Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
February 10, 2009
3. Watersheds –
Calif
ABC 7
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Calif
The Associated Press – 2/10/09
By Tracie Cone
"One of the greatest challenges to human health, to our environment and to our food supply comes from invasive species," said A.G. Kawamura, secretary of the state Department of Food and Agriculture. "As our borders open up to more international trade, we have to be on top alert."
At the World Ag Expo in
Mike Chrisman of the Natural Resources Agency, Linda Adams of the state Environmental Protection Agency, Kim Belshe of the state Health and Human Services Agency and Matt Bettenhausen of the California Emergency Management Agency.
Nonnative bugs and plants cause at least $138 billion in losses nationwide each year to agriculture, power and water delivery systems and forests, according to a 1999
The council aims to streamline duplicated efforts. For instance, CDFA, which inspects border crossings for pests on fruits and vegetables, also could check boats for Quaggas, a task currently performed by the California Department of Fish & Game.
"This is about most efficiently using our resources," said Kawamura, who will head the effort.
Officials are most worried about the potential economic impact that would occur if the psyllid and Quagga are carried to other parts of the state.
The psyllid can transmit the citrus greening disease, which has killed tens of thousands of acres of trees in
The Zebra mussel, a relative of the Quagga that plagues the
Mussels are transported on boat hulls and in ballasts, often by recreational users unaware of the danger the fingernail-sized mollusks. In November, officials began mandatory inspections of boats launching into
"If the Quagga gets into the Central Valley Water Project," CDFA spokesman Mike Jarvis said of the federal water delivery system, "you can kiss the transport of water goodbye."
The council will collaborate with scientists, environmental groups, landowners and industries harmed by invasive species. The goal is a "rapid response plan" to focus attention from all the agencies on the most urgent species poised to cause the greatest economic, public health or environmental hardship.
"I think back to the olive fruit fly and how we had a chance to eradicate it two decades ago, but we walked away," Kawamura said, referring to the pest that now exists in 41 counties. "These are the kinds of challenges we are going to face more and more."
Funding will come from pest eradication already in agency budgets and, Kawamura hopes, from the federal Farm Bill, which included measures to fight invasive species.
Other threats the council will be studying include: the Glassy-Winged Sharpshooter, which transmits the fatal Pierce's Disease to grape vines; the Asian gypsy moth and longhorneed beetle, which threaten hardwood forests; animal diseases such as exotic Newcastle and avian influenza, deadly to birds; Yellow Star Thistle, which kills horses and has choked 10 million acres of pastureland; and exotic fish infestations of lakes, streams and waterways.#
http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_11672383?nclick_check=1
You're not likely to see Coho salmon in
The tubs may be the Coho salmon's last hope. A captive breeding program at the Warm Springs Hatchery is trying to pull the fish from the verge of extinction.
"We decided that we had to intervene before the last wild fish disappears," said Manfred Kittle from California Fish & Game Department.
A breeding program was established in 2001 to bring the Coho salmon back to the
"So what we do, is catch wild fingerlings, bring them into the hatchery, we grow them to adulthood - we spawn them and the offspring are released back into the same stream where the parents came from," said Kittle.
"Some of those offspring will be kept at the hatchery and thus become captive breed stock and will be used for future spawning efforts," said biologist Ben White.
White heads up the salmon breeding program for the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission.
"In the wild they choose when to spawn, who to spawn with, and where to spawn, here in captivity it all falls on us," said White.
Each fish is fitted with a tag so it can be identified by scanning. This is a hands on job. Every week, biologists check the fish to see if they are ready to breed. Females are given a firmness rating between one and five.
"One being the tightest and the firmest, and essentially the farthest away from spawning and five -- a five being really soft, I call it like jelly soft meaning that she's ready to go, probably within a week," said White.
Their color will also change when they are ready to spawn.
"Prior to spawning, this whole belly of the fish will be dark almost a really dark grey," said White.
An ultra sound determines whether the female's eggs are mature. Numbers are attached to fish to make them easier to identify. Each salmon is carefully cataloged in order to maintain the greatest genetic diversity.
When they are ready these salmon are transported to holding tanks for a couple days until they are ready to breed.
When they are ready, biologists carefully choose the males, and check to make sure they're viable mates. When the eggs are ready, they are extracted from the females.
"So I get the eggs out of her by just applying pressure on her ventral surface," said White.
Each female salmon can only lay eggs once, and dies after she spawns. So biologists are very careful to make sure they collect every single egg.
"I would say the average is between one and three thousand eggs," said White.
Detailed records are taken on each fish. Each female's eggs are separated and fertilized by four different males to ensure genetic diversity. They are sorted into trays where they incubate until they hatch.
When the fish are old enough, they will be released back into the wild. But their odds of returning to breed are not good. About 6,000 juveniles were released in 2004, and only a handful returned.
"Every year though you can count the number on one hand - so it's been few and far between so far, but every year we expect more and more to come back, said White.
And with each little fish that returns the co-ho salmon get one more chance to keep their species alive.
If drought conditions improve, the Department of Fish and Game hopes to release 60,000 to 90,000 Coho salmon this year.
But only one percent of them are expected to eventually return and spawn. #
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/assignment_7&id=6649394
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