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Committee thank you letters included at end of article

 

 

CSPA backs amended AB 1253, believes review will reveal additional protections necessary at pumps for salvage operations and additional mitigation for fish losses

 

April 30, 2009 -- When the crowds of anglers descended on the state capitol on April 28th, CSPA's John Beuttler was at the forefront in opposing AB 1253 (Fuller) the, "Striper Extermination" bill. However, when Jared Huffman, the committee chair, convened the Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee meeting, he announced major revisions to the bill.

 

All mention of stripers had been removed. In fact, not a single paragraph or sentence of the previously proposed bill remained. Instead, the bill called for review of the scientific literature regarding predation by non-native species of native species and suggested that further research be done if so indicated by the review.

 

Assembly member Perez asked that the bill be amended to remove the non-native term and replace it with simply, "predation" suggesting that the topic of predation be investigated generally.

 

Since much research had already been completed on the topic and none of the research pointed to population altering predation as a problem in the delta, CSPA and the other fishery advocates as well as private anglers spoke against passage of the bill, even as amended.

 

However, the committee, with the exception of Assembly member Yamada of Rio Vista/Vacaville, voted to give the legislation a "do pass" in what appeared to be a face saving move for Assembly woman Fuller.

 

Upon further review however, with the emotion of the event past, study of the bill as amended reveals some portions of the bill that CSPA  believes necessary and has advocated for in the past with only limited success. In addition to the predation studies review, the bill in its current form also states that, "the review shall also include a review of fish salvage methods and other mitigation protocols at state and federal pumping facilities and recommendations for changes in methodologies to improve survival."

 

The abominable record of the salvage operations at the pumps, inadequate screening and millions of eggs, larva and juvenile fishes killed by the pumps annually is documented by numerous studies and desperately needs to be addressed if the delta is ever going to have any chance of recovery. In addition, the insufficient mitigation paid for the damage to the delta's fisheries by the pumping process has never been fully addressed as proven by the continued collapse of the delta's fisheries as chronicled in the Pelagic Organism Decline studies.

 

CSPA believes once these studies and reports are properly reviewed by the same type of independent panel that the predation issue calls for, the truth will be revealed and show that the protections and salvage operations at the pumps are dismally inadequate and the mitigation totally insufficient.

 

CSPA hopes that Assembly woman Fuller, as author of AB 1253, will, once these problems are exposed, champion these issues with a bill to correct these injustices done to the fisheries of the delta and to their owners, the citizens of California.

 

AB 1253 (Fuller) as amended, 4-28-09

 

A thank you letter to the committee members of the Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee

 

The Honorable ________________

 

Dear Assembly member ________________

 

As one of California's anglers I would like to thank you, as a member of the Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee for your service to the citizens, wildlife and environment of California.

 

On April 28th, you reviewed AB 1253 (Fuller) as amended and gave that legislation a "do pass" recommendation. As the committee chair, the Honorable Jared Huffman stated, the original legislation proposed was divisive, pitching fishermen against farmers and would have done nothing to solve California's water problems while at the same time needlessly polarizing two vital and vibrant constituencies.

 

As stated in the testimony by the experts at the hearing, numerous studies have already been conducted and show no population level effects caused by predation. There is no doubt that the review of the current studies will put to rest once and for all the idea that the decline of the delta's fisheries is due to predation of one species by another. Once done we can all move on to address the real problems that are killing our once prolific estuary including the problems of fish mortality and salvage operation at the "pumps."


The inadequate salvage operations and the current insufficient levels of mitigation as compensation for the harm done to the delta's fisheries is well known. Numerous agency studies of pump and salvage losses and potential modification of the salvage process sit on shelves collecting dust. A review of these studies and the implementation of the recommendations that come from them are long overdue. The disastrous collapse of the delta's fisheries as chronicled by the Department of Fish and Game's Pelagic Organism Decline studies demands that this issue is addressed. This bill will support that position.

 

Again, thank you for your service and foresight in moving this important piece of legislation forward.

 

Sincerely,

 

Name

ADDRESS (Important)

 

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