Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
August 26, 2008
5. Agencies, Programs, People –
State officials planning to harvest ocean's fishing litter
300 pounds of discards snared near 3 county piers
Local water leaders get look at DeltaVision
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State officials planning to harvest ocean's fishing litter
300 pounds of discards snared near 3 county piers
By Michael Gardner
In this case, the catch is tons of fishing equipment lost or discarded in the ocean every season, posing serious danger to marine life.
“I know what we have out there. I cannot dive without seeing abandoned gear. It's everywhere,” said Richard Rogers, president of the California Fish and Game Commission.
The fishing lines, hooks, nets, crab pots and lobster traps are blamed for killing or maiming whales, dolphins, otters, pelicans and other wildlife.
Limited pilot programs in the last few years netted 11 tons of fishing equipment from around the Channel Islands and a combined 300 pounds off the
Those numbers convinced the state that more aggressive action is needed, starting with a $400,000 collection program off the coast from Point Conception near Santa Barbara to Pigeon Point south of Half Moon Bay.
State officials hope to broaden the recovery program to take in the entire coast, target more piers and move inland to retrieve equipment from recreational fishing lakes.
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In a demonstration of the danger posed by the gear, officials this month were forced to temporarily ban fishing from piers in the Capitola area when 90 endangered brown pelicans suffered injuries after becoming entangled in fishing lines while feasting on anchovies.
The Wildlife Conservation Board, a project-financing arm of the state Department of Fish and Game, is set to award funding for the fishing gear retrieval program today. If approved as expected, it will mark the first time in at least a half-century that the board has extended its reach into ocean waters, said Dave Means, assistant executive director of the board.
“We're just dipping our toes in,” Means said.
The SeaDoc Society, which is affiliated with the
The SeaDoc Society conducted a smaller project off the
Commercial gear is not the only threat. Over those two years, SeaDoc divers salvaged 1,400 pounds of recreational fishing equipment, including more than 1 million feet of line off 15 public piers statewide. At
“It's like a jungle of fishing line around those piers,” Means said.
To encourage proper disposal, the SeaDoc Society is planning to install recycling bins on selected wharves so anglers have a convenient place to discard tangled line.
The dangers posed by lost or dumped equipment are well-documented, according to Kirsten Gilardi, executive director of the SeaDoc Society and a UC Davis veterinarian.
On average, she said, one in 10 of the pelicans and shorebirds brought into wildlife rehabilitation centers are treated after becoming entangled in lines, swallowing hooks or otherwise being injured by fishing gear. Last year, there were several confirmed cases of humpback and gray whales tangled in lines or nets.
From 2001 to 2006, more than 250 endangered brown pelicans were admitted to San Diego-area rehabilitation centers with fishing gear-related injuries, Gilardi said.
In her annual report and in an interview, Gilardi detailed the threats.
“Abandoned nets drown marine mammals. Hundreds of coastal birds suffer injury when they become entangled in fishing line or when they ingest hooks,” she said in the report. “Marine mammals, including the federally threatened southern sea otter, (are injured or killed) with wounds from entanglement, or with obstructed or perforated intestines from swallowed hooks and line.”
Additionally, many abandoned lobster traps contain bait, luring animals to their deaths, she said.
Wildlife species are not the only victims; boaters, surfers and anglers are also at risk, Gilardi said.
“Boaters catch ropes attached to lost traps and pots or discarded monofilament line around their propellers; surfers are injured running into lost gear underwater that 'reefs' up in breaking waves. As well, lost gear clutters legal fishing grounds, affecting fishermen's ability to safely and efficiently deploy their own gear, and in some cases damaging their nets,” she said.
After using divers at depths to 105 feet, SeaDoc is looking to deploy remote-operated vehicles in deep waters, Gilardi said. The specially designed craft would be outfitted with cutting instruments to remove lines and nets from the seabed.
Rogers, the fish and game commissioner, said abandoned traps, lines and hooks in ocean waters or on the seabed remain a long-term threat until they become encrusted.
“Until then,” he said, “the gear will continue fishing and the fish will continue to die needlessly.” #
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20080826/news_1n26fishgear.html
Local water leaders get look at DeltaVision
By HEATHER HACKING - Staff Writer
One of the four main themes of the plan presented Monday is the
Local speakers said clearly they view the
Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force members were chosen by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger 18 months ago and are on the third draft of a plan to make some tough decisions about how water flows.
About 30 local residents and local water leaders attended a public meeting at the
The conclusion of Delta Vision is the status quo is not sustainable, and the water delivery system and the environment are in need of dramatic repair.
Add in issues beyond government's control, such as global warming, earthquakes and population increases, and things look even more precarious.
The key themes of the plan, as highlighted Monday, include adopting a strategy that will take into consideration diverse species, widespread water use efficiency, and a new state water government agency.
Factors on the table include creation of a waterway that bypasses the delta, a finance plan that includes water-user fees and other "effective and transparent financing tools" and stricter water-use compliance laws.
Other issues, no less significant, include increasing regional self-sufficiency, more surface and groundwater storage, improved predictability of water delivery and better water quality.
Meanwhile, water leaders in Northern California have been working on regional water planning, most locally with the Four County Memorandum of Understanding signed by
On Aug. 19, the Butte County Board of Supervisors approved four pages of comments on the Delta Vision plan. These were presented by county water chief Paul Gosselin at Monday's meeting.
While many parts of the overall concept were deemed positive, the supervisors said parts of the plan propose a "direct assault on area of origin water rights," and could supersede local government control.
One main area of disapproval by the county is statements in the Delta Vision that "the water required to support and revitalize the delta would not be purchased but will be provided within California's system of water rights and constitutional principles of reasonable use and public trust" — in essence, the Public Trust Doctrine.
In their comments to the state, the supervisors wrote "this approach not only ignores area of origin water rights, but does so without making any provisions for regional representation in the proposed governance structures."
The letter also calls for more cooperation with Northern California, recognition of current water rights and assurances that more water to the delta won't mean less water in
While on those subjects, the letter from the county states that
Public comments were taken after the presentation.
Ernie Ohlin, of the Tehama County Flood Control and Water Conservation District, said he and other
The Delta Vision is "the opposite," he said. "This is top down."
"We want to manage water and provide help where we can" Ohlin said, but
Other comments were similar, including highlighting the way
Linda Cole, who has been highly involved with local water issues, summed up many of the thoughts in the room.
"It's not that we don't want to be part of the solution. We just don't want to be the sacrifice," Cole said. #
http://www.chicoer.com/news/ci_10305121
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