[Water_news] 3. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS: WATERSHEDS - 5/12/09

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment

 

May 12, 2009

 

3. Watersheds –

 

S.F. Bay herring population looks in trouble

The Sacramento Bee

 

Caples Lake to be restocked by Memorial Day weekend

The Sacramento Bee

 

 

S.F. Bay herring population looks in trouble

The Sacramento Bee – 5/12/09

By Matt Weiser

Another fish caught commercially in California appears to be in trouble, potentially dealing a fresh blow to the ailing industry.

 

The herring population in San Francisco Bay is near a historic low, marking a third straight year of poor numbers for the species, one of the last commercial fisheries on the bay.

 

The California Fish and Game Commission this week will get a report on the herring outlook when it meets in Sacramento and later this year will consider whether to close or curtail the commercial catch.

 

"The situation isn't very optimistic for herring at the moment," said Tom Barnes, a marine region program manager at the state Department of Fish and Game who monitors herring. "We don't know a whole lot about the cause."

 

The poor herring outlook comes only one month after state and federal fishery managers closed commercial salmon fishing in both California and Oregon for the second year in a row. The closure was triggered by low numbers in the Central Valley fall-run chinook population, which spawns in the Sacramento River and its tributaries.

 

Federal researchers blamed the record-low salmon numbers on poor ocean conditions. This also may have affected herring, which spend most of their lives in the ocean, then return to the bay to spawn.

 

Herring numbers are known to fluctuate and usually drop during droughts.

 

But the population estimate produced after the most recent fishing season, which ran from December through March, is the lowest in 30 years. And the fishery has not seen a three-year slump this bad since the statewide drought in the 1970s.

 

Several years ago, the state decreed that fishermen could harvest no more than 10 percent of the herring population in a season. It was a means to ensure a sustainable catch.

 

Barnes said the herring season has never been closed before. But that's one option that will be presented to the commission later this year, along with continuing the 10 percent harvest and several options in between.

 

Ernie Koepf, a bay herring fisherman for 32 years, said the state should maintain the 10 percent harvest level.

 

Koepf said the bay's herring catch is sold mostly in Japan, where it demands a higher price than in the United States.

 

One reason to maintain that level, he said, is that the number of herring boats working the bay continues to decline, partly because it requires specialized gear. About 30 boats worked the season that just ended. Also, he said, the herring catch usually falls well below the 10 percent quota.

 

One factor that may be at work this year is lingering effects of the Cosco Busan oil spill in 2007. The cargo ship struck a Bay Bridge abutment in heavy fog and spilled 53,000 gallons of fuel oil.

 

Studies revealed that herring eggs collected in the spill area showed abnormalities that could lead to death, while those outside the spill area did not.

 

A more complete analysis of the spill's environmental consequences is expected this fall. #

 

http://www.sacbee.com/378/story/1853192.html?mi_rss=Environment

 

Caples Lake to be restocked by Memorial Day weekend

The Sacramento Bee – 5/12/09

By Cathy Locke

 

An Alpine County lake that was lowered last year for dam repairs will be restocked with fish before the Memorial Day weekend.

 

The El Dorado Irrigation District board approved an agreement Monday that will allow the state Department of Fish and Game to deliver fish from state hatcheries to Caples Lake within the next two weeks.

 

The district's efforts to restock the lake were complicated when the parasite known to cause whirling disease was detected at the commercial hatchery in Susanville that was to supply the majority of fish.

 

The disease, named for the rapid tail-chasing behavior it causes in some species of trout, poses no threat to humans, district officials said, but it could threaten wild fish populations.

 

The Department of Fish and Game will stock Caples Lake with fish from state hatcheries.

 

In exchange, the hatchery where the parasite was detected will stock fish originally intended for Caples Lake in waters approved by Fish and Game, where whirling disease already exists.

 

In addition, 9,000 pounds of trophy fish from a Nebraska hatchery will be delivered to the lake in June.#

 

http://www.sacbee.com/ourregion/story/1853430.html?mi_rss=Our%2520Region

 

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