If you're into this kinda thing...bust out pen & paper!

HERE’S WHAT YOU CAN DO: 1) First off, send an online letter voicing your opposition to the F&G Commission here: www.water4fish.org Then, for maximum impact, whip up a quick letter on the computer and mail a hard copy as well to: California Fish and Game Commission, P.O. Box 944209, Sacramento, CA 94244-2090

Well, the water mongers in California are at it again! Thanks to theThe Golden Gate Salmon Associationfor a heads up on this one!

The Bureau of Reclamation, the California Department of Water Resources, the San Joaquin water contractors and others recently signed a Memorandum of Agreement which turns over most of the control of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan to the water exporters. The BDCP is a scheme to vastly increase the export of water from the Delta via a peripheral canal masquerading as a Habitat Conservation Plan. It is an end run around state and federal endangered species acts by providing water exporters with 50-year no-surprise guarantees that no additional requirements will be required, even if the project fails miserably and fisheries and water quality continue to decline.

One of the most onerous provisions would give the water contractors control of the science reports on the impact of the canal project on fisheries. They would have the right to edit and change the reports of the fishery agencies. To see the proposed sign on letter click HERE

Congressmen Miller, Thompson, Matsui, McNerney and Garamendi protested this secret deal that excluded the public. In response, USBR and DWR announced a very abbreviated 15-day public comment period ending November 16th. We are responding to that comment period.

IMPORTANT!: HERE’S WHAT YOU CAN DO:
Write a complaint letter to Secretary Salazar. For a sample, click HERE Set your letter up as an email and send it to BDO@usbr.gov

Thank you for your participation. Please respond by November 11th and forward this request to others who will also respond. . We are hopeful a strong protest will turn this situation around.

Let the Slaughter Begin!

* Raising the daily bag limit for striped bass from two to six fish.
* Raising the possession limit for striped bass from two to 12 fish.
* Lowering the minimum size for striped bass from 18 to 12 inches.
* Establishing a “hot spot” for striped bass fishing at Clifton Court Forebay and specified adjacent waterways at which the daily bag limit will be 20 fish, the possession limit will be 40 fish and there will be no size limit. Anglers fishing at the hot spot would be required to fill out a report card and deposit it in an iron ranger or similar receptacle.

* Changes to the sport fishing regulations for the Carmel, Pajaro and Salinas Rivers to allow harvest of striped bass when the fishery would otherwise be closed.

DFG is also recommending an adaptive management plan that will help assess how the new regulations influence the fishery.

YOUR VOICE NEEDS TO BE HEARD ON THIS ONE. BE SURE TO BE AT THE ONE AND ONLY PUBLIC MEETING:

The scheduled public workshop at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 8 will be held at the Rio Vista & Isleton Club, 295 South 7th Street, Rio Vista, 94571

The proposal and management plan will be presented to the Fish and Game Commission for consideration at its December meeting.

If you like striped bass fishing, put this down on your calendar: The California Department of Fish and Game will hold a public workshop in Rio Vista on Tuesday, Nov. 8 to review its proposal to change sport fishing regulations related to striped bass.

The workshop will be held at 7PM at Rio Vista City Hall (One Main Street, in Rio Vista) and will cover the DFG’s new proposed reduction in minimum size and increased bag and possession limits.

UPDATE: Due to extensive interest in the issue, the scheduled public workshop at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 8 has been moved to a larger venue. The new location is the Rio Vista & Isleton Club, 295 South 7th Street, Rio Vista, 94571.

According to DFG, the proposal is supported by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries and is intended to help recover several fish species listed under the California and Federal Endangered Species Acts.

But here’s the rub: To get us here, the DFG was sued in 2008 by the Coalition for a Sustainable Delta (a misleading name for a group, considering it is made up of a group of Kern County growers and irrigators). They sued under the federal Endangered Species Act, seeking to require the department to apply for federal permits to enforce one of the fishing regulations that limits sport harvest of striped bass.

Basically, they’re saying that striped bass are the reason the salmon runs plummeted recently. As I see it, it is a diversionary tactic that attempts to cover up the fact that massive water exports will ultimately lead to the demise of all the Delta’s fisheries.

Of course, striped bass eat juvenile salmon — they’ve been doing so since their introduction in the mid 1800′s. However, both species have flourished simultaneously for decades so it is very difficult to for me to believe that stripers are at the root of the salmon’s decline (and oh, yea, by the way: salmon numbers in the Valley have been fantastic this fall!). Furthermore, noted California fisheries expert, Dr. Peter Moyle of U.C. Davis has written that there’s no evidence that stripers are having a major impact on salmon populations and, if you do attempt to irradiate them, you may be potentially making things worse with unintended consequences. For example, a new predator may take the top spot and do even more damage.

Using the Coalition’s logic, we better remove all non-native species while we are at it: all black basses, all catfishes, all panfish and all trout besides rainbows, to name a few. This is crazy talk. Let’s show up at City Hall and let ‘em know how we feel!

I got an email Monday night with some good news! It was sent from Dave Hurley over at USA Fishing who had received the news that Assembly Bill 2336, the “anti-striper” legislation has been gutted and amended prior to Tuesday’s hearing at the Capitol. Apparently, Assembly Member Jean Fuller (R-Bakersfield) has once again underestimated the angler opposition to this bill and, just like last year when she introduced a similar one, ended up backing off at the final hour.

This is awesome, though we can’t rest yet — this battle isn’t over as there’s a lawsuit pending that would declare open season on striped bass. That’s coming around this summer. In the meantime, here’s the letter passed on to me by Dave, from John Beuttler, Conservation Director of the
California Sportfishing Protection Alliance:

I just found our from committee staff that Fuller has gutted and amended AB 2336. Below are those amendments for your review.

Committee staff believes we stopped Fuller in her tracks, but I suspect this was a planned “Bait & Switch.” We’ve collectively stopped the destruction of the fishery for now.

I will be at the Capitol early and hope to discuss this with all concerned.

Thanks for your efforts. You made a huge difference!

John

John Beuttler
Conservation Director
California Sportfishing Protection Alliance
1360 Neilson Street
Berkeley, CA 94702
510-526-4049
JBeuttler@ aol.com

AB 2336: Proposed amendments

SEC. 1. Delete existing legislative findings and intent language and replace with:

In order to protect and preserve the existing populations of native fish species that live and migrate through the San Francisco Bay and the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, it is the intent of the Legislature that the Delta Stewardship Council consider for inclusion in its final Delta Plan, in addition to measures addressing the impacts of the State Water Project and federal Central Valley Project operations, identification of effective and scientifically justified measures to reduce or eliminate the impact of other significant stressors on California’s native fish populations.

SEC. 2. Rewrite to read as follows:

85308.5. The Council, in the course of developing and adopting the Delta Plan, shall direct the Delta Independent Science Board to conduct an assessment of other stressors, in addition to State Water Project and Central Valley Project operations, on native fish species populations in the Delta, the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers and their tributaries below the rim dams, and recommend changes in law and actions by state agencies to remedy the situation in as timely a manner as possible. Other stressors evaluated shall include, but not necessarily be limited to, those identified in the Delta Vision Strategic Plan, including impacts of invasive species and non-native species, water quality impairments, and predation on native species.

The Future??

If this sounds very familiar…well…you’re right:

This bill is similar to the one the Fuller introduced last year that was defeated by a coalition of anglers who care about the fishery and that acted in concert with sportfishing and environmental groups lead by CSPA. That bill was killed in its first committee hearing because the false arguments used by the author significantly overstated the impact of striped bass predation. Scientific testimony provided during the hearing made it clear that striped bass rarely, if ever, eat Delta smelt and that predation on listed salmon is so low that it does not impact the population level of the listed salmon.

Yet, Fuller still alleges that declassifying stripers is necessary to reduce predation on federally protected salmon and Delta smelt. Funny thing is she represents the 32nd Assembly District, which includes Bakersfield, Ridgecrest, Tehachapi, Taft, Kern River Valley, and the Frazier Mountain communities…not exactly hot beds of salmon interest.

It won't be long before they gun for all the other non-natives in the Delta...bass, catfish, crappie, etc...

It further requires the Stewardship Council to evaluate predator suppression options and make recommendations to remedy these problems.

“CSPA finds it absolutely arrogant that Fuller and her bill’s supporters would advocate the destruction of this valuable public resource again! Why should they be allowed to usurp the professional management and legal authority the government has given the Department of Fish & Game and the federal fishery agencies to protect listed species? The fishery agencies and their scientists know a great deal more about the striped bass fishery and the impacts it has on species of concern. They also understand and what it means for fisheries to co-exist in a dynamic estuarine ecosystem.”

How you can help

CSPA is calling on anglers and the public to help us make another legislative stand by raising your voice in opposition to this bill. In addition to the sending a letter or FAX to the committee that will hear the bill, please remember CSPA needs your financial support to continue their efforts to protect and restore California’s fishery resources. Send what you can afford to support these efforts by using Pay Pal or send your contributions to:

CSPA
6597 Cane Lane
Valley Springs, CA 95252

Send your letters to Jared Huffman, Chairman of the Assembly Committee on Water, Parks and Wildlife (as addressed below), and be sure to copy your Assemblymember and specifically request they support your opposition to AB 2336 by letting this committee know of their opposition! The Committee Chairman is a strong supporter of the professional management of the public’s fish and wildlife resources, but we need a majority of the committee to oppose the bill.

Here’s a sample letter…be sure to put this in your own words. The Committee’s FAX number is 916-319-2126

Assemblymember Jared Huffman, Chair
Assembly Committee on Water, Parks & Wildlife
1020 N Street, Suite 160
Sacramento, CA 94249

Re: My Opposition to AB 2336 (Fuller) – Striped Bass Eradication

Chairman Huffman and Members of the Committee:

I am writing to express my complete opposition to AB 2336. I’m outraged over supporters of the bill who think they have a right to destroy the striped bass fishery owned by the public. This fishery has co-existed with all the fisheries in the Bay-Delta estuary for 130 years and it has collapsed right along with our salmon, steelhead, sturgeon and the other fish dependent on the estuary. Even in its degraded state it still manages to generate some $250 million annually to our state’s trouble economy.

The issues of striped bass predation should be left to the state and federal fishery agencies that are charged with managing the public’s fishery resources. These are the professionals and scientists who have the expertise know how best to manage our fishery resources.

It is time the Legislature sent a message that divisive bills such as this one will not be tolerated. Instead, the Legislature needs to focus on correcting the ecological crisis in the estuary that is destroying our fisheries, including the immense impacts of excessive water development and export out of the Delta.

I will greatly appreciate your efforts to help protect our priceless fishery heritage!

Sincerely,
Name
Address

Well, the International Sportsmen’s Exposition rolls into Sacramento Jan. 21-24 and, as usual, I’ll be there at the seminar stage in the California Sportsmen Theater.

This time around, I’ll be yakking about how to catch Delta stripers the fun way — gill nets. Kidding, of course! Actually, I’ll cover what you need to know about casting lures like topwater, swimbaits and jigs. For the first time ever, I’ve only got one appearance at this show — Sat., Jan. 23 at 3PM, so come by and check it out. And oh, by the way…I already checked…the NFL championship games are both on Sunday, so no conflict there!

You asked for it and now you’ve got it! Our new fishing report section that so many of you have been clamoring for is up and running!

We’re starting with Northern California and will steadily add new waters in this state and others in the upcoming weeks. These babies are like Fishing Reports on steroids — in addition to a run-down of what’s happening from a fishing standpoint, each report will feature photos of the area, a map, current weather, water conditions, photographic list of species available, plus trusted guides, lodging and tackle shops in the area.

You can find the new report section in the menu bar:

Or, click HERE