funny I was just arguing for the stripers on a similar but different front:
I personally see the Mercury argument as circumventing the real problem...
In most matters of conservation, a river, a forest, a community, an ecosystem, a species is seldom, if ever, saved based on factors favoring human health and well being even though most often those benefits are the eventual outcome of saving say a rain forest, a fjord, a watershed like our delta or a species of fish like striped bass.
It is usually self-LESS reasons which serve as the cornerstone/s to protection of a species or natural area.
Honestly, I believe the mercury-level thing is a bit overdone similar to the AMA's restrictions on certain substances (like kidney tolerances and set standards for acetaminophen mg levels in certain prescription drugs...) Government regulatory agencies do tend to err on the side of conservatism regarding health and safety issues.
That said, I am careful about how much fish I eat from the American River.
But to make suggestions on releasing large stripers based on toxicity and human health is not necessarily helpful to our cause as to do so circumvents and often even omits the real reasons why we should let large stripers go and the even larger issues at hand regarding our diminishing water supply, diminishing delta, diminishing fish stocks (of all species; game and non game fish, native and non-native, cold and warm water, oceanic, anadromous, tidal and fresh water species included) and diminishing opportunities for our hunting and fishing past times.
When I engage in a conversation about striped bass (usually on the river with an encountered angler I do not know) I express the importance of letting large stripers go but my reasons are because the larger fish have the genes for survival and need to be able to reproduce and since larger hens are the brood stock for future generations. A 12 lb bass lays 850,000 eggs whereas a 50lb bass lays as many as 4.5 million.
Also, I relay that the American River is a niche habitat which doesn't have anywhere near the numbers of the Sacramento and Feather Rivers but does have a reasonable number of larger fish per capita. I also now have to bring spear fishers in to the equation because as the clearest of the central valley rivers, big hen stripers are now extremely vulnerable to this 100% kill/take method which has (in my opinion) no business being allowed on our river.
As detrimental as over-harvesting and culling of big, spawning females (by ALL anglers and spearos) is to the survival of striped bass, it ultimately pales in comparison to the greatest threat of all which is the excess water diversions accelerated in 1993 by installation of the pumps at Clifton Court Forebay and the continued attempt to greatly increase those diversions (via twin tunnels) by rich, corporate farmers (Westland's Water District) and quasi governmental (MWD) and governmental (BOR DWR CDFW) agencies.
In their attempts to wrest control of delta waters, the striped bass is being used as a scapegoat or a red-herring (a distraction from logical discourse) which has little to do with actual cause and effect and even less to do with the heart/truth of the matter in question) <- me not Merriam Webster so may be off a bit...
As long as proponents of the twin tunnels can dupe the public in to believing that something other than water exports is responsible for the decline of the salmon... or any other declining aspect of the overall health of our delta ecosystem... then they have a better chance of advancing their agenda and they will keep pressing forward and taking politicians and agencies with them in their wake of fury and they will try to divide and conquer those of us who actually care.
This is all so complex as so many are involved and so few are aware of the truth. It is so easy for big money to push its agenda, especially when it calls itself, "Bay Delta Conservation Plan" or "Coalition for a Sustainable Delta" (Look those up to find out what they are REALLY about). When they rally about farming jobs and food for Californians (which in truth they scarcely provide). When they talk about HUMANS vs. a tiny smelt (which is not even close to the actual cost/benefit reality of their water diversion proposals arguments.
Unfortunately, 99% of the people on our planet could really give a shit about a healthy delta, fisheries, etc.. It just isn't at the forefront of most folks' thought process (out of sight, out of mind). Most Americans spend more time watching the Kardashabarfians than they do in their yards and an even greater percentage will tell you they've never been to a river much less fished in one. People are more apt to vote for Kanye as president than to get involved in a sensitive political issue regarding the health of an ecosystem to which they have never been and have no idea they derive any benefit from...
THANKFULLY, there are the whistle-blowers and extremely-concerned folks like those at restorethedelta.org who DO CARE IMMENSELY and are doing all they can to fight for what is most worthy of our protection (our natural resources which belong to you and to me and to everyone and to NO one)
TO BE CONTINUED
House Passes Bill to Trim 1992 CVPIA - Specifically Striped Bass
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