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Commission approves fishing closure on Sacramento River section

by Dan Bacher
Fishermen, Tribal leaders and environmentalists note that the drought itself is not the reason for the collapse of winter Chinook salmon, the near extinction of Delta smelt and the collapse of American River steelhead, as agency officials often claim. They point to poor management of our reservoirs and rivers by the Bureau of Reclamation and the California Department of Water Resources during a record drought as the culprit behind record low populations of fish species that once numbered in the millions.
winter_chinook.jpg
Commission approves fishing closure on Sacramento River section

by Dan Bacher

The California Fish and Game Commission today unanimously approved a controversial emergency regulation by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) to close 5.5 miles of spawning habitat in the Sacramento River above the city of Redding to protect winter-run Chinook salmon from around April 27 to July 31.

The Commission in today's teleconference also approved "enhanced protective measures" included in the ocean sport and commercial fisheries regulations for the 2015 season that were adopted by the federal Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) this week.

“We are taking proactive measures on two fronts to protect these endangered fish both in the ocean and on their natal spawning habitat,” said CDFW Chief of Fisheries Stafford Lehr. “The fishing communities have stepped forward to support these measures and work towards long-term sustainability of the resource. None of us wanted to be in this situation, but heading into a fourth year of extreme drought calls for extreme measures.”

Lehr pointed out that 95 percent of winter run Chinook eggs and juvenile fish perished last year, due to high water temperatures on the Sacramento River.

The Department estimates that 3,015 winter Chinook have returned to the Sacramento this year. To help keep the population of winter run Chinook surviving during the drought, Lehr said the Department and federal government are tripling the population of winter Chinook smolts that they will release into the river from the Livingston Stone conservation hatchery to 660,000 fish this season.

"We're trying to develop an 'ark' for the salmon," by holding wild adults, spawning them and raising the young fish, he explained.

The emergency regulation closes all fishing on the 5.5 mile stretch of the Sacramento River from the Highway 44 Bridge where it crosses the Sacramento River upstream to Keswick Dam, according to Harry Morse of the CDFW. The area is currently closed to salmon fishing but was open to catch and release trout fishing.

DFW officials claimed the closure "will protect critical spawning habitat and eliminate any incidental stress or hooking mortality of winter-run salmon by anglers."

Charles Bucaria of the Northern California Council of Fly Fishers said he supported the closure in light of the precarious situation the winter Chinook are in. "There are no alternatives - the closure needs to take place," he stated.

Other anglers told the Commission that they opposed the closure because it unfairly targets anglers, even though they rarely hook winter Chinook when targeting trout while fly fishing on the river.

Many anglers have pointed out that massive winter Chinook mortalitytook place in 2013 and 2014, due to the virtual emptying of Shasta and other northern California reservoirs to ship water to corporate agribusiness interests, Southern California water agencies and oil companies during a record drought.

Mike Quinn of Angler West Radio told the Commissioners, "What you are proposing today will no effect on the salmon in the Sacramento River. It's a matter of not having enough salmon carcasses in the river to provide food for the winter Chinook fry."

The Commission also adopted ocean sport fishing regulations that will mirror federal regulations approved earlier this week. CDFW, in consultation with representatives of California’s sport and commercial salmon fishing industries, recommended additional "strategic protective measures" for winter-run Chinook salmon to the Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC).

The PFMC recommended federal regulations that provide for sport and commercial seasons off California designed to target more abundant stocks, including Sacramento River fall-run Chinook salmon, while minimizing contact with winter-run Chinook.

“The CDFW proposal to reduce the allowable ocean harvest rate on winter-run salmon and change the timing and location of ocean fisheries south of San Francisco was accepted by the PFMC after in-depth analysis, review and discussion,” said Marci Yaremko, CDFW’s representative to the PFMC. “The Commission concurred with these recommendations, realizing their conservation benefit to all winter-run.”

Yaremko said it is "highly unusual" for a state to propose even stricter guidelines on a listed species than required by the federal Endangered Species Act. However, CDFW scientists believe the additional protection provided in the emergency river closure and additional ocean fishing restrictions will help a significant segment of the winter-run population to avoid losses.

“Given the gravity of the current situation, the Commission recognizes the need for highly protective measures,” said Commission President Jack Baylis. “It is imperative that our fisheries are given the best protections.”

Recreational anglers "went the extra mile" to ensure that more adult fish are returned to the river this year, and put forth restrictions beyond what even the CDFW expected, according to the Coastside Fishing Club.

"Throughout this process we have been concerned about the impacts of the drought, and in particular the effects the drought is having on our salmon stocks," said Dan Wolford, President of the Coastside Fishing Club. "With the loss of the 2014 winter-run brood year it was apparent that we had to take extraordinary measures to help recover these fish.”

"But curtailing fishing opportunities this year to provide for the return of more adult spawners, will be a meaningless gesture unless the federal and state water managers take immediate and dramatic action to provide suitable spawning habitat when they return, and to enable the resulting brood year to successfully out-migrate to the ocean. We want our actions to be noted and acted on," Wolford emphasized.

Fishermen, Tribal leaders and environmentalists note that the drought itself is not the reason for the collapse of winter Chinook salmon, the near extinction of Delta smelt and the collapse of American River steelhead, as agency officials often claim. They point to poor management of our reservoirs and rivers by the Bureau of Reclamation and the California Department of Water Resources during a record drought as the culprit behind record low populations of fish species that once numbered in the millions.

The Delta smelt, an indicator species that demonstrates the health of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, reached a new record low population level in 2014, according to the CDFW's fall midwater trawl survey released in January. Department staff found a total of only eight smelt at a total of 100 sites sampled each month from September through December. (http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2015/01/09/18766643.php)

The surveys were initiated in 1967, the same year the State Water Project began exporting water from the Delta. The surveys show that population indices of Delta smelt, striped bass, longfin smelt, threadfin shad, American shad and Sacramento splittail have declined 97.80%, 99.70%, 99.98%, 97.80%, 91.90%, and 98.50%, respectively, between 1967 and 2014, according to Bill Jennings, Executive Director of the California Sportfishing Protection Allliance.

The Delta smelt surveys continue to yield dismal results in 2015. The CDFW has found only 21 fish in January, 72 in February, 6 in March and only one - yes, one - lonely Delta smelt in April.

Anglers point out that imposing more restrictions on angling and conducting captive breeding programs of winter run Chinook salmon and Delta smelt don't address the real reasons for the declines of endangered fish species - massive water exports out of the Delta, poor management of upstream reservoirs and increases in pollutants in Central Valley rivers over the past two decades.

Meanwhile, Governor Jerry Brown continues to fast track his plan to build the twin tunnels under the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. On April 13, the Center for Biological Diversity and Restore the Delta (RTD) responded to the governor’s abandonment of the pretense of “conservation” and “restoration” and move to permit a “tunnels only” Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP). (http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2015/04/15/18771135.php)

The construction of the tunnels would hasten the extinction of winter Chinook, Central Valley steelhead, Delta and longfin smelt, green sturgeon and other species, as well as imperil the salmon and steelhead populations on the Trinity and Klamath rivers.

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