expected to continue the ban through 2009.

So it seems incredible that in the tributaries of the state’s major rivers where salmon lay their eggs, suction gold mine dredging continues under regulations now badly out of date and inadequate to protect dwindling numbers of fish.

Recreational miners use giant dredges to vacuum the creeks and river beds, sucking up tons of sand and rocks in search of tiny flecks of gold. In the process, they destroy precious salmon spawning grounds and kill salmon eggs, young salmon, trout and sturgeon.

The California Department of Fish and Game has the power to stop the damaging practice. It should do so immediately.

The Karuk Indian Tribe and a handful of conservation groups, including California Trout and the Sierra Fund, have petitioned DFG to issue emergency regulations to limit when and where dredging can be done on the Klamath River, its tributaries and five other streams in the Sierra.

In 2006, the Karuks sued Fish and Game to force the department to overhaul its dredging rules. Pushed by miners, the courts ordered the department to complete a California Environmental Quality Act review before it acted ... the review hasn’t even begun. Meanwhile, dredging continues.

As the petition seeking the emergency actions makes clear, the fish are in peril. A 2008 federal report documented a 73% decline in coho salmon returning to spawning grounds between 2004 and 2007. Another study concluded the coho “was in danger of extinction...”

Posted by Justin on 01/23 at 11:22 AM in Conservation • (7) Comments • Permalink

• Posted on 01/20 at 09:19 AM

An ever-increasing difficulty

With each added year of research our understanding of the habits and needs of salmon and steelhead increases. In this clip,UC Davis professor Peter Moyle explains how research has opened our eyes and ears to the needs of our fisheries. Moyle also touches on the hardening realty that increased knowledge often results in more difficult management decisions.

Posted by Justin on 01/20 at 09:19 AM in Conservation • (1) Comments • Permalink

• Posted on 01/16 at 08:27 AM

California Game Warden deficiency documentary

This Saturday in Sacramento, CA. at the International Sportsmen Expo inside the Cal Expo fairgrounds, a documentary exploring the recurrent battles of California Fish and Game Wardens will debut in building A at 1:00pm.

The severely under-staffed and under-paid collection of California Game Wardens are held responsible for enforcing many of California’s most important environmental and wildlife protection laws.

Below is Sacramento Bee reporter Matt Weisser’s brief piece on the upcoming documentary, followed by a link to an NPR podcast on the California Game Warden situation.

Published: Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2009

A documentary on the plight of California’s game wardens makes its world premiere on Saturday in Sacramento at the International Sportsmens Expo.

The 56-minute documentary reveals the challenges faced by the state Department of Fish and Game’s understaffed warden force. California has only about 200 game wardens to protect wildlife and water quality statewide, the lowest staffing ratio of any warden force in the U.S. and Canada. Yet it confronts what may be the biggest illegal wildlife trafficking problem in the nation, with an estimated black-market value of $100 million annually.

The film premieres at 1:30 Saturday in Building A at Cal Expo, which is hosting the hunting and fishing festival.

The film is the product of nearly two years of work by Snow Goose Productions, a father-and-son team of James and Andrew Swan based in Marin County. They followed game wardens by air, sea and land. Along the way, they collected footage including the bust of a 20,000-plant marijuana grove; a terrorist cell; and poaching of abalone, caviar and bear.

Jameson Parker, star of the former “Simon and Simon” television series, narrates the documentary. Following the screening, a panel will discuss economic and recruiting challenges faced by the warden force and consequences to the state’s wildlife. Panelists will include Nancy Foley, Fish and Game enforcement chief; Greg Yarris of the California Waterfowl Association; and Sen. Dennis Hollingsworth, R-Murrieta.

The International Sportsmens Expo runs Thursday through Sunday at Cal Expo. Daily admission is $15 for adults and $7 for children 13 and over. Children 12 and under are free. There is no additional cost to attend the film screening. For more information, visit http://www.sportsexpos.com

On the link below is an NPR podcast by Sacramento’s KQED Tamara Keith from “All Things Considered” April 12, 2008. Tamara goes along on a household raid with a collection of California Game Wardens while they bust illegal poachers who have been selling fish on the black market. The four and a half minute interview gives great insight into the constant battles of California’s Game Wardens.

NPR “All Things Considered” California Game Wardens, an endangered species

Posted by Justin on 01/16 at 08:27 AM in Conservation • (2) Comments • Permalink