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The California Fish and Game Commission will consider recreational salmon season regulations for 2013 at its meeting Wednesday in Santa Rosa.
The Fish and Game Commission meeting is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. April 17 at the Flamingo Conference Resort & Spa, 2777 Fourth St., Santa Rosa.
Last week, the Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) approved recreational and commercial ocean salmon seasons for federal waters off the California, Oregon and Washington coasts.
On Wednesday, the Fish and Game Commission is expected to set regulations for salmon fishing in rivers and in the state’s ocean waters, within three miles of shore.
Fishery biologists predict robust numbers of Klamath and Sacramento River fall-run Chinook off California’s coast, providing substantial fishing opportunity for 2013. However, fishing effort still must be constrained to protect vulnerable salmon populations, such as endangered Sacramento River winter-run Chinook.
To protect winter-run Chinook, the PFMC closed fishing off much of the California coast on Mondays and Tuesdays, from June 1 to July 9.
“California anglers can look forward to potentially excellent ocean salmon fishing,” said Marci Yaremko, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) representative on the PFMC. “The projected abundance of key stocks is well above the low levels we’ve seen in recent years.”
Salmon seasons are set largely based on forecasts of ocean salmon abundance. The forecasts this year indicate enough salmon for good fishing.
Specifically, the forecast for adult Sacramento River fall-run Chinook in the ocean is 834,000, well above the target range for optimal spawner returns of 122,000 to 180,000 fish. The forecast for Klamath River fall-run Chinook is 727,600, the third highest on record.
Summary of PFMC Ocean Season
The Fish and Game Commission will consider recent federal actions on salmon when it makes its decision on ocean salmon seasons in state waters.
On April 11, the PFMC set recreational salmon fisheries in federal waters from the Oregon-California border to Horse Mountain in Humboldt County to run from May 1 through Sept. 8.
In the Shelter Cove and Fort Bragg areas, the season opened April 6 and will continue through Nov. 10. The minimum size limit in these ports north of Point Arena will be 20 inches the entire season.
Between Point Arena and Pigeon Point, in the San Francisco area, the PFMC set the season to be open seven days per week through Nov. 10, except from June 1 through July 9, when Mondays and Tuesdays will be closed to salmon fishing. The minimum size limit is 24 inches through the end of July, and 20 inches thereafter.
For the areas south of Pigeon Point to the U.S-Mexico border, including Monterey Bay, salmon fishing will continue seven days per week through Oct. 6, except from June 1 through July 9, when Mondays and Tuesdays will be closed to salmon fishing. The minimum size limit will remain 24 inches throughout the season.
The ocean bag and possession limit in California is two salmon of any species except coho.
For complete California ocean salmon regulations, please visit the ocean salmon Web page at www.dfg.ca.gov/marine/oceansalmon.asp or call the Ocean Salmon Regulations Hotline, 707-576-3429.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – State officials said Tuesday that the Clear Lake hitch, now a candidate species under the California Endangered Species act, has been afforded new protections as the review process moves forward.
The California Fish and Game Commission approved the candidacy for the Clear Lake hitch, Lavinia exilicauda chi, a native Clear Lake fish, last month, as Lake County News has reported.
The commission received a petition to list the Clear Lake hitch as a threatened species under the California Endangered Species Act – or CESA – in September 2012.
On March 6, the commission considered the petition, the petition evaluation report, a recommendation prepared by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and comments received at a publicly noticed meeting.
The commission concluded that the petition included sufficient scientific information to indicate that listing the species as threatened or endangered under CESA may be warranted and designated Clear Lake hitch as a candidate species pursuant to Fish and Game Code. The commission published notice of its action on March 22.
CESA prohibits the take of listed or candidate species, even if that take is incidental to otherwise lawful activity, unless authorized by permit.
As defined in state law, take means “hunt, pursue, catch, capture, or kill or attempt to hunt, pursue, catch, capture, or kill.” Anyone who takes Clear Lake hitch without a permit may be cited for violations of CESA and may be subject to criminal prosecution.
With the commission’s decision to proceed with candidacy for Clear Lake hitch, section 2.11 of the 2013-2014 California Freshwater Sport Fishing Regulations is no longer valid. That regulation previously allowed take of hitch from Clear Lake and its tributaries by hand or handheld dip net.
Recreational angling for other species on Clear Lake is still allowed as are fishing contests, however, anglers must avoid Clear Lake hitch while fishing, Fish and Wildlife officials reported.
While targeted sport fishing or take of Clear Lake hitch is prohibited, the Fish and Game Code provides the Department of Fish and Wildlife the authority to permit incidental take and take associated with research activities. The department will consider exceptions on a case-by-case basis, and will only authorize take under permits issued pursuant to CESA.
Under CESA, permits may be issued relating to Clear Lake Hitch for scientific research, education or management purposes.
An incidental take permit may also be obtained for projects whose non-research activities may result in take. Information regarding CESA permitting is available on the Department of Fish and Wildlife Web site, www.dfg.ca.gov/habcon/cesa/ .
The Department of Fish and Wildlife will conduct an in-depth status review to provide the commission with information to aid in their decision on the hitch's listing status. The status review is scheduled to be completed by March 2014.
The agency's petition evaluation report for the Clear Lake Hitch can be found at https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=59298 .
NORTH COAST, Calif. – A Clearlake man has been sentenced to 15 years in state prison for his part in hate crime assaults that occurred last summer in Sonoma County.
Aaron Joseph Welch, 27, was sentenced last week in Sonoma County Superior Court for having allegedly been involved in the August 2012 attack in Santa Rosa on two black men, one of whom was stabbed repeatedly, according to the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office.
Welch was arrested last October following a two-month investigation into the assaults, and charged with felonies including assault with a deadly weapon, gang enhancements, terrorist threats, dissuading a witness and a hate crime, as Lake County News has reported.
In January he reached a plea agreement on two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, with enhancements being admitted, according to Terry Menshek of the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office.
Welch’s defense attorney, Kristine Burk of the Sonoma County Public Defender’s Office, said Welch took responsibility for the act and, although the sentence is a lengthy one, he was potentially facing life in prison if he had been found guilty of the charge of attempting to dissuade a witness to benefit a gang.
One of the co-defendants in the case, Vanessa Michaels of Novato, is alleged to have tried to swat away a cell phone from one of the victims as he was trying to call 911, Burk said.
The plea agreement had Welch pleading to a count of assault with a deadly weapon, with hate crime and great bodily injury enhancements being admitted, and a second assault with a deadly weapon charge with no enhancement, Burk explained.
Burk said Welch also admitted to a gang enhancement of having committed the assault to benefit the Barbarian Brotherhood, which the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office said is a white supremacist criminal street gang to which Welch belongs.
“We didn’t contest that issue,” Burk said, although had the case gone to trial it might have been different.
Although Welch admitted to that gang enhancement, the punishment was stricken as part of the plea agreement, Burk said.
Because of a prior strike conviction, the first assault charge against Welch was doubled from four to eight years, according to Burk.
The two victims, found at the McDonald’s on Santa Rosa and Yolanda avenues early on the morning of last Aug. 26, had told Santa Rosa Police that they had been harassed and called racial slurs, with the suspects yelling “White Pride.”
An attempted knife attack had occurred, the suspects left and then returned, coming through some bushes. Welch was accused of stabbing one of the men in the shoulder and then several times in the leg after he fell to the ground, according to officials.
Menshek said the outcomes of cases against Welch’s two codefendants in the case, Michaels and Salvatore Bordessa of Windsor, are still pending. Both Bordessa and Michaels have upcoming hearings.
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CLEARLAKE, Calif. – A special enforcement operation carried out late last week that focused on individuals on parole and probation resulted in 13 arrests.
Lt. Tim Celli of the Clearlake Police Department reported that the agency’s officers, along with officers from the Lakeport Police Department and Lake County Probation, carried out the operation in Clearlake last Friday, April 12.
This special enforcement was made possible due to grant funding received from the Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC) and was focused on individuals who are on post release community supervision parole (PRCS) or probation, according to Celli.
During the operation the officers went to four locations located in the city of Clearlake that were selected based on a list of individuals listed on PRCS probation or parole, Celli said.
Celli reported that the individuals taken into custody were arrested for various crimes including being under the influence of controlled substances, possession of controlled substances, outstanding warrants, PRCS probation violations, and possession of narcotics for sale.
Also during the special enforcement operation various items of stolen property were recovered including firearms, an ATV out of Napa County and numerous other stolen items from around Lake County, Celli said.
He said the property crimes discovered during the operation are being submitted to the Lake County District Attorney’s Office for charges once follow up is completed.
Celli said the following individuals were arrested during the enforcement action:
– Justin Cordero, 28, was arrested and booked into the Lake County Jail for PRCS probation violations. Charges also are being sought for felon in possession of ammunition, possession of a short barrel rifle, convicted felon in possession of a firearm, convicted felon in possession of ammunition, violent felon in possession of firearm, burglary and possession of stolen property.
– Devin Walker, 21, was arrested and booked into the Lake County Jail for two warrants.
– Georgia Walker, 24, was arrested and later cited for being under the influence of a controlled substance.
– Kristein Feliciano, 27, was arrested and later cited for possession of narcotic paraphernalia.
– Ralph Broad, 48, was arrested and booked into the Lake County Jail for an outstanding warrant. Broad initially attempted to provide a false name to police.
– Sean Foss, 19, was arrested and booked into Lake County Jail for a warrant.
– Fredrick Askew, 40, was arrested and booked into the Lake County Jail for a probation violation, possession of a controlled substance and possession of a stolen ATV.
– Mary Wisterman, 38, was arrested and later cited for being under the influence of a controlled substance.
– Nicole Gonzales, 27, was arrested for possession of a controlled substance and being under the influence of a controlled substance.
– William Wisterman, 36, was arrested and booked into the Lake County Jail for possession of a controlled substance and, possession of drug paraphernalia and a violation of probation.
– Vivian Meranda, 50, was arrested for possession of a controlled substance for sale and being under the influence of a controlled substance. In addition, $3,600 in cash believed to be proceeds from narcotic sales was seized from Meranda pending civil judicial asset forfeiture proceedings.
– Joseph Carson, 30, was arrested and booked into the Lake County Jail for a parole violation warrant and possession of a controlled substance. Numerous items believed to be stolen property were located and recovered in his vehicle. The investigation of the property crimes are under investigation and will be forwarded to the Lake County District Attorney’s Office once follow up is completed.
– Jon Kelsay, 52, was arrested for possession of a controlled substance and probation violation.
With this grant funding, the Clearlake Police Department along with Lakeport Police Department will be working in cooperation with the Lake County Probation Department over the next several months to ensure PRCS individuals are in compliance with their probation/parole terms, Celli said.
COBB, Calif. – A 3.5-magnitude quake occurred in the Cobb area early Monday evening.
The quake occurred at 5:09 p.m., according to the US Geological Survey.
Its epicenter was located two miles south southwest of Cobb and 13 miles south southwest of Clearlake, at a depth of 2.6 miles, the survey reported.
Six shake reports – all from Middletown – were submitted to the survey.
A 3.0-magnitude quake was reported four miles west southwest of Cobb on Saturday, as Lake County News has reported.
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Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) reported that it has paid property taxes and franchise fees of more than $293 million to the 49 counties and 243 cities in which it operates.
PG&E pays franchise fees to cities and counties for the right to use public streets for its gas and electric facilities.
Payments to counties were completed by March 31 and payments to most cities will be made on April 15.
PG&E’s 2012 franchise fee payments totaled more than $136 million – nearly $37 million for natural gas and more than $99 million for electric service. This sum is about $2 million less than the previous year’s payments, due to lower natural gas prices, which also helped reduce gas bills for customers.
PG&E’s property tax payments of $157 million cover the period from January 1 to June 30, 2013 and were made on April 10. Lake County received $592,082.
Total payments for the tax year of July 1, 2012, to June 30, 2013, were $314 million. Lake County received a total of $1,184,164.
Total fiscal year property tax payments to Lake’s neighboring counties included Colusa, $8,752,604.20; Glenn, $1,134,088.98; Mendocino, $2,176,125.98; Napa, $3,074,518.20; Sonoma, $8,724,314.86; and Yolo, $3,326,942.02.
Santa Clara County received the largest amount statewide, $32,696,944.96; the smallest amount went to Lassen County, $58,359.52.
The company’s property tax payments to counties for tax year 2012-13 increased by $18 million over the previous year’s payments as a result of an increase in tax rates and an increase in assessments reflecting PG&E’s infrastructure investments.