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California must step up to save salmon, experts tell legislators

Posted by: Maven on March 11, 2009 at 8:36 pm

From the Sacramento Bee:

California has most of the laws and regulations it needs to protect dwindling salmon populations. What it lacks is money and willpower to do it, a panel of legal and fishery experts told legislators Tuesday.

Illegal water diversions, pollution, habitat degradation and a lack of basic data all threaten the state’s salmon. The situation is so grave that two-thirds of the state’s native salmon and trout species face imminent extinction threats.

One is the Central Valley fall-run chinook, which has supported the West Coast’s commercial salmon fishing for decades but last year set a historic population low. As a result, all salmon fishing in California is likely to be banned for a second straight year.

A stream of legal and environmental experts told the Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee at a special hearing Tuesday that California’s salmon are in peril largely because state government has not had the nerve or resources to help.

“There is, indeed, a salmon crisis in California,” said Holly Doremus, a UC Davis expert on state environmental laws. “We think it’s important to note that this is not new. It’s as if we’ve waited until we’ve had a heart attack to seek medical attention rather than take preventive action.”

Read more from the Sacramento Bee by clicking here.

March 11, 2009 · Filed Under Wildlife & Endangered Species

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