Allied Fishing Groups

Black Bass Action Committee – Bass Classics of Santa Clara –
California Sportfishing Protection Alliance – California Trout –
California Striped Bass Association – Coastside Fishing Club –
Crockett Striped Bass Club – Delta Fly Fishers – Diablo Valley Fly Fishermen – Fishery Foundation of California – Fly Fishers for Conservation – Fly Fishers of Davis - Friends of Butte Creek – Gold Country Fly Fishers – Granite Bay Flycasters – Grizzly Peak Flyfishers – Mission Peak Fly Anglers – North Coast Fishermen’s Association – NORCAL Kayak Anglers - Northern California Council / Federation of Fly Fishers – Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Assoc. – Palo Alto Flyfishers – Peninsula Fly Fishers – San Jose Flycasters – Shasta Fly Fishers – Recreational Fishing Alliance – Santa Cruz Fly Fishermen – Small Boat Commercial Salmon Fishermen Association – Tracy Fly Fishers – Tri -Valley Fly Fishers – United Anglers of California – United Pier & Shore Anglers of California – USA Fishing – Wilderness Fly Fishers – Trout Unlimited of California

4-10-08

Assemblymember Lois Wolk

Attn: Diane Colborn, WP&WC

1020 N Street, Suite 160
Sacramento, CA 9424

Sent by FAX 916-319-2196

Re: AB 1806 - Fish Rescue Plans & Mitigation

Dear Chairwoman Wolk and Committee Members:

The Allied Fishing Groups currently represent 37 sport and commercial organizations from across the state working together to save and restore the fisheries of the Bay-Delta estuary and its tributaries.

We believe it is absolutely essential that AB 1806 and its fishery protection and mitigation measures be passed out of committee in order to begin the proactive efforts necessary to address the fishery crisis in the Delta and its Central Valley tributaries. These mitigation measures are necessary to ensure many of the fisheries in collapse, such as our fall run and late fall run salmon, do not end up on the endangered species list. Such listings, although absolutely necessary under certain conditions, are not the best way to manage fisheries and prevent their extinction. Working positively with state and federal fishery agencies to ensure appropriate mitigation is forthcoming from the SWP and CVP is a step that must be taken now if we are to avoid the need to use the ESA to provide these species protection.

Failure to offset the direct losses of fish killed by the export pumps and the indirect impacts that cause losses in the Delta will result in the eventual closing down of more fisheries to sport and commercial fishing. The economic ramifications to our state’s economy and the thousands of people that derive part or all of their income by providing goods and services to enable sport and commercial fishing would be disaster of major proportions to their lives and the local, regional and the state economies.

We share these concerns with you with the hope you will appreciate the need to provide additional protection now for this natural resource heritage that goes back to dawn of civilization on this continent. Given the collapse of most of the estuary’s fisheries, including all of its salmon runs, we have little time left to turn this situation around before it will be too little too late. The SWP and CVP have had more than twenty years to address this issue. We simply cannot wait any longer before the problems become so sever they can’t be solved.

We support the comments made by the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance regarding the mitigation obligations the projects need to fulfill and we urge you to pass this legislation out of committee.

Sincerely,

John Ryzanych