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Commercial salmon fishermen oppose AB1253, would support bill if it named excessive pumping rather than stripers as reason for decline of delta's fisheries
April 22, 2009 -- The Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations (PCFFA), the organization representing the vast majority of California's organized commercial salmon fishermen, has written a letter to Assemblywoman Jean Fuller, the author of AB 1253 and to the Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee stating their opposition to AB 1253.
The letter, signed by W.F. "Zeke" Grader, Jr, Executive Director, highlights the fact that stripers and salmon have coexisted in the delta without harm ever since the 1870's. Grader credits the decline in the delta salmon stocks to, "the loss of fresh water inflow to the Delta and Bay disrupting the migratory pattern of downstream migrating baby salmon and causing the ecological collapse of the most important estuary on the west coast of North and South America."
Grader and PCFFA state they would support the bill if it identified upstream diversions as the cause of the delta's decline but call blaming the striped bass a "red herring", stating, "Indeed, if there were no Striped bass, salmon and other native fish to the Delta, such as Delta smelt, could still not survive the onslaught of diversions destroying the ecosystem of this estuary."
PCFFA state they are currently engaged in, "an outreach effort to farmers from throughout the state as well as other water users to sit down and tackle the issues of how to provide for the needs of the fish – and the jobs and economy they support or supported – and still meet the reasonable needs of agriculture and municipalities."
A the letter was sent to Fuller and cc'ed to the Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee.