Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
April 22, 2009
3. Watersheds –
Recreational salmon fishing curtailed
Sacramento
Salmon season slashed to six weeks
Marysville Appeal Democrat
Suit keeps state out of trout business
Stockton
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Recreational salmon fishing curtailed
Sacramento
By Matt Weiser
The Central Valley will again experience a curtailed recreational salmon fishing season this year, the result of a historically low population of fall-run Chinook.
The California Fish and Game Commission today ruled that fishing will be allowed only on the Sacramento River between Knights Landing and the Lower Red Bluff Boat Ramp, and only between Nov. 16 and Dec. 31. Anglers may keep only one salmon per day and possess only one at any time.
All other areas of the
The commission also affirmed a closure of commercial salmon fishing in all ocean waters off the
The
Salmon season slashed to six weeks
Marysville Appeal Democrat – 4/22/09
Mid-Valley anglers will have less time than ever to hook salmon this fall.
The state Fish and Game Commission on Tuesday voted to shorten the Sacramento River system's angling season to just six weeks, the shortest ever for what once was the West Coast's second-largest fall salmon run.
Anglers will be allowed to take chinook only between Nov. 16 and Dec. 31, and will be limited to one fish per day. Only the
A chronic decline of the fish population in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta led to the decision, which trimmed the salmon season from last year's two-month period. The vote followed federal regulators' decision April 8 to ban commercial ocean fishing for chinook, also called king salmon, in California and most of Oregon for the second consecutive year. (Recreational fishing remains legal north of
Angling seasons in the delta previously had opened as early as mid-June.
State and federal officials estimate that more than 122,000 salmon will make the migration from the Pacific Ocean up to their spawning grounds in the
Federal scientists have blamed the collapse on factors including climate conditions that slashed ocean food supplies, as well as an over-reliance on hatchery-bred salmon that may lack the genetic diversity to cope with environmental changes. Anglers also have pointed a finger at heavy pumping of water from the delta into
http://www.appeal-democrat.com/news/salmon_76724___article.html/delta_year.html
Suit keeps state out of trout business
By
Record columnist
Many Sierra streams and lakes open Saturday for the start of trout fishing season. Anglers, however, will have to research which high-elevation waters will be stocked with rainbows, browns and brook trout, and which will not be planted by the Department of Fish and Game because of a lawsuit.
What normally would be a delight for anglers and families who traditionally pursue trout on opening day has become a confusing bureaucratic and litigious debacle. People simply don't know where trout will be stocked and which waters will be left fishless.
For example,
"We basically shut down planting trout in rivers and lakes because of the lawsuit," said Don Ward, manager of the American River Hatchery in
By contrast, the eastern Sierra, which includes Mono and Inyo counties, will receive full trout allotments from Fish and Game's Bishop headquarters. Lakes and streams in the central Sierra from Tuolumne to Kern county, will be stocked by the
Fish and Game information officer Harry Morse confirmed many waters normally stocked by the DFG will not be planted this year because of a court order limiting the agency where it can stock hatchery-reared trout. The court order resulted from a lawsuit filed by the Center for Biological Diversity and Pacific Rivers Council against the DFG. The court ordered DFG to complete an Environmental Impact Report that examines the impacts the stocking program has on a list of 25 amphibian and fish species presented by the plaintiffs before any hatchery trout can be released.
Morse said DFG is on schedule to complete the EIR by January 2010, so trout stocking in many favorite waters will be eliminated this season, even roadside places for kids to fish such as Murphys Creek,
Alpine County has taken fish planting into its own hands. The chamber of commerce and Alpine County Fish and Game Commission are not under the jurisdiction of the lawsuit and will plant trout they purchased from a private hatchery in hopes of sustaining the local economy.
"We'll have maximum trout in the water for opening day," said Dave Kirby at Woodfords Station on Highway 88. "Our private stocking program will insure that 9,000 pounds of rainbows will greet anglers who try their luck in the
Kirby said Indian Creek Reservoir was planted Monday, though other impoundments such as Caples, Red and Silver lakes will not be stocked by either the county or DFG.
Indian Creek Reservoir is a good bet for float tube fly fishers who drag wooly buggers. The reservoir is low and rising slowly.
The road to
Jim Reid at Ken's Sporting Goods in
"We've been very lucky," Reid said. "The lawsuit didn't single out any
DFG has stocked rainbows and browns into Bridgeport Reservoir, Upper and
"We've had light snow this year so roads to lakes and streams are open," Reid said. "Everything is fishable, and the runoff is light, even in the
Reid said Bridgeport Reservoir is low but boaters can launch at Falling Rock Marina or at the public access known as "bath tub" at the base of the dam. DFG released rainbows and the Bridgeport Fish Enhancement group privately planted browns in late fall, after fishing season closed. Those fish will average 21/2 to 3 pounds for the opener.#
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090422/A_SPORTS03/904220339
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