California Sportfishing
Protection Alliance
1360
Neilson Street / Berkeley / CA 94702 / 510.526.4049 / calsport.org
“Conserving California’s Fisheries & Their Habitat”
CSPA Media Release - For
Release August 10, 2008
For
Information contact:
John
Beuttler: 510-526-4049
Jim Crenshaw: 530-661-0997
Bill
Jennings: 209-464-5067
State
Senate Decision Could Begin the Restoration of Delta Salmon and Other
Fisheries!
Sometime in the next week to ten days, AB 1806, the
Delta restoration and mitigation bill, will encounter its last hurdle when it
is heard on the floor of the State Senate. The bill has already cleared the
Assembly, and if passed by the Senate, will go to the Governor’s desk for his
signature.
Sponsored by Chair of the Assembly Water, Parks and
Wildlife Committee, Lois Wolk, the bill arose out of the hearing held on the
massive Prospect Island Fish Kill near Rio Vista in December 2007 that
needlessly destroyed tens of thousands fish.
Anglers testifying at the hearing requested improved
oversight of such projects including requiring “fish rescue plans” to prevent
future fish kills. In addition, the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance
President Jim Crenshaw testified that federal Bureau of Reclamation (BOR), who
had conducted the project, had not stepped up to mitigate for the horrendous
fish kill! He noted a great deal of fish killed by the operations of the State
and Federal water projects were blatantly not mitigated and have significantly
damaged the salmon, striped bass, Delta smelt, and other fish populations of
the Bay-Delta estuary.
|
In November
of 2007, thousands and |
Assemblywoman Wolk stated, “Numerous
fish populations in the Delta are crashing or in precipitous decline. Millions
of salmon and other species continue to die annually as a result of both the
direct and indirect impacts of the state and federal water project pumps,
despite the numerous efforts over the years to restore habitat for fish. This
legislation requires the state and federal projects that pump water out of the
Delta to mitigate for these losses, which have huge negative impacts on our
state's fisheries, and the commercial and sport fishing industries that
contribute billions of dollars to our economy.”
In testimony before the Assembly and Senate, CSPA’s
Conservation Director John Beuttler, noted, “CSPA has repeatedly urged our
government to correct the impacts caused by the water projects over the past
fifty years. The direct and indirect impacts caused by the project operations
have only been partially mitigated, at best, and this is one of the principal
causes for the declines of our Central Valley fisheries.
There is no way to begin to effectively recover and
restore our once world class fisheries, including some two-thirds of all the
state’s salmon, unless this fundamental problem is fixed. Many millions of fish are lost each year.
Add this up over the some sixty years that the projects have been on line, and
you have a major reason for the fishery disaster. We now are forced to resolve
these impacts, or see our fisheries continue their head long collapse into
extinction!”
While Central Valley salmon populations are in a state
of collapse, four Delta pelagic (open water) fish species - delta smelt,
longfin smelt, striped bass and threadfin shad - have declined to their lowest
recorded population levels. These fish would also benefit from the passage of
AB 1806.
In addition to the fish rescue plans, the bill
requires something that is long overdue, requiring the water districts that
benefit from the massive export of water from the Delta to finally pay the full
costs of mitigating their impact.
AB 1806 would require an evaluation of current level
of mitigation performed by both projects. The bill establishes the State Water
Resources Control Board to work with state and federal fishery agencies to evaluate
the current mitigation in light of all the project impacts, acknowledge all
appropriate mitigation, and to establish additional mitigation requirements to
offset all of the project’s fishery impacts.
According to Beuttler, “Such a transparent, public
process is critical to ensure appropriate mitigation obligations instead of the
past deals behind closed doors between agencies that failed to properly protect
the public’s fisheries.”
Beuttler also noted, “CSPA and the other fishing and
environmental groups working to pass this legislation are urging all anglers
and concerned citizens to contact their State Senator and request support for
passing this bill. Hundreds of letter from our grassroots have helped persuade
the Legislature to pass this critical legislation to begin the process of
restoring our fisheries. If anglers and the public want to see this bill pass,
it is absolutely critical that they tell the people who represent them in the
State Senate now!”
The legislation is supported by the California
Sportfishing Protection Alliance, the Northern California Council of the
Federation of Fly Fishers, the California Striped Bass Association, the
Recreational Fishing Alliance, the Allied Fishing Groups, and the American
Sportfishing Assoc., the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Assoc., many
regional fishing organizations, the Planning and Conservation League, the
National Resources Defense Council and other environmental groups.
For information on how to public can contact their
State Senators and on other fishery conservation efforts, please log onto
CSPA’s website at www.calsport.org
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