Posted by red on 4/5/2009, 4:20 pm
4.131.221.28
4-5-09 To: Allied Fishing Groups
Fr: Striper Mike McKenzie, Gary Adams & John Ryzanych
Re: Assembly Bill 1253 (Fuller) Hearing 4-28-09 Due to his ill health, Mike McKenzie asked me to sent this URGENT email to you regarding a bill that, if it becomes law, will destroy all of the striped bass fisheries in the state. AB 1253 (Fuller) is a blatant political power play by some of the agricultural growers / corporations in the Central Valley who have made millions using public water from the Delta. They want more water. The want it now! As a result of the recent court decisions that overturned the politically altered Biological Opinions for ESA listed Central Valley salmon and Delta smelt, these growers are now trying to destroy public fishery resources that they think are in their way. They want the legislature to remove sportfishing status from what was not so long ago the premier sportfishery of the Bay-Delta estuary. AB 1253 would stop the DFG from managing the fishery, stop the Fish and Game Commission from adopting size and bag limits and allow the fishery to be raped and plundered. They argue that because it’s a not a “native” fishery it should be eradicated. The other sixty or so nonnative sport fisheries that were intentionally introduced into our state’s waters are not on their hit list yet, but if they get rid of the stripers, then surely the large and smallmouth bass fishery of the Delta and Central Valley rivers tributary to the estuary will be next.
These are the same folks who decided not to take their issues to the California Fish and Game Commission regarding their allegations that the striped bass fishery is destroying significant numbers of Delta smelt and salmon listed under the ESA. They knew they didn’t have a scientific leg to stand on as the most respected fishery scientists in the state including Dr. Peter Moyle have reviewed the all the published data and are on record stating that the fishery does not have a significant impact on the salmon, smelt, or steelhead of the estuary and its tributaries. They decided to file litigation last year to destroy the fishery, but that is still in progress as it wasn’t quite the slam dunk they predicted. So they had Assembly Member Fuller carry this bill that will be up for hearing on April 27th. The Allied Fishing Groups need to take another collective stand and tell the legislature that all the science and the state’s leading scientific fishery experts do not support the contentions of this politically powerful industry. Attached you will find a copy of the letter the AFG will send to set the record straight and to show the legislature that angling groups are united in their efforts to save and restore all of the fisheries of the estuary. Because of time constraints, PLEASE LET US KNOW NO LATER THAN THE 16TH OF APRIL IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO SIGN ON. Because of our very limited volunteer resources and the short response time, this is the only way we can fight this demented legislation. Please respond right away if you do not want to be a part of this letter. We’ll miss your support, but we will also understand. Contact: Mike McKenzie at:
209 -772 - 9398
Stripermike@earthlink.net
or
John Ryzanych at:
510-881-8210
John@iconproducts.net
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