A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
April 14, 2008
3. Watersheds
INVASIVE SPECIES:
Bill to keep mussels out of lakes - Contra Costa Times
Invasive species prevention; Anti-mussel emergency at two lakes; Boats will be pressure-washed at Lopez and Santa Margarita this weekend to keep pests out -
Editorial: Casitas to let boats back in; Stringent rules put in place -
SALMON ISSUES:
End of coast's 150-year-old fishery looms -
Commercial Fleet; Local salmon fishermen hoping feds will dispense disaster aid; Some say they can’t survive without help if the season is canceled as a panel suggests - San Luis Obispo Tribune
Bodega festival finds fishermen pondering future; Surviving a year without salmon has boat owners searching for ways to replace lost income - Santa Rosa Press Democrat
State panel to vote on drastic
Salmon fishermen cast their 'Plan B'; Many commercial boats will pursue halibut and whatever Dungeness crabs remain -
Bay Area left reeling after ban on fishing; Businesses brace for slow summer after officials put end to salmon season - Vallejo Times Herald
Editorial: Federal agency oblivious to the decline of salmon -
Editorial: Save the salmon -
Guest Column: What it will take to restore salmon - Eureka Times Standard
DRY WATERSHEDS:
Decades later, Taft's 'navigable waterway' disappears -
INVASIVE SPECIES:
Bill to keep mussels out of lakes
Contra Costa Times – 4/11/08
By Denis Cuff, staff writer
An
Drinking water agencies and others that run private or public recreational lakes would be required to set up consumer education and boating inspection programs, under the bill introduced by Assemblywoman Loni Hancock, D-Berkeley.
"We want to make sure we're doing what we can to prevent the spread of these very destructive non-native mussels," Hancock, said. "It takes only one water management system not doing what it should to infect all our waters. Our water systems in
Her bill sailed through the
Water suppliers have qualms about the cost of implementing inspection programs, a sign of potential friction ahead as lawmakers grapple with how best to combat the new problem.
"Our board is very concerned about the cost of a new state mandate placed on us without any guarantee of getting reimbursement," said Deanne Kloepfer, a spokeswoman for the El Dorado Irrigation District, which has water reservoirs with boating.
Water and wildlife managers in
The El Dorado Irrigation District could face significantly higher costs if it has to inspect boats before they're allowed in its reservoirs, Kloepfer said. The El Dorado District, which supplies tap water to 100,000 people, opposes the Hancock bill unless it's amended to reflect its concerns about unfunded mandates.
Elsewhere, an association for 450 water agencies in
"The quagga and zebra are an emerging problem. Every month, we get a new report of another invasion in another water body," said Jennifer Persike, a spokeswoman for the Association of California Water Agencies.
"We really want to take a hard look at what our guidance should be on the issue."
Hancock said
San Justo Lake in San Benito County, where the zebra mussel was first detected in California in January, is the farthest north the mussels have been found. Wildlife officials caution that they are likely to rapidly colonize water bodies in northern
"We can't wait. We have to get everyone involved," Hancock said. "Once the mussels get established in an area, it will be much more expensive to contain them."
The State Water Project, a network of canals and reservoirs, already spends $40 million a year to control the quagga, she said.
Hancock's bill, AB2605, leaves it up to local reservoir operators to determine their own boat inspection program to monitor for vessels that might carry non-native mussels attached to a hull or hiding in pooled water.
"We think the locals know best about their reservoirs," she said. #
http://www.contracostatimes.com/bayandstate/ci_8897290?nclick_check=1
Invasive species prevention; Anti-mussel emergency at two lakes; Boats will be pressure-washed at Lopez and Santa Margarita this weekend to keep pests out
By Bill Morem, staff writer
The threat of tiny quagga and zebra mussels invading county reservoirs and harming water supplies has prompted county officials to enact emergency measures at Santa Margarita and Lopez lakes starting this weekend.
In addition to inspecting boats to spot the mollusks and quizzing owners where their rigs have been, boats will be pressure-washed with 140- degree water. That will mean lake users can expect longer waits than usual to launch, said county Parks Manager Pete Jenny, who oversees recreation at both lakes.
“The danger of mussels coming here has hit the fan,” he said. “We’re getting an ‘Oh my God, what are we going to do now?’ reaction.”
The emergency measures come as Santa Margarita Lake will host bass tournaments this weekend and the next two. These events can attract fishermen with mussel-infected boats from around the state.
With the zebra mussel capable of spawning anywhere from 30,000 to 100,000 offspring a year—and the quagga up to a million a year—an infestation could cripple a water system by choking lake screens on intake pipes and getting inside the main pipes.
Impetus for county action increased dramatically when municipal water boards closed
Although the Casitas boat ban was lifted this week, stringent decontamination restrictions are still in place.
San Luis Obispo City Councilwoman Christine Mulholland called the threat of mussel invasion in the city’s drinking water supply from Santa Margarita Lake scary.
In addition to her council duties, Mulholland serves as the city’s liaison on the
Santa Margarita Lake “is our drinking water source,” she said. “It can very easily be compromised in a way that will cost us huge amounts of money to maintain that drinking water source.”
She added that the scheduled bass tournaments at Margarita spurred the water committee to unanimously ask the Board of Supervisors to hold an emergency hearing. For its part, the San Luis Obispo City Council will hear an update on the mussels Tuesday.
Quaggas can spawn up to a million microscopic larvae a year. They arrived in the Great Lakes region in the mid-1980s in freighter bilge water, probably from
They’re now found in the Colorado River water system that feeds into various reservoirs in
Nacimiento worries
It’s not only an infestation at Margarita that worries Mulholland.
That’s a prospect that worries John Hollenbeck, project engineer for the $173 million Nacimiento Water Project.
“If we got them in Nacimiento, we couldn’t get them out,” he told The Tribune last month. “They can completely cripple any water system.”
That bothers Mike Winn, president of the Water Resources Advisory Committee.
“Let’s get ahead of the curve and stop boats from coming into the lakes,” he said. “If we could hold (mussel infestation) off for 50 years, we could save millions of dollars; every pump, main and lateral wouldn’t have to be replaced.”
Mulholland said local officials can’t drag their feet, because once the mussels are in, “they’re in. They could contaminate the whole
John Moss is a bass fisherman; he keeps his boat parked in his garage when he’s not on one of the county’s lakes. He is also the public utilities director for
The report he compiled for Tuesday’s City Council meeting asks the county to adopt similar action that was taken at
• Immediately start inspection and decontamination programs;
• Close Margarita to all boats not stored at the lake until inspection and contamination programs are in place; and
• Close Margarita to all boats not stored there until infestation prevention can be assured or eradication and control programs are developed.
The county is pursuing all those options, Jenny said.
Moss said the recommendations are similar to Cachuma’s.
“It’s adequate,” he acknowledged, “but is it 100 percent effective? No.”
Balancing priorities
Although Moss believes long-term closure of a reservoir isn’t realistic, he is well aware of the stakes involved.
“We have 17 miles of pipeline from the
His report to the council notes that the impact of the mussel finding its way into state and federal water systems in
“That said,” he wrote, “the recreation, boating and tourism industries associated with the recreational use of state and local waters are also very significant and important to state and local economies.”
Jenny will debrief the City Council on Tuesday on the county’s efforts; he agrees with Moss’ assessment.
“What we’re doing is putting protocols in place for the water purveyors; recreation is secondary,” Jenny said.
“But we’ll also see a loss of about a half-million dollars in revenue if the lakes are closed, and that would result in a loss close to $2 million to $3 million for mom-and-pop businesses associated with lake recreation.”
Yet decontamination carries its own costs. The county has purchased two mobile high-pressure washers for $3,000 apiece; two more are order. More permanent models would cost in the six-figure range to install.
Then there’s the question of building a station so the wash water can be recycled and kept from the lake.
Finally, there’s the question of manpower. Rangers will have to be pulled off their regular duties to oversee inspections and decontaminations. And because a county hiring freeze is in place, the use of existing manpower within his department is a zero sum game.
“We’ll have restrooms that won’t get cleaned regularly,” Jenny said, “and lawns that won’t get mowed as often to get this program up and running.”
Today and into the foreseeable future, bass fishermen and other lake enthusiasts will have their patience tried as their craft are decontaminated.
“But,” Jenny said, “it will be a minor inconvenience compared to seeing our lakes closed.”
Will the extra measures at Santa Margarita and Lopez lakes keep you from visiting? #
http://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/local/story/330512.html
Editorial: Casitas to let boats back in; Stringent rules put in place
Break out the fishing gear and the bait. Officials at the Casitas Municipal Water District have come up with a plan to allow boats back onto popular
The lake has been closed to outside boaters since early in March. The action had been taken because water district officials feared an infestation of the quagga mussel, a tiny aquatic menace. If it found its way into the reservoir, it could create millions of dollars worth of problems and, even, make the lake barren of fish, including the plump bass preferred by anglers.
The ban did not sit well with fisherman or with those whose livelihoods depend on the estimated 30,000 boat launches a month into the lake. But the first priority of
The water district could have just put the ban in place and left it at that. Instead, it created an ad hoc committee to seek ways to protect the lake and to open it to fishermen. Wednesday, only five weeks after the ban took effect, the water district passed a proposal that will allow outside boats back on the lake.
However, fishermen, always known for their patience, must exhibit more. The process of allowing them back will be rigorous and take some time:
— Every boat will be inspected to make sure fish wells, bait wells and plumbing are completely dry.
— Once boats are deemed clean and dry, a tamper-proof ID tag will be affixed to the boat and trailer.
— Boats will then be quarantined for 10 days, either at the lake or elsewhere.
— At the end of the quarantine period, the ID tag will be removed and a fisherman can launch his boat.
— When the fishing day is done, a new ID tag will be affixed.
Some procedures remain up in the air. The method for determining if a boat's plumbing is dry hasn't yet been decided and officials are still considering what to do about kayaks, which generally do not have trailers for an ID tag.
The inspection process will take a few weeks to begin, but once under way, fishermen will soon be able to get their boats back on the lake. As long as a fisherman keeps his boat at the lake, he will be able to launch his boat as often as he likes.
However, taking the boat to another lake or removing the ID tags for any reason will require another inspection and quarantine period before the boat can be used in
We commend Casitas Municipal Water District for doing an excellent job of trying to accommodate the wishes of fishermen even as it seeks to protect the lake from the destructive quagga mussel.
But fishermen must understand they are being given a privilege to fish on the lake. The importance of
Waiting list
Once the protocol for inspecting boats has been established, the lake will call boaters on an exiting list of people wanting to store their boats at the lake. To get on the list, which has at least 240 people on it now, call 649-2233, ext. 7. #
http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2008/apr/13/casitas-to-let-boats-back-in/
SALMON ISSUES:
End of coast's 150-year-old fishery looms
San Francisco Chronicle – 3/12/08
By Carl Nolte, staff writer
The ban on all commercial and sport fishing for chinook salmon in
Commercial fishing is an industry that is deep in the heart of life along
Now, for the first time since commercial fishing began on the West Coast more than 150 years ago during the Gold Rush era, no boats will be permitted to put to sea to fish for chinook, the fabled king salmon that is the mainstay of the commercial fishery.
The ban is only for one year, but it could be a death blow to an industry that has been in decline for years. As recently as 15 years ago, 4,000 small boats fished off the
"We're looking at the end of it right now," said Hedley Prince, harbormaster at
Now only a handful actually are fishing. "It could be more like a museum than a fishing port," Prince says.
"We are going to lose all the fishing fleet if we don't get federal help," said Larry Collins, who ranges the whole coast in his boat out of
"I have been fishing all my working life," said Duncan MacLean, whose boat, the 43-foot-long Barbara Faye - named for his daughter - is based at Half Moon Bay. "I've got a lot of talent," he said, "but I don't have a lot of marketable skills.
"You know, it's a grim-looking picture."
The money is in the salmon fishing
The trouble is that skippers like MacLean count on salmon for 70 percent of their fishing income. There are other fisheries on the coast - crab, rockfish, herring - but the money to make the business pay is in the salmon.
Wild salmon, caught on hook-and-line rigs on small boats, is "the king of fish," according to David Montgomery, a professor at the
The difference, they point out, is that salmon swim free in the ocean; farm fish live in pens or ponds. Fresh wild salmon has commanded a premium price; fishermen swear the wild product is a superior fish, the way grass-fed beef is better than beef from a feedlot.
"Farm fish live in pens," said Rich Fitzpatrick, who works out of Fisherman's Wharf in
The ban on fishing, even for one year, "will damage the whole marketing infrastructure for an entire industry we've built up," MacLean says.
Crab fishing is costly, needs a lot of gear
Why don't fishermen go for other fish? Fishing for crab is expensive. It requires a lot of gear, like crab pots. The season is at its peak right at the opening, in mid-November, and then declines rapidly. At the end of the season, not many crab are left.
A few salmon boats could fish in
Then there are rockfish, just off the
Herring roe have a good market in
The herring have disappeared, too. No one knows why. Prince said the herring that did come to
"Last season we had only 12 herring boats," said Prince, the
It's tourists who feed Cannery Row now
The coming and going of fish is a bit of a mystery. John Steinbeck wrote about sardines and life in the
There seems to be no great mystery about the collapse of the salmon fishery.
"Salmon are trapped between human population growth, economic development, degradation of environmental quality and the politics of public policy,"
There are a lot of reasons the population of salmon returning to their spawning grounds on the Sacramento River and its tributaries dropped from 800,000 six years ago to 68,000 last year.
Some say the food chain in the ocean has changed; some say global warming has made the ocean too warm for the fish, and you can find fishermen who think the fishery has been mismanaged. Maybe it was overfishing. Maybe, as Fitzpatrick thinks, the fry from fish hatcheries were dumped in the bay from pipes, and, stunned, were eaten by predators.
Then there are the dams. Over the last 60 or 70 years,
The rivers that drain the Sierra used to flow through the valleys and into the ocean; millions and millions of gallons poured through the
First Shasta Dam diverted water from the
"You know there was a million fish run on the
Then the state built the California Water Project, diverting the flows of the
All the salmon, returning to spawn or swimming downstream to the ocean, must pass through the delta.
"The delta," said Collins, "is just a sewer now."
"Without water, the fish can't live," he said. "We sacrificed the fish for farms and to water lawns."
Whatever the reason, the salmon and the fishermen are in big trouble.
"I always wanted to be a fisherman since I was a kid," said Fitzpatrick. "I worked on other boats, on Frank Damato's boat, until I could get my own boat.
"He taught me what I know. He's been a mentor. He's like a father to me.
"It took me a long time to get accepted on the wharf," he said. "The old guys were all Italian, and I was only half Italian. But when I got accepted, we were all like family.
"Now I'm one of the old guys." He's 48 and has been self- employed since he was 18.
His boat is called Josephine and is 40 feet long, built of wood by the long-vanished Pasquanucci Boat Works in
"It was good for us," said Damato. "For 50 years. Until now."
Al Baccari, who wrote a book on Fisherman's Wharf, said: "It's a tragedy." #
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/04/12/MNAB104836.DTL
Commercial Fleet; Local salmon fishermen hoping feds will dispense disaster aid; Some say they can’t survive without help if the season is canceled as a panel suggests
By David Sneed, staff writer
“The fleet is just hoping that Congress will come through with another disaster package,” he said. “If we go away for a couple of years, we won’t come back.”
Rep. Lois Capps, D-Santa Barbara, and other lawmakers with fishing constituencies are calling for a fishery failure disaster declaration that would allow direct financial assistance.
After a similar collapse of the salmon fishery in 2006, the federal government allocated $60 million in aid to keep fishing families and communities afloat.
Although
Others, like Barbre and his wife, Marlyse Battistella, who fish aboard the Preamble, go as far as
Salmon are also popular with recreational fishermen. The closure affects both commercial and recreational fishing.
In addition to disaster relief, several other steps can be taken to keep the salmon fishery intact until it can recover, Barbre said.
One is to raise local salmon stocks in rearing pens and hatcheries. Such approaches are not ideal but are better than allowing the fishery to collapse, Barbre said.
“We just won’t have salmon if we rely solely on natural runs,” he said.
Another step is to develop ways to genetically identify from which river system salmon originate, in order to allow fishermen to target fish from healthier ecosystems. The
On Friday, the governors of
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency in
He also sent a letter to President Bush seeking federal disaster assistance, saying the state is projected to lose more than 2,200 jobs and about $255 million from the fishery closure.
“The salmon situation is very unfortunate,” Schwarzenegger said at a news conference Friday in
Also on Friday, the governor signed legislation to spend $5.4 million to help restore habitat for coastal salmon and steelhead.
Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski set aside $500,000 in strategic reserve funds and declared a state of emergency, which his administration said would free up money for job retraining, unemployment benefits and re-employment opportunities for affected communities.
Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire did not declare a state of emergency or offer immediate financial aid to fishing communities Friday, but said those options were on the table. She praised regulators for taking the drastic steps needed to help restore West Coast salmon runs.
“While the action is dramatic, they are doing it believing that they must do everything they can to make sure that we can get this fishery restored,” Gregoire said.
She said states only can provide limited assistance, and what’s really needed is help from Congress and the Bush administration.
This year’s West Coast salmon season was projected to be one of the worst ever after surveys found a near-record low number of chinook, also known as king salmon, returning to spawn in
Scientists are studying a long list of possible causes of the
Many researchers point to unusual weather patterns that have disrupted the marine food chain along the
Fishermen and environmentalists say too much water is being diverted from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, which juvenile salmon must swim through on their way to the ocean. #
http://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/local/story/330507.html
Bodega festival finds fishermen pondering future; Surviving a year without salmon has boat owners searching for ways to replace lost income
Santa Rosa Press Democrat – 4/12/08
By Robert Digitale, staff writer
BODEGA BAY -- Stan Carpenter unfolded his Fishermen's Festival T-shirt and gazed silently at the historic photo imprinted on it, an image of his grandfather on deck hoisting a crab pot six decades ago.
Carpenter, almost 55, a commercial fishermen like his father and grandfather, stood Friday in the same harbor on the deck of his own vessel, the Sandy B, preparing it for Sunday's blessing of the fleet in a year when no one will be blessed with landing a single salmon.
As a result of federal efforts to protect Sacramento River chinook salmon, this will be the first year in history when Carpenter and other commercial trollers can't fish for salmon off the
"If you have boat payments, you're not going to make it, not big boat payments," Carpenter said.
The impact of a summer without salmon will be felt by fish wholesalers like Carpenter's nephew Toby Carpenter, and by charter boat operators like Rick Powers, who won't be able to take out recreational anglers for salmon fishing.
Nonetheless, members of some longtime fishing families said they have weathered harsh restrictions before and the fishing industry here will survive to see better times and the return of abundant salmon runs.
"Every year it's a slap in the face, and we just tighten our belts and move on," said Bev Burton, whose husband, John, has been a commercial fisherman for more than 40 years. "We will do what we have to do."
This weekend's Fishermen's Festival honors the community's fishing families and the tenacity that has allowed them to ply
The festival takes place in the wake of federal action to ban all sport and commercial fishing off
The proposed rules, the most restrictive in history, are likely to be adopted next month by the U.S. Commerce Department.
Federal officials and many fishermen said the closure was needed to help restore Sacramento River chinook salmon, which are expected to return in record low numbers to
On a day when
The shirt was too small, so Carpenter gave it to his cousin and deckhand, Dean Carpenter, 57. With the season closed here, Dean Carpenter plans to fish salmon in southeast
The fishermen, whose numbers have been declining for three decades, will try to cope this year by continuing to catch crab through June, a time when they normally would have switched their vessels over to troll for salmon. Other possible fisheries, including rock fish, won't offset the losses from the salmon ban, they said.
On the other side of the harbor at
"Unfortunately, I got into this at the worst time," said Toby Carpenter, shortly before he was visited by his pregnant wife, Jessica, and their 19-month-old daughter, Emma.
He could try to bring in wild salmon from the
Without a salmon season, charter boat skipper Rick Powers will run whale-watching excursions, rock and ling cod fishing trips and tours to the Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary, where the public can view an "outstanding" variety of marine life.
Powers acknowledged those efforts won't equal the revenue he would make from fishing trips. Still, he supported the effort of the federal fishery council to bring back the
"They made an excellent decision," Powers said, "and we're going to have to endure some hard times." #
http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/article/20080412/NEWS/804120349/1033/NEWS&template=kart
State panel to vote on drastic
By Matt Weiser, staff writer
The state Fish and Game Commission is scheduled to vote Tuesday on drastic cutbacks in recreational fishing for fall-run king salmon, also known as chinook, in response to a steep decline in the species last year. It is also likely to close recreational fishing on the ocean.
A record-low spawning run of 58,200 fish is expected this year in the
The closures could send hundreds of fishing guides and charter boat captains scrambling to find other work. It may also mean many of
"If they close the rivers, I can't tell you how bad it will hurt," said Dave Jacobs, a
On Thursday, the Pacific Fishery Management Council voted to close all commercial and recreational salmon fishing in federal waters off
Catch-and-release fishing may still be allowed in the rivers.
"It's going to affect us dearly," said Terry Horst of
Much of the attention has focused on commercial fishing. But recreational salmon fishing is actually a bigger economic engine.
The Department of Fish and Game estimated this week the closures may cost
"We won't sell any salmon lures, so we're giving up that part of the store to make room for other stuff," said Alan Fong, manager of Fisherman's Warehouse in
"People don't realize it, but it screws up the whole fishing industry when you cut the salmon off," Fong said. "It's a chain reaction."
That's because guides must still make their boat and mortgage payments, and they still have to put food on the table. Many will offer customers other fish to catch, such as tuna and rock cod in the ocean, and striped bass and sturgeon in the rivers.
Many coastal fishermen have also begun to offer whale-watching excursions, which will probably increase as well.
"I got everything I own in this business, so I gotta do whatever I can to survive," said Pete Bruno, owner of Randy's Fishing Trips in
Because many guides will adopt a similar strategy, the competition for customers could increase as well as the pressure on other fish species.
"I don't think they'll come as often as they did for salmon fishing, because that's the glory fish," said Roger Thomas, a charter boat captain based in
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday declared a state of emergency because of the salmon closures and wrote to President Bush in hopes of expediting federal assistance.
The governor also directed the state Department of Finance to make $2.7 million available to refund 2008 commercial salmon fishing permits, and called on state agencies to tap into all forms of assistance for the industry, whether state or federal.
Many in the fishing business reluctantly admit they'll probably need this kind of aid to survive.
"We're going to the government crying," said Bruno. "The whole thing is just sour." #
http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/856334.html
Salmon fishermen cast their 'Plan B'; Many commercial boats will pursue halibut and whatever Dungeness crabs remain
By Julia Scott, staff writer
PRINCETON-BY-THE-SEA — Fishermen heading out of
Many commercial fishermen's boats had already left the harbor, pursuing a haphazard "Plan B" that included fishing for halibut and whatever remaining Dungeness crabs remained in the outer ocean environs of
Some even agreed with the conclusions reached by the Pacific Fishery Management Council, which concluded that to allow any commercial or sport fishing for chinook salmon south of Cape Falcon in northern Oregon would be too risky in the face of historically low salmon returns from the Sacramento River, the main breeding ground for salmon off the California and Oregon coasts.
Most working fishermen in Pillar Point depend on salmon for half their annual income, charter boats included, and count on crabs for the rest.
Frank Inferreira is no exception. The Santa Cruz-based skipper has been fishing out of Pillar Point since the 1990s and on Friday, he didn't miss a beat as he loaded up his boat, the Ann R., with bait for an extended crabbing tour. In June, he plans to travel all the way up to
"I'd rather not go, honestly," said Inferreira. "I seen it coming. We haven't had it rosy the last couple of years anyway."
In 2006, the salmon season was severely restricted to protect dwindling stocks in the Klamath River, which runs from southern
The Dungeness crab season also was a disappointment this year, getting a late start because of the Cosco Busan oil spill last November.
The canceled season will be more than just a problem for fishermen and an inconvenience for Bay Area consumers, who will have to dine instead on farmed salmon or wild sockeye from
The San Mateo County Harbor District, which depends on tourists as much as fishermen's berth fees, also will take a hit.
"It's going to hurt everyone from our launch ramp to our visitors who come here to buy fish," said Deputy Harbormaster Cary Smith, adding that
"We don't have half the number of boats that we normally get in transit during the salmon season," he said.
Larry Fortado has been running Three Captains Sea Products since 1981. It's one of two seafood processors that buy fishermen's salmon catch at
"We'll see if we can find something to keep us going," said Fortado, who also owns a drag boat. "Last couple of years I've been going into debt. I can't do that anymore."
Scientists are studying a long list of possible causes of the
Fishermen and environmentalists say too much water is being diverted from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, through which juvenile salmon must swim on their way to the ocean. They say the dams along the
Last week, a delegation of Bay Area fishermen traveled to
http://www.mercurynews.com//ci_8902390?IADID=Search-www.mercurynews.com-www.mercurynews.com
Bay Area left reeling after ban on fishing; Businesses brace for slow summer after officials put end to salmon season
By Sara Stroud, staff writer
Local businesses that rely heavily on the summer salmon boom are readying for a lean season after fishery officials voted to ban salmon fishing this year.
But, they said, the move is necessary to revive the precariously dwindling salmon population.
"This basically shuts down our summer," Benicia Bait and Tackle proprietor Curtis Hayes said.
Salmon fisherman comprise most of the shop's business between mid-July and November, Hayes said, from bait sales to thousands of dollars worth of salmon lures, some of which are made in the shop.
The Pacific Fishery Management Council's decision to shut down the season stemmed from an extremely low number of salmon reported, especially in the
Scientists are studying a long list of possible causes of the
Others, including Kevin Yost who runs Lucky Strike Charters, blame mismanagement of the water system that has resulted in a lack of fresh water for the migrating fish. Fishermen and environmentalists say too much water is being diverted from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, which juvenile salmon must swim through on their way to the ocean.
Mike Andrews, who runs a fishing charter service and teaches at
"This will cost me about 25 to 30 percent of my business. Unfortunately, I do think it's necessary," Yost said of the fishing ban.
Fisherman are looking to other species, such as rockfish and halibut, to partially make up for the lost salmon. But, Hayes said, increased fishing for other types of fish will put added pressure on those populations.
"The competition is intense," Andrews said.
Those who prefer their salmon already caught will be affected as well. It will be tough for consumers to find chinook salmon at stores and restaurants, but they still will be able to buy farm-raised salmon, as well as wild sockeye from
"It's one of our more popular dishes. People have been calling with concerns," said Tony LoForte, owner of Zio Fraedo's restaurant in
Last week, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill providing more than $5 million in emergency relief for fishery restoration projects. The bill went into effect immediately.
"We're hoping for big salmon return," Hayes said.
• Bay City News contributed to this story. #
Editorial: Federal agency oblivious to the decline of salmon
Perhaps the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission managers didn't get the word about the disastrous decline of chinook salmon across the West Coast, and especially on the
In an April 3 order, FERC ignored the recommendations of its own staff, turned a blind eye to steps the
Clearly, that's not the case.
"It's a disaster," said Patrick Koepele, the Tuolumne River Trust biologist who has overseen the
He isn't alone. Federal and state agency staffers have been huddling to consider requesting a "rehearing" of FERC's order by the May 3 deadline. What's to consider? A rehearing is necessary, as are changes to the order.
The order follows the completion of 10 years of studies and restoration efforts that have been taking place on the
The Turlock Irrigation District manages releases from Don Pedro Dam and restoration projects for its partners, the Modesto Irrigation District and the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission. The TID has overseen several promising projects, most of which are still too new to show significant results. Even Tim Ford, the TID's careful and well-respected biologist, admits this year's salmon numbers were awful and that the overall trend is falling, not rising.
The same is true elsewhere. The salmon collapse prompted the National Marine Fisheries Service and other agencies Thursday to ban salmon fishing from
Salmon are anadromous, meaning they start their lives in cold, freshwater rivers, migrate to the ocean to feed and grow, then return to the same rivers to spawn. Thousands of spawners used to swim up the
The decline in ocean salmon mirrors a decline on all of
others say only 150, 135 or 115 salmon returned. Numbers also crashed on the
Ocean conditions were a big factor. But in the face of such a dire situation, this is no time to make it more difficult for salmon to recover. And that is exactly what the FERC order would do.
Signed by J. Mark Robinson, director of energy projects, the order did not require any additional measures or studies, and it even provided an opportunity to abandon some measures now in place. In its summary, FERC requires the districts to report the number of salmon each year, but higher in the order, it says that current counting methods such as trapping, snorkel surveys and seine counts (with a mesh net) should be continued "if adequate funding sources are available."
What if they're not? The districts already are in a dispute with CalFed for the $600,000 they have spent over the past three years.
Such equivocation flies in the face of FERC's field staff, which had extracted greater commitments from the TID and MID to improve salmon conditions. In March 2007, the districts agreed to FERC staff requirements for six additional measures -- including more tracking studies, enhanced egg- and fry-survival studies and a look at the effects of higher water flows.
It was clear from these remedies that FERC staff had charted a middle course between the desires of the districts and the demands of environmentalists and oversight agencies. But none of these measures was required in the final order. Instead, FERC said such studies should be rolled into the relicensing process, which won't be finished until 2016.
"FERC callously refuses to address the catastrophic decline of the
Koepele of the Tuolumne River Trust appeared dumbfounded: "Why did they ignore the district plan on chinook restoration? ... For FERC to completely reverse itself and not to do anything doesn't make any sense."
The
It's not a question of what FERC wants, it's what those who live in the districts require. Clearly, we would prefer a river with salmon. #
http://www.modbee.com/opinion/story/267980.html
Editorial: Save the salmon
Whether you like your chinook grilled or poached, or even if you have no taste for salmon, last week's vote to ban salmon fishing off the
In one fell swoop, thousands of fishermen, fish processors and charter boats will see their livelihoods wiped out, at least for a year.
Consumers will see prices rise for whatever salmon is left – the farm-raised stuff and wild sockeye from
Recall when cod fishing was banned off of
"For the entire West Coast, this is the worst in history," said Don McIsaac, executive director of the Pacific Fishery Management Council. On Thursday, the federal council, as expected, approved a one-year ban on commercial and recreational fishing for chinook salmon from
Regulators had little choice. Surveys this year have shown a record-low number of chinook returning to one of the West Coast's fish factories – the Sacramento River and its tributaries, including the
Total numbers of spawning fish in the
Many fishermen blame this crisis on past water diversions from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, which may have directly killed young salmon or made them more vulnerable to predators.
While water diversions and pollution are surely a piece of this puzzle, the Delta alone can't explain the full scope of this year's salmon collapse.
Off of
In recent years, biologists have noticed a reduction in "upwelling" of nutrient-rich waters off the West Coast. Fish tend to thrive with this upwelling, which feeds crill and other species that salmon need to survive.
Scientists now face two crucial questions: Is this change in the ocean temporary? Or is it a harbinger of a more permanent transition caused by climate change?
Regardless of the answer, there's little policymakers can do to alter these ocean conditions. What they can do is restore habitat for salmon. That means a multistate effort to restore tributaries, provide cool water for salmon, remove unneeded dams, retrofit unscreened diversions of water and reduce pollution.
Year-to-year management of ocean catches is a backstop. What's needed now is a proactive effort to save the salmon of the West Coast. #
http://www.sacbee.com/110/story/856129.html
Guest Column: What it will take to restore salmon
By Pat Wiggins, (D-Santa Rosa) represents
There is a paradox about salmon: We love them, but we are part of their problem.
We love them as an important food, as the base of fishing economies, for sport recreation, and as symbols of fresh water and renewal. But we harvest them, dam, pave and pump their streams, pollute their water and mix their gene pool with hatchery fish.
Then there's global warming and changing ocean currents.
When we look at Central Valley Spring Run salmon decline, we look back to the 1990s and realize, shocked, that the populations have crashed by over 90 percent. Estimates may make that 95 percent or worse.
But that only looks at a few years. We don't like to acknowledge that less than two centuries ago, the fish were so plentiful that they supported cultures. They were so abundant, in fact, that they could be harvested with pitchforks. The run of fish supported animals, the soil and plants, and were a significant wild ocean resource as well.
Now the runs are on the ropes, and wild salmon will be disappearing from our plates, as well as our rivers, for the next couple of years ... at least.
The problems that salmon, as a group of species, have encountered are epic. They include loss of habitat, fishing in the ocean, changing ocean and inland conditions, less water, more pollution and predation from other marine life. In addition, we have introduced hatcheries into the life cycle of the fish.
Our runs are hatchery-dominated, with survival and pathogen issues plaguing the raised fingerlings. The hatcheries stand with the dams, the mitigations for cutting off spawning habitat, adding up to hundreds of miles of major rivers and thousands of miles of tributaries, the small streams where fish reproduce.
Ocean-farmed fish are not a solution. There are so many problems of disease, escapement and pollution that
The problem of salmon collapse is not restricted to the
On April 1, the Senate passed my bill (SB 562) to support salmon monitoring and restoration with nearly $5.3 million. This money, which may enable our state to secure up to $20 million in federal matching funds, will go to basic science and the repair of specific problems on creeks and rivers. It is an investment in this resource.
But we will need more than simple patience and investment to get salmon back to respectable runs. We will need cooperation from fishermen, farmers, water users, the tribes, power companies, the governor's office and the Legislature to find an effective path to recovery.
We also need help from every citizen to “think at the sink” and “use your brain at the drain,” and not introduce oil, detergents and chemicals into our waters.
No less than recovery is necessary for our fishing and sport-fishing economy, for our responsibility to the species, and to have great tasting, healthy wild salmon as part of a continuing
http://www.times-standard.com//ci_8901613?IADID=Search-www.times-standard.com-www.times-standard.com
DRY WATERSHEDS:
Decades later, Taft's 'navigable waterway' disappears
By Stacey Shepard, staff writer
Yet it’s taken three years, numerous scientific studies, four government agencies and three state lawmakers to finally determine that a ship or even toy sailboat won’t sail down this wash anytime soon.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Thursday corrected a longtime mistake and declassified the creek as a navigable waterway, a term for rivers and lakes and connecting bodies of water the federal government deems to have interstate or foreign commerce value.
The repeal is expected to lift expensive environmental hurdles for developers and facilitate growth in a community that until recently was landlocked by properties owned by oil companies.
“This is excellent, not only for us but for Taft and the surrounding community,” said Bob Hampton, chairman of Westside Economic Development Co., LLC, which bought more than 1,700 acres of land in the city from ChevronTexaco in 2004.
Since purchasing the land, Westside has sold the majority to homebuilders who plan to build more than 450 homes and a golf course. But the federal designation of
City officials have long maintained that run-off into the creek causes no harm because it eventually drains into an area known to have brackish groundwater.
The effort to convince bureaucrats of the creek’s true hydrology was no easy feat.
“It would almost have been easier to navigate a commercial vessel up a dry creek than navigate this process,” Taft City Councilman Dave Noerr joked Friday.
After looking into the issue, Noerr learned that the creek had been incorrectly classified decades ago in a federal government surveying process that relied on outdated topographical maps.
He urged fellow councilmembers to instead convince state and federal officials that
Noerr enlisted the help of then-Assemblyman Kevin McCarthy, state Sen.
Then last year, the Supreme Court clarified the meaning of federal waters to exclude bodies like
The federal government’s acknowledgment that the creek no longer falls under its jurisdiction is “a big step forward,” Noerr said.
The only obstacle to development now is a similar determination by the state. State water regulators currently consider
“We'll give them 24 hours and then we'll start making our phone calls,” Noerr said. #
http://www.bakersfield.com/102/story/414576.html
####
No comments:
Post a Comment