[Water_news] 1. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS - Top Items for 4/2/08

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation for DWR personnel of significant news articles and comment

 

April 2, 2008

 

1.  Top Items

 

Senate OKs funds to restore salmon habitat - Associated Press

 

Salmon fishers show frustration - Eureka Times Standard

 

 

Senate OKs funds to restore salmon habitat

Associated Press – 4/2/08

 

The California Senate on Tuesday approved spending $5.3 million to restore salmon habitat, responding to a population decline that may end salmon fishing off the California and Oregon coasts this year.

 

Lawmakers sent the bill to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on a 27-10 vote. Schwarzenegger spokeswoman Lisa Page said the governor has not taken a position on the bill.

 

The money would come from a $5.4 billion water bond approved by voters in 2006. The bill's author, Sen. Patricia Wiggins, D-Santa Rosa, said it would be used to match about $20 million the federal government has made available for salmon projects.

 

The money would help remove barriers to salmon migration, restore spawning areas and monitor salmon populations.

 

Four Republicans joined Democrats in approving the bill. It passed without debate, but Sen. Dennis Hollingsworth, R-Murrieta (Riverside County), later said he opposed the measure because the state should have a comprehensive plan for spending the 2006 bond money.

 

The measure, Proposition 84, provides money for clean water, parks, flood control and conservation.

 

"I don't think we ought to be parceling out bits and pieces of the Prop. 84 money based on one member's pet projects," Hollingsworth said in an interview.

 

The federal Pacific Fishery Management Council is to decide this month whether to end the salmon season for the year. #

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/04/02/BA0UVU82C.DTL

 

 

Salmon fishers show frustration

Eureka Times Standard – 4/2/08

By John Driscoll, staff writer

 

EUREKA -- Grim-faced fishermen and business owners faced fisheries managers at a packed meeting on Tuesday night, voicing anger, distrust and hopelessness over the gloomy salmon season promised this summer.

 

Many pleaded with the Pacific Fishery Management Council at the Red Lion Inn to adopt the most liberal of three options it is considering, and even asked for more time on the ocean in the late summer. Some pushed the council to shut down fishing altogether this year, while pressing for solutions to prevent further affects of dams, water diversions, sea lions, hatcheries and other problems.

 

Former Trinidad tackle dealer Thomas Richardson said that all three options -- ranging from no fishing to 10 days of fishing -- are unacceptable. He argued that the council has mismanaged the fishery, and fishermen are paying for it.

 

”I think this whole situation has been a waste of time,” he said.

 

”You guys have had 30 years to get this straight.”

 

The council has blamed poor ocean conditions for the dramatic lack of salmon expected to return to the Sacramento River this fall. That's based on a meager run of 2-year-old salmon that came up the river last year, an indicator of what can be expected the following year.

 

Biologists have also pointed to intensive water diversions and habitat problems in the Sacramento, which has been the bread-and-butter stock of the fishing industry.

 

Several speakers warned about serious economic impacts from a closed or severely limited fishery just two years after heavy restrictions buckled the commercial and sport fishing industry.

 

”The majority of our clients are here to fish for salmon only,” said Brad McHenry from the View Crest Lodge and RV Park in Trinidad.

 

The federal government could pass an emergency rule to allow fishing this year, although it has signaled its reluctance to do that.

 

Eureka commercial fisherman Russell Miller said that the council's options for commercial fishing -- allowing 3,000 fish in each of three

 

Northern California zones -- weren't realistic at all.

 

”Don't throw us these crumbs,” Miller said. “There are a whole lot of people who are going broke in the commercial industry.”

 

Some speakers said they weren't convinced that the council was making an accurate prediction of the abundance of salmon expected to run up the Sacramento.

 

Eureka attorney Stephen Rosenberg said he has been following the council for decades, and claimed it is always wrong when it comes to anticipated highs and lows -- with serious consequences.

 

He also brought up a simmering complaint that a program that brings young Sacramento River salmon to San Francisco Bay to be raised in pens was either shut down, or that the pens were damaged, in 2005.

 

Rosenberg also argued that sport fishing should be allowed this year.

 

”We can't really make a dent in this population,” he said.

 

The only option that allows fishing would spread 10 days over the three major summer holidays. Several people said that could prompt fishermen to head out to sea even if the weather is rough. It would also cause major traffic jams at boat launches, some said.

 

Retired fisheries biologist Roger Barnhart advocated that a punch card be used to allow fishermen to take 10 or 20 salmon total, but at anytime during the season.

 

The council will decide on the shape of the season next week in Seattle, and that will be forwarded to the National Marine Fisheries Service for approval or modification. #
http://www.times-standard.com//ci_8779685?IADID=Search-www.times-standard.com-www.times-standard.com

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