Angler Coordinating Volunteer Fish Rescue Force Will Visit Prospect Island Tomorrow

Angler Coordinating Volunteer Fish Rescue Force Will Visit Prospect Island Tomorrow

by Dan Bacher

Bob McDaris, owner of Cliff's Marina, and I are planning to visit the California Delta's Prospect Island at 1:00 p.m. tomorrow (Nov. 28) to see if we can find any remaining live fish that can be rescued by volunteers.

Thousands of fish, including striped bass, sturgeon, carp, catfish, bluegill, king salmon, steelhead and other species, have perished on the island over the past week. Delta smelt, listed as threatened under the state and federal endangered species acts, may also be victims of the huge fish kill.

If we find live fish still remaining on the island, the Bureau of Reclamation will grant Bob and a force of volunteers permission to enter the island this Sunday, December 2, 2007 for a fish rescue effort.

"We have cleared this with DFG," said Jeff McCracken, Bureau of Reclamation spokesman. "They will have personnel there to help coordinate with the volunteers."

Each volunteer will have to sign a waiver form that grants access to federal property.

I will update you as to whether or not we find live fish remaining on the drained island tomorrow. After all of the confusion of the past week, Bob did not want to have a big group of people to go out to the island, only to find out that there were no fish left alive to rescue.

Meanwhile, the Bureau of Reclamation and California DFG are continuing to remove thousands of dead fish from the island and aerate the water to save any remaining live fish. State and federal officials also said Monday they are investigating the big fish kill that occurred after the company contracted by the Bureau of Reclamation drained the water around the 1,253-acre island, located in the northern section of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, during a levee repair.

For more information, call Bob McDaris, owner of Cliff's Marina in Freeport, cell 916-769-8047 or office 916-665-1611.