Thousands of Fish Dead on the Delta: Angry Fishermen Try to Save What’s Left
By Tom Chandler on Dec 3, 2007 in Environment
This isn’t a new story, but I’m only allowed to post so much bad news on the Trout Underground before the L&T Nancy takes away my keys to the blog.
This one’s a doozy; In 2006, a levee broke on Prospect Island (I used to fish there quite often when I was hitting the California Delta with some regularity), and fish populated the newly flooded “lake.” Given their deep concern for fisheries, the Bureau simply patched the levees and pumped the “lake” dry, killing tens of thousands of delta fish.
Anglers, needless to say, were pissed. From the Sacramento Bee:
Tens of thousands of fish have died on Prospect Island, although no complete count is yet available, said Reclamation Bureau spokesman Jeff McCracken.
For nearly two years, since a levee protecting the low-lying island broke in January 2006, Prospect Island had been transformed into another tangled waterway deep within the Delta. Tidal flows moved in and out through two breaches. Carp, striped bass and catfish swam there. People boated in for fishing or duck hunting. Sometimes boats capsized.
That ended last month, when a Reclamation Bureau contractor finished patching the levees and began pumping most of the water out into surrounding sloughs. The pumps mangled some fish. Others died in water too shallow to survive.
Word began spreading through fishing newsletters and Web sites as furious anglers pushed for a rescue. Finally, state wildlife officials began a probe and federal crews cleared out many of the dead fish to keep their decomposing bodies from depleting oxygen.
On Friday, with federal approval, the outdoors enthusiasts who had been demanding action got their first official chance to try to save what was left.
In terms of the Delta’s total fish population, I’m sure this is just a drip, but while we may have plenty of stripers, the same can’t be said for every other species trapped in the ever-shallowing water.
Read the story — with pictures — at the Sacramento Bee: Save a fish, please an angler - sacbee.com
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