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<DIV class=RTE><FONT face="Courier New">Delta Food Chain Crash Spurs United Front By Anglers <BR><BR>By Dan Bacher <BR><BR>At first review, the fish populations of California’s Central Valley and San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary, the largest estuary on the West Coast, appear to be on the road to recovery. <BR><BR>The estimated ocean abundance of Sacramento River fall chinook salmon this year is the highest ever recorded – nearly 1.7 million. Spring run and winter run salmon populations, although still a fraction of historical levels, are on a definite upswing. <BR><BR>The legal striped bass population, after plummeting after years of massive water exports to agribusiness and southern California, grew from 600,000 to over1.5 million fish between 1996 and 2001, according to the DFG. <BR><BR>And the white sturgeon population was estimated at 147,000 in 1997, while the current population
is estimated at 80,000 with a present annual legal harvest rate of 5 percent. <BR><BR>Yet amidst the positive signs among Central Valley game fish species, the Delta ecosystem is in unprecedented trouble. Over the past three years, a panel of state and federal scientists has documented an alarming decline in the Delta food chain. <BR><BR>Pat Coulston, supervising fishery biologist for California Department of Fish and Game, said Delta smelt, longfin smelt, threadfin shad and juvenile striped bass have declined to historic lows, prompting anglers and some biologists to declare a “Delta Crash.” <BR><BR>“We’ve seen an alarming reduction in the abundance of all four open water species,” said Coulston. “Longfin smelt, once the most common forage fish, have declined to their lowest ever levels. The threadfin shad, abundant until recently, have also declined dramatically. When the shad are in
the tank, you know that virtually nothing can live there.” <BR><BR>The zooplankton trends are also very disheartening. Pseudodiaptomus, a major food source for other Delta species, has virtually collapsed. <BR><BR>To date, the agencies have formed a project work team, begun a trend analysis, completed a work plan and started 2005 sampling estimates. <BR><BR>A number of factors are believed responsible for the collapse, including the impact of state and federal water diversions, introduced species and toxics. However, biologists hypothesize that the change in Delta hydrology over the past four years – where less water is pumped from the Delta in the spring and more water is pumped starting in July – could be the key factor in the collapse. <BR><BR>Anglers blame the food chain crash on the failure of the joint state-federal “CALFED” Program, designed to both restore the ecosystem and
provide California with a reliable supply of water. <BR><BR>"The CALFED Program is not working,” said John Beuttler, conservation director of the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance. “When the food web collapses, our Bay-Delta fishery will be destroyed. We need flows through the system that mimic as much as possible the estuary’s natural flow regime.” </FONT></DIV>
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<DIV class=RTE><FONT face="Courier New">California recreational fishing groups agreed during a meeting on Jun 29 to mount an unprecedented campaign to stop state and federal plans to increase water exports through the South Delta at a time when the ecosystem is in collapse. The coalition has a launched a letter writing campaign to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to stop the so-called South Delta "Improvement" Project (SDIP), a scheme to change the Delta's hydrology to pave the way for increased water export capacity. <BR><BR>The diverse coalition of angling groups includes the Anglers Committee, California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, California Striped Bass Association, California Trout, Golden West Women’s Fly Fishers, Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, Recreational Fishing Alliance, Northern California Council/Federation
of Fly Fishers and affiliated clubs, United Anglers of California and United Pier and Shore Anglers of California. The Winnememem Wintu Tribe and environmental groups, including Friends of the River, The Bay Institute, Deltakeeper and the Planning and Conservation League, and the Winnemem Wintu (McCloud River) Tribe are working with the anglers to stop increased Delta exports. <BR><BR>Please contact the governor and urge him to stop the Department of Water Resource's SDIP and any additional Delta export projects until the ecology and fisheries of the estuary are restored. You can email the Governor by going to </FONT><A href="javascript:ol('http://www.govmail.ca.gov');"><FONT color=#000099>http://www.govmail.ca.gov</FONT></A><FONT face="Courier New"> where you can fill out the email form and send it to the Governor’s office. Or you can send a letter or card to him at: Governor Arnold
Schwarzenegger, State Capitol Building, and Sacramento, CA 95814. You can also call or fax his office: Phone: 916-445-2841, Fax: 916-445-4633</FONT></DIV></DIV></DIV></div></html>