The following action alert is compiled from letters from Roger Mammon, President of the California Striped Bass Association (CSBA), West Delta Chapter, and Jim Cox, President of the CSBA State Board.
Please forward to everyone you know! Urge them to send a letter to the Fish and Game Commission to stop the Coalition for a Sustainable Delta, Stewart Resnick’s Astroturf group, from succeeding in passing their striper eradication plan through the Commission.
Take Action to Save Striped Bass & Black Bass
We have just learned that letters in opposition to changing regulations on striped bass and black bass must be received by the California Fish and GameCommission by July 27, 2016. If you have been procrastinating about sending a letter, now is the time to do it if you want to save our fisheries.
The Coalition for a Sustainable Delta, an Astroturf group funded by Beverly Hills agribusiness tycoons Stewart and Lynda Resnick, is asking the Commission to increase bag limits and reduce size limits for striped bass and black bass,
The letter can be simple and to the point. Just two or three sentences to get your point across and the investment on one sheet of paper, envelope and a .47¢ stamp. How much do you have invested in your rods, reels, tackle boxes or possibly a boat? They won’t mean a thing if there is nothing to fish for.
We must also show strong opposition to the water contractors’ petition by attending the Fish and Game Commission meeting on Aug 24-25 at the Lake Natoma Inn and Conference Center, 702 Gold Lake Dr. Folsom Ca 95630.
The agenda for the meeting has not been posted yet, but will be posted soon at: http://fgc.ca.gov/meetings/2016/index.aspx
Unfortunately, the Commission will not allow a panel type presentation like they did with the lawsuit settlement hearing in 2011 and 2012. They will allow the three-minute personal testimony like before, but will not allow redundancy in the testimonies.
It has become obvious that it is imperative we flood the meeting with anglers like we did last time!
Speak up now or forever hold your peace!
Address your letter to:
California Fish and Game Commissioners
1416 Ninth Street. Suite 1320
Sacramento, CA 95814
Re: Predation
Dear Executive Director Termini, President Sklar and Game Commissioners:
I am writing to register my strong opposition to the Petition submitted by the Coalition for a Sustainable Delta. Their petition to increase bag limits and decrease size limits for striped bass and black bass due to predation of listed species could have many negative consequences for the entire SF Bay-Delta ecosystem and economy. Regulations currently in place were to protect these public trust resources from overharvest and provide fishermen and women angling opportunities.
The largest indiscriminate predator in the Delta is the export pumps that destroy millions of fish annually through direct and indirect losses. In addition, pumping operations also remove millions of acre feet of habitat and nutrients from the ecosystem. The export of habitat also reverses the flow of rivers, drawing listed species including winter-run Chinook salmon and Delta smelt, as well as other fish, to their doom.
Dr. Peter Moyle of U.C. Davis, the expert on the Delta ecosystem, recently wrote about striped bass predation and found predation of listed species is insignificant. Targeting striped bass could also have negative unintended consequences for the rest of the ecosystem. His study and article, Striped bass control: cure worse than disease? can be found at the following link: https://californiawaterblog.com/2011/01/31/striped-bass-control-the-cure-worse-than-the-disease
In addition, an Economic Analysis of Striped Bass, Steelhead, Salmon, Halibut and Sturgeon Fishing in a 31 County area of Northern California was prepared for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife by The Program for Applied Research and Evaluation at California State University, Chico, CA. The study started in 2010 and was completed in April 2013. The bottom line of this in depth analysis showed that 162,002 Bay Delta Complex Anglers contributed $470,280,821.00 in pursuit of their sport.
The Coalition litigated to remove striped bass, but the Fresno Federal Court ruled on July 21, 2010 that the peer reviewed science did not support any of the plaintiff’s contentions regarding striped bass predation impacts on salmon, steelhead and delta smelt listed under the Endangered Species Act.
A Science Panel convened by the State Water Resources Control Board in 2010 on Delta Flow Criteria arrived at the same scientific findings based on peer review scientific studies.
In 2013 an independent panel of national expert fisheries scientists was convened by the California Department of Fish & Wildlife and NOAA Fisheries to evaluate predation impacts in the estuary. They found that the removal of non-native fish is absolutely unnecessary, logistically impossible and would open a Pandora’s Box of adverse ecological effects within the estuary ecosystem.
I hope you will find that the Coalition’s petition is counterproductive and will reject their request to change regulations on these public trust resources.
Sincerely,
Your Signature
Address