Posted by red on 11/20/2008, 3:23 pm
4.131.221.108
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State halts sport fish stocking
By Matt Weiser
mweiser@sacbee.com
Published: Thursday, Nov. 20, 2008
The California Department of Fish and Game has agreed to cease stocking sport fish in many of the state's waters to avoid harming native species.
Two environment groups that sued the state over its hatchery and stocking practices announced the agreement this morning. The deal is intended to protect native species while the department prepares a broader, permanent plan for reforming its fish-stocking programs.
The agreement halts stocking of hatchery-raised fish wherever 16 native fish species and nine frog species are found, and will have a potentially wide-reaching effect on sport fishing in the state. The species targeted for protection range from Central California steelhead, found in the American River, to the California golden trout, found in lakes and rivers of the southern Sierra Nevada. Protected amphibians include the California red-legged frog and mountain yellow-legged frog.
Hatchery-reared rainbow trout, bluegill and bass have been planted by the state into lakes and streams for a century to support recreational fishing. But these fish compete with native species for food and habitat, and in some cases they also prey on native fish and frogs or their young.
"Interim measures limiting stocking are needed to help save California's native fish and frogs from extinction," Noah Greenwald, biodiversity program director for the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement. "Fish and Game will still be able to stock hatchery fish, but mainly in places where they won't harm native species."
Greenwald's group and Pacific Rivers Council sued the state in Sacramento Superior Court to reform its hatchery and stocking practices. The Department of Fish and Game is preparing an environmental impact report on the program, but recently asked Judge Patrick Marlette for a one-year extension, until January 2010, to complete the study. In response, the environmental groups asked for interim measures to protect native species, resulting in the interim measures announced today.
Fish and Game officials could not be immediately reached for comment on the agreement.
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