Groups Push for Predator Eradication Instead of Ample Flow for Salmon

Two farming groups-the California Farm Bureau Federation and

Western Growers-have joined a coalition whose main focus is to reduce the amount of invasive, predatory fish species in the San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary. Striped Bass, Black Bass, and other introduced fish feed on juvenile salmon and smelt, further stressing already-endangered populations. The coalition is asking that size and bag limits on predatory fish be removed to help control populations-a strategy that has proved effective in Washington and Oregon.

The farmers’ ultimate goal is to increase water allocations and pumping from the Delta for irrigation in central and southern California. They hope that if pressure is taken off of endangered species, water regulators will allow more water allocations to farmers. “We’re asking that the government consider other stresses impacting the health of smelt and salmon populations and not just resort to turning down the pumps” states Cory Lunde, Western Grower’s director of strategic initiatives and communications.

The Fish and Game Commission is expected to take up the petition and conduct studies into alternative strategies. Increased predation is a function of low water flows in salmon-supporting rivers. Juvenile salmon are poor swimmers, and need ample streamflow to convey them through rivers and estuaries to the ocean. As flows decrease from drought, diversion or otherwise, those fish slow down and become easy targets for looming predators. Moreover, with decreased flow comes less turbidity that would usually provide camouflage for young salmon migrants. A more appropriate response to decreased juvenile salmon survival in inland waterways may well be to reduce water exports that drive down Delta outflow.