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Fishing on: State works out deal
Trout planting has resumed in most central San Joaquin Valley reservoirs and rivers following a judge's decision earlier this month that could significantly alter how state-grown hatchery fish are stocked throughout California.
After blowing a court-imposed deadline to prepare an environmental impact report on its trout and salmon stocking programs, the Department of Fish and Game was ordered into talks with two plaintiffs on how to minimize the negative impacts these programs have on environmentally sensitive species.
During the past two weeks, DFG officials and representatives from the Center for Biological Diversity and the Pacific Rivers Council have made enough progress in their discussions to continue stocking trout in man-made reservoirs, said Neil Manji, DFG's fisheries branch chief. Stocking is limited to larger-sized lakes where none of the 25 sensitive species identified in the lawsuit are present, Manji added.
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Valley mostly untouched by new fishing legislation
Central San Joaquin Valley anglers will be among those least affected by a court order restricting fish stocking in California lakes and rivers where native species could be harmed.
On Monday, the Department of Fish and Game released a list of waters that can and cannot be stocked with hatchery-raised rainbow trout following last week's order signed by a Sacramento County Superior Court judge.
In the Central Region, which spans Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, Monterey, San Benito, San Luis Obispo, Stanislaus, Tulare and Tuolumne counties, only the Kern, Kaweah and Stanislaus (South Fork) rivers are off-limits to the stocking trucks.
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Lawsuit mongers lessen the outdoors experience
Boy, talk about being naive. Four years ago, I grew weary of covering football and was fortunate enough to be reassigned to a beat that revolved around my primary passions.
Hiking, mountain biking and skiing, I already knew well. Fishing and hunting, eager to learn. But there was another outdoors pursuit, one that swells in popularity, that I never expected to become so familiar.
That pursuit is litigation. And if this growth spurt continues, it will choke off everything outdoors enthusiasts hold near and dear.
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Retirees leave DFG with new feel for '09
Significant change is under way at the Department of Fish and Game following the retirement of three senior managers with more than a century of combined experience of ecological policy making and protecting natural resources.
Staff at the DFG's Region 4 office in Fresno have bid farewell to regional manager Bill Loudermilk, aquatics program manager Dale Mitchell and executive-level biologist Randy Kelly. Their last day was Dec. 31.
All fish biologists by training, Loudermilk, Mitchell and Kelly leave a trail of policies and programs throughout the 12-county region that stretches from the Central Coast to the Sierra Nevada crest.
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Retired trio kept region ahead of the curve
One hundred and twelve years of experience, all walking out the door at the same time.
That's what employees at the Department of Fish and Game Region 4 office are dealing with following the Dec. 31 retirements of regional manager Bill Loudermilk, aquatics program manager Dale Mitchell and senior biologist Randy Kelly.
"A lot of people around the building are sad to lose those guys," personnel specialist Krista Lowenthal said.
The Department of Fish and Game has agreed to stop stocking fish in many of the state's lakes and rivers where native species could be harmed.
Two environmental groups that successfully sued the DFG for its long-standing practice announced the agreement Thursday. The interim agreement is intended to protect sensitive fish and frogs while the DFG prepares a broader, more thorough plan for overhauling its fish-stocking programs.
The agreement, which could have widespread implications for California anglers, is designed to protect 16 native fish species and nine native frogs. They include the California golden trout, which inhabit the Kern River drainage, the Central California steelhead, found in coastal and inland river systems statewide, and the mountain yellow-legged frog, which inhabit the Sierra Nevada.
Although the DFG has stocked trout and salmon for more than 100 years to support recreational fishing, studies have found that hatchery-raised fish compete with native species for food and habitat and in some cases prey on them.
"Interim measures limiting stocking are needed to help save California's native fish and frogs from extinction," said Noah Greenwald of the Center for Biological Diversity. "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 the Pacific River Council sued the state last year to reform its hatchery operations. The DFG was supposed to complete an environmental impact report by the end of 2008, but asked for an extension until January 2010.
In the meantime, Sacramento Superior Court Judge Patrick Marlette ordered the two parties to reach an interim agreement. Failure to do so could have resulted in a shutdown of all fish stocking throughout the state.
"DFG fought hard in the negotiations to save its fish-stocking programs," DFG director Donald Koch said. "We are pleased that the order allows us to continue stocking in a number of areas where the communities depend on fishing."
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