Town Hall Meeting Discussion

[Tony Buzolich]

Last Wednesday (8/24) there was a meeting in West Sacramento with Fish & Wildlife about striped bass and what can be done to save their demise.

I wasn't able to make the meeting and would like to hear what some of you that went thought about it.

There was no mention about it over on Dan's board either.

Any comments?
Tony

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Federal Fish and Wildlife?

I thought the plan was to eliminate the Stripped Bass?

I thought that was why they opened up fresh water spear fishing?

The commercial salmon lobbyists don't like the Stripers.



All you would do is have a regulation to protect the big spawning females.

Release all Stripers over 20#? X amount of inches?

[Darian]

I was sure someone who attended the meeting would post something about the result, but.... Oh well. Ive been following the algae bloom in SF Bay/Lake Merritt and the resulting fish kills. Tony B., mentioned what he'd heard on an outdoor radio report (copied from Blanton's Forum):

"On this morning's Bob Simms Outdoor Show they talked quite a bit about the algae bloom and the dead fish around the bay.
One of the researchers (Rosenbloom) stated there were dead sturgeon scattered from the mouth of the Petaluma River to Mare Is.. In addition to the sturgeon they monitored Lake Merritt in Oakland and counted 528 dead striped bass in a small corner of the lake.

It was also said that much of the contamination was from agricultural waste and fertilizer from farmers in and around the delta. Without good water flow effluent builds up in the silt and sediment around the bay. Add to that the warming water temperatures and the resulting fish die off."

It'd be a good opportunity to determine how many/what size the stripers were....

If I recall correctly, Sturgeon are listed under the Endangered Species Act and, tho not listed, Striper populations are in decline. Both are involved in this die off. Dare we speculate about the potential impact on migrating Salmon/Steelhead???

[Tony Buzolich]

Darian,
In regards to salmon and steelhead the warm water temperatures seem to be having the greatest impact on them. It has been stated that there are salmon in the rivers but they don't want to eat because the high water temps has made them lethargic. Sort of like us taking a hot bath on a cold day. Turn on the cold water and you can't wait to get out and dry off.
Over on the Sac Rob Reimer called in to say water temps were almost 72 degrees around Ord Bend where he was fishing. Over here on the Feather River temps are just slightly lower.
Tony

[Mr T]

I was sure someone who attended the meeting would post something about the result, but.... Oh well. Ive been following the algae bloom in SF Bay/Lake Merritt and the resulting fish kills. Tony B., mentioned what he'd heard on an outdoor radio report (copied from Blanton's Forum):

"On this morning's Bob Simms Outdoor Show they talked quite a bit about the algae bloom and the dead fish around the bay.
One of the researchers (Rosenbloom) stated there were dead sturgeon scattered from the mouth of the Petaluma River to Mare Is.. In addition to the sturgeon they monitored Lake Merritt in Oakland and counted 528 dead striped bass in a small corner of the lake.

It was also said that much of the contamination was from agricultural waste and fertilizer from farmers in and around the delta. Without good water flow effluent builds up in the silt and sediment around the bay. Add to that the warming water temperatures and the resulting fish die off."

It'd be a good opportunity to determine how many/what size the stripers were....

If I recall correctly, Sturgeon are listed under the Endangered Species Act and, tho not listed, Striper populations are in decline. Both are involved in this die off. Dare we speculate about the potential impact on migrating Salmon/Steelhead???

Saw an article in SFGate Monday that stated it was from all the bio runoff from years of treated human waste going into the bays. 14 B is what they said updating the plants will cost.

[Sonoman]

Lots of "bio runoff" from homeless camps around the Bay and elsewhere still running into the Bay and rivers. If a company or homeowner dumped waste like that, they would get fined into oblivion. But the politicians look the other way on these homeless camps. I saw a beat-up homeless RV dump its tank into a storm sewer grate last winter in Santa Rosa

[BS]

Lots of "bio runoff" from homeless camps around the Bay and elsewhere still running into the Bay and rivers. If a company or homeowner dumped waste like that, they would get fined into oblivion. But the politicians look the other way on these homeless camps. I saw a beat-up homeless RV dump its tank into a storm sewer grate last winter in Santa Rosa.

No doubt that the "bio runoff" issue is VERY,VERY, much a part of the cause/problem the Bay and rivers are experiencing, and, YES it will cost billions to "clean up".


But please forgive me for this ........................................

"I saw a beat-up homeless RV dump its tank into a storm sewer grate last winter in Santa Rosa."

This triggered a mental flashback from the movie "Christmas Vacation" where "Cousin Eddie" did the exact same thing while parked in "Clark and Ellen's" driveway while visiting.

Ironic that this absurdity has become the new reality.


Just a couple of my thoughts........................................


Bob

[Darian]

Tony's question was trying to find out what if anything happened at the meeting at DFW last week. I've heard some buzz about adoption of a slot limit but am not able to verify that.

About ag/farmer water runoff contributing to algal blooms, Sewage systems are under stress without the run-off from Delta farmers (....what about all up river farmers??). Consider that the latest estimate of the un-housed population around Sacramento is maybe 10K (and that's considered lower than the actual number). Other areas (E-bay, Delta, etc.) have their own populations; all using outdoor facilities that might go directly to rivers, streams & lakes.

Since this type run-off is not necessarily going the sewage system, upgrade may not solve the problem. For example: Sacramento Sewage District recently upgraded their facility at sizable investment but hasn't yet been able to address this issue. Failure to address this issue by politicians will continue the degradation of all waters in this state. The city/county of Sacramento attempted once again to clean up the homeless encampments by passage of new codes but a new judge has blocked enforcement, temporarily. And round and round we go again....

[Tony Buzolich]

Darian's right about my question concerning the striped bass meeting. But the issue concerning water waste, algae bloom,
and bio-runoff is an excellent topic of discussion and needs to keep going but not under the striped bass column.
How about I start a new topic under "Conservation " and keep this discussion going?
Tony

[Darian]

Tony,.... I'm for it. There's gotta be some effort to keep this subject at the forefront of political attention.