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The report, “SOS: California's Native Fish Crisis,” was written by Dr. Peter Moyle of the University of California, Davis – a renowned expert on California’s water systems and the fish that inhabit them – and released by California Trout Nov. 18.
It's the first-ever comprehensive report chronicling the status of each of California’s native fish species – salmon, steelhead and trout.
Moyle's findings are startling. He estimates that 65 percent of native salmon, steelhead and trout species may be extinct within 100 years.
He writes that the state’s native salmonids are in unprecedented decline and are teetering towards the brink of extinction – an alarm bell that signals the deteriorating health of the state’s rivers and streams that provide drinking water to millions of Californians.
“The fish don’t lie,” said Moyle. “The story they tell is that California’s environment is unraveling. Their demise is symptomatic of a much larger water crisis that, unless addressed, will severely impact every Californian.”
Sen. Patricia Wiggins (D-Santa Rosa), chair of the California Legislature’s Joint Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture, said that Moyle's findings “mean that unless we make immediate, real changes to protect the environmental health of our rivers, streams and oceans, wild salmon as we know it will disappear from our dinner plates.”
“It wasn’t too long ago that salmon flourished throughout Northern and Central California. In just one generation we have lost significant salmon and steelhead runs in the Russian, the Eel and the Klamath rivers, as well as rivers in the Central Valley,” said Wiggins. “Our entire salmon fishing season was shut down last year. This is creating economic disasters for fishermen and the sport-fishing industry. Emergency relief funding will only last so long, and we cannot afford for fishing communities to lose their way of life.”
Moyle's report cites a number of key stressors on California’s native fish populations, many of which could be addressed through improved policy planning and better water and land management. Dams, agricultural and grazing practices, development, mining, railroads, logging, some recreational uses, illegal harvesting of native fish, reliance on fish hatcheries, and invasive species have all played a role in driving these species to the brink of extinction.
Global warming has perhaps played the most significant role in the alarming drop in numbers for many of these fish, as salmonids are particularly sensitive to changes in water temperature and rapidly shifting ocean conditions affect those that migrate between rivers and the ocean.
Thirty-two native fish taxa – species, subspecies, Evolutionary Significant Units, and Distinct Population Segments – are evaluated in the report. Each type of fish was evaluated according to the same criteria and given a score that indicates its likelihood of long-term survival under current conditions. A score of “one” indicates the species is “highly vulnerable to extinction in native range in the next 50 years” and a score of “four” or “five” was reserved for species with no extinction risk and expanding populations.
Of the 32 taxa analyzed in the report, one is extinct in California and an additional fourteen are listed as state and/or federally threatened or endangered. Pink and chum salmon, southern steelhead, and coho salmon face the greatest immediate threat of extinction.
Other species racing against the clock for survival include both summer and winter runs of the Northern California Coast steelhead; Central Valley, South/Central California Coast and Central Coast steelhead; Little Kern golden, Lahontan cutthroat, and Paiute cutthroat trout; and California Coast, Sacramento winter run, and Central Valley spring run Chinook salmon.
The report finds that identifying new and innovative funding streams for the state Department of Fish and Game (DFG) would allow the department to be a more effective steward of the state’s fishery resources. It also argues vigorously for a revitalized and strengthened DFG that would enable it to fulfill its role as chief guardian of California’s wild and native salmon, steelhead, and trout by partnering with local communities to protect regional fish populations and their habitats.
And it calls for immediate action on salmon, steelhead and trout recovery needs, such as addressing known challenges on the Shasta River and Trinity Rivers and continuing efforts to protect ground and surface water resources at the local and state levels.
Ongoing research and restoration efforts have shown that when flows are reinstated, migration barriers removed, and cool, clean, abundant water provided, our native fish show signs of recovery.
“This report is an important resource for anyone interested in protecting and restoring California’s magnificent native fish,” said CalTrout Executive Director Brian Stranko. “From local watershed groups working in communities, to the highest levels of state and federal governments, SOS: California’s Native Fish in Crisis provides the information, the roadmap, and the guidance for affecting change for California’s fish and the habitat that supports them.”
Last year, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed Wiggins' bill, SB 562, which supports salmon monitoring and restoration with nearly $5.3 million in funding. Wiggins said the money may enable California to secure up to $20 million in federal matching funds, which will go to basic science and the repair of specific problems on creeks and rivers.
While it's an important investment, Wiggins said more is needed.
“In January I will bring to the Legislature a package of bills to save our salmon,” she said. “I will need cooperation from fishermen, farmers, water users, the tribes, power companies, the governor’s office and my colleagues in the Legislature to pass these measures.”
She added, “California Trout calls the findings an ‘alarm bell that signals the deteriorating health of the state’s rivers and streams that provide drinking water to millions of Californians.’ They stress that water unfit for fish is a sign of water unfit for people. No less than a full recovery is necessary for our fishing and sport-fishing economy, for our responsibility to the species, and for great-tasting, healthy wild salmon – a continuing California tradition.”
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KELSEYVILLE – Riviera Elementary School recently held a ribbon cutting ceremony for its new kindergarten tricycle track.
During the 2006 and 2007 school years, the Riviera Parent Teacher Organization decided to make it a top priority to have a tricycle track put in next to the kindergarten playground.
After many months of planning, the group was able to break ground on the track this past August.
The hard work and generosity of many people made the track possible.
Those generous folks included Ayman Masri, who volunteered to bring in the machinery he needed to dig the track. Chris and Connie Biller, owners of Biller Construction Inc., donated their time to finish the project.
Other community members and businesses who stepped up to support the track project through donations, discounted materials and time include Clearlake Lava Inc., Kelseyville Lumber, KSO Construction, Four Corners, Tom Biller, Fred Hanson and Jim Schleif.
The result was a gift to the school's children that wouldn't have been possible otherwise.
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The crash occurred on Gaddy Lane in front of the post office just after 6:30 p.m., according to a report from the California Highway Patrol.
A UHaul truck collided with the motorcycle, the CHP reported.
A witness who reported the crash stated that it looked bad, with the rider down and the vehicles blocking the roadway.
The motorcyclist, whose name was not available Saturday, ended up receiving minor injuries.
Two other collisions reported during the day – a two-vehicle crash on Soda Bay Road in Lakeport shortly before 7:30 p.m. and one at about 10:17 p.m. on Highland Avenue and Roland Drive in Lucerne – resulted in no injuries, the CHP reported.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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Lake County's unemployment rate climbed to 11.2 percent for October, according to the Employment Development Department (EDD).
That's up from 10 percent unemployment in September, and a big increase from the October 2007 rate of 7.9 percent, as Lake County News has reported.
Statewide, unemployment was at 8.2 percent, according to the EDD, up from 7.7 percent in September and 5.7 percent in October 2007.
The U.S. unemployment rate also increased in October to 6.5 percent, the EDD reported.
October's unemployment rate ranks Lake at No. 50 among California's 58 counties, based on EDD statistics.
Of the county's 26,480-person workforce, 2,950 people were out of work in October.
The lowest unemployment in the state was found in Marin County, with 4.9 percent unemployment.
One of Lake's neighboring counties, Napa, ranked No. 2 for lowest unemployment, with 5.4 percent, while Sonoma ranked No. 7 with 6.2 percent.
Other neighboring counties included Mendocino, No. 10, 6.7 percent; Yolo, No. 23, 7.9 percent; Glenn, No. 39, 9.4 percent; and Colusa, No. 53, 11.8 percent.
A federal survey referred to in the EDD's report estimates the number of Californians holding jobs in October was 17,053,000, a decrease of 14,000 from September, and down 162,000 from the employment total in October of last year. A survey of California businesses showed a decrease of 101,300 jobs between October 2007 and October 2008.
“Our economy continues to be difficult, especially for people who have lost their jobs or who have begun looking for one. As our state unemployment rate rises, my administration continues to work hard to generate jobs and help re-train people who have lost jobs in our hard-hit industries,” Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said.
Through the Labor and Workforce Development Agency, $33 million in job training funds have been allocated to military veterans and to regions of the state hardest hit by the tough financial times, Schwarzenegger said. The grant funding is meant to provide education, training, and job placement assistance for thousands of residents across the state.
Schwarzenegger said the state's Unemployment Insurance Fund needs to be fixed in order to keep it solvent, and with current pressures it's now “racing toward the red.” He has a plan in place to address the problems which the Legislature didn't pass earlier this week.
Last week, President George W. Bush signed a bill that extends unemployment benefits seven weeks. That's in addition to a 13-week extension that the EDD said was part of federal legislation enacted in June, which helps workers who have exhausted their regular unemployment insurance benefits.
The federal legislation also gave an additional 13-week extension to workers in high unemployment states such as California. So, in total, the state's workers have up to 33 weeks of extended benefits, according to the EDD.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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A black male adult was reportedly shot in the neck at 8:18 p.m. at a residence in the 12000 block of Second Street in Clearlake Oaks, according to reports from the scene.
Witnesses reported seeing two black men, one of whom was in possession of a handgun.
The men were seen heading south toward the Keys area. A home on Lakeland was later reported to have possibly been the site of a break-in.
At least five deputies were on scene, along with a rescue unit and battalion chief from Northshore Fire's Clearlake Oaks station.
REACH Air Ambulance transported the victim from the scene.
No arrests were reported as of early Thursday morning.
Correspondent Harold LaBonte contributed to this report.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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The California Highway Patrol's Ukiah office reported that the crash occurred at 1:10 p.m. Tuesday on Hensley Creek Road near Ukiah.
Bus driver Ruby Joann Scribner, 59, of Clearlake was driving the 2003 Freightliner passenger bus eastbound at approximately 30 miles per hours in a 35-mile-per-hour zone when the crash took place, the CHP reported.
The bus suffered a “mechanical failure” with its steering control, according to the CHP. That caused the bus to veer to the right and collide with a telephone pole guide wire.
CHP said the bus came to rest facing north and blocking the westbound lane.
Scribner suffered no injuries, and neither did passengers Marty Cook of Lodi or Tonya White Rock of Upper Lake. The CHP said that another customer, Mara Isabec Aguilar of Upper Lake, complained of pain.
The collision's cause is still under investigation, the CHP noted in its report.
Lake Transit Manager Mark Wall said he couldn't confirm if the crash was caused by a mechanical failure. He added that the bus suffered minor damage.
Paratransit Services of Bremerton, Wash., holds the contract to operate the Lake Transit.
Wanda Gray, operations manager for Lake Transit, referred questions on the collision to Paratransit's corporate office, which did not return a Wednesday call.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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