April 2004 Conservation Notes
by
The Steelhead Relisting Controversy Redux
A Reply From the CA Department of Fish and Game
Last month we printed a letter from Steve Walser, Executive Director of the California Rivers Restoration Fund (CRRF), regarding the potential relisting of California's Central Valley Steelhead as an endangered species. This letter was posted to both Dan Blanton's Website and the Northern California Fly Fishing Web Board (NCFFB). Because of its alarmist tone, it stimulated an enormous amount of discussion on both venues.
The essence of the controversy was that the CRRF was (ironically) fighting the relisting on the grounds that it had the potential to close all Central Valley rivers to sport fishing, and hamper the ability of the CA DFG to do scientific studies. Many discussants in the ensuing cyber-melee pointed out that having one endangered species in a waterway does not necessarily mean all fishing is banned. You might ponder this while fishing for rainbows in the lower Sacramento as the endangered winter run Chinook salmon migrate past your legs on their way to Redding. Dennis McEwan, a steelhead biologist at the California DFG posted a response to the CRRF letter which addresses many of the issues raised by Walser. You can read Dennis' full letter at the NCFFB or at Dan Blanton's website.
Dam Release Ramping and Aquatic Insect Survival
Two ecologist under contract with PG&E reported the results of a study examining ramped water releases on the aquatic life in the North Fork of the Feather River. The purpose of the extra weekend water was to benefit Feather River kayakers and river rafters, but anglers have charged that these artificial changes in flows are destructive to river habitat and the aquatic biology.
The ecologists' main finding was that over the course of the summer of 2002, the number and variety of aquatic insects collected in river traps declined significantly, an outcome opposite to the normal pattern observed in rivers without highly fluctuating flows. More details can be found in the article published by the Chico Enterprise Record.
Hundred Year Old Embrey Dam Removed
As evidence that conservation issues are not always gloom and doom, we close the conservation notes this month with a bit of good news -- particularly if you're an American Shad or a shad angler. The hundred-year-old Embrey Dam on the Rappahannock River in Virginia was explosively removed on February 23, reopening 106 miles of upstream spawning habitat to native shad runs. Full details, including an amazingly cool video of the dam coming down, are available at the Virginia Dept. of Game and Inland Fisheries website dedicated to the history of the dam and the environmental effects of the removal. (Video requires Quicktime 6.0 to view.)
Tight Lines!
Rodney