Environmental Law Firm Threatens Closure of Local Streams

Environmental Defense Center (EDC) calls for emergency closure.

A June 4, 2011, EDC letter to CA Department of Fish and Game called for emergency closure of local streams to fishing. The letter alleged that existing CA fishing regulations does not comply with the Endangered Species Act because it allows the taking of endangered steelhead from the Sespe Creek, Upper North Fork Matilija and the Sisquoc River watersheds. EDC arguments cited existing fishing regulations that allow take and release with barbless artificial lures only and a study that indicates capture, catch and release of steelhead results in 5% mortality. Any mortality or harassment of a listed species does constitute "take." And therefore EDC calls for the emergency closure to protect steelhead.

An October 10, 2011, teleconference and meeting attended by Earl Arnold from the Sespe Fly Fishers, Tim Bartley, Conservation Director of the SWC FFF, Nica Nite, Southern Regional Manager of CalTrout, Brian Trautwein and Brian Segee from EDC, Bob Osborn from Pacific Angler, April Wakeman and Tom Raftican from Sportfishing Conservancy, Eric Rangle owner of The Artful Angler Fly Shop, Ray Blamco, interested citizen, John Gaebel from United Anglers, Eddie Harris from Santa Barbara Urban Creeks Council, Alasdair Coyne from Keep the Sespe Wild Committee, and from CDFG, Roger Bloom, Jonathan Nelson, Stafford Lehr, Ed Pert, Terri Stewart and Dwayne Maxwell. Discussion of the topic was intense and opinions and information concerning location of migratory stream impediments and opinions was provided from stakeholders to both EDC and CDFG. CDFG made it clear to EDC that the situation did not warrant an emergency closure and that there would be no immediate action on the part of CDFG. However at the next Fish and Game Commission meeting, November 16/17, 2011, in Santa Barbara, there will be a regulations review during which the Commission will consider current fishing regulations and possibly decide if and what additional restrictions are needed to protect the endangered Southern Steelhead.

California golden trout won't be listed as endangered

By Louis Sahagun, Los Angeles Times October 7, 2011.

The California golden trout — the official state fish — will not receive protection under the Endangered Species Act after a 10-year review of scientific information and conservation programs, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Friday. "Conservation measures throughout the trout's historic range have done much to protect the species," service spokeswoman Sarah Swenty said in a statement. "In large part because of those measures, the service determined that the intensity of threats does not indicate the species is endangered, or likely to become so in the foreseeable future." Trout Unlimited filed a petition in 2001 asking the government to list the golden trout, which grows to less than a foot long and is often reddish gold with brilliant orange highlights and blue-gray spots on its belly and fins. Genetically pure strains of California golden trout can be found in just 15 miles of Sierra Nevada high-country streams. Howard Kern, a spokesman for Trout Unlimited, one of the nation's largest conservation organizations dedicated to the preservation of cold-water fisheries, expressed mixed feelings about the service's decision. "If there were no collaborative recovery efforts underway, as was the case in 2001, we would be furious," Kern said. "However, we are pleased with all the collaborative activity surrounding this fish right now. If it stalls later, we will absolutely go after the federal government with another petition for listing." But former Sierra Club president Joe Fontaine, a key figure in getting the 300,000-acre Golden Trout Wilderness near Sequoia National Park designated in 1978, was disappointed. "This species continues to face serious threats to its existence, and livestock grazing is one of them," he said. Of particular concern is an ongoing dispute over four grazing allotments covering a large tract of the Golden Trout Wilderness. Two of the allotments have been cow-free since federal land managers in 2001 "rested" them for 10 years in order to rehabilitate golden trout habitat threatened by years of grazing and the stocking of non-native trout. With those prohibitions set to expire this year, Fontaine said, "the golden trout needs all the protection it can get." The service, however, determined the species is amply safeguarded by measures including a cooperative conservation agreement signed in 2004 between government agencies and private groups, including Trout Unlimited and the Federation of Fly Fishers.

From Tim Bartley SWCFFF Conservation Chairman

Earlier this year, the Environmental Defense Center submitted a Request for Emergency Closure on the Sisquoc River, Sespe Creek above Alder Creek. and the North Fork of Matilija Creek. The request asserted that fishing in these streams is a violation of the Endangered Species Act. On October 3, DFG held a meeting at their Los Alamitos facility in order to discuss the matter. DFG will recommend action at the November 16/17 meeting of the Fish and Game Commission in Santa Barbara.
Please note that the 2005 Endangered Species Listing of Southern California Steelhead designated all fish below impassable barriers (with access to the ocean) as Endangered. Resident trout above impassable barriers are not protected, even if the fish are genetically identical to the SoCal steelhead. The Sisquoc, Sespe, and NF Matilija are listed as critical habitat.
DFG indicated that they will recommend AGAINST the Emergency Closures on these three streams.
However, future fishing access remains threatened in these waters:

• Sisquoc River. DFG indicated that the Sisquoc River had been improperly categorized during a DFG review in 2003. Current DFG surveys show the Sisquoc River has no impassible barriers. DFG will recommend that the Sisquoc River be closed to fishing in compliance with the Endangered Species Act. The recommendation will be implemented through the triennial DFG Fishing Regulations process. This process begins in May, 2012.
• Sespe Creek above Alder Creek. DFG will review all barriers in the watershed with respect to fish passage. It seems unlikely that any immediate action will be taken in this watershed. However, a recent legal settlement regarding the Vern Freeman Diversion will result in the construction of a new fish passage device within the next 3-5 years. DFG indicated that if the fish passage device is certified, waters above the Vern Freeman Diversion would be closed to fishing in compliance with the Endangered Species Act.
• North Fork Matilija. Most regard the barrier on this stream as impassable, and a fishing closure seems unlikely. However, DFG will review the barrier and possibly change the regulation to zero limit, barbless hook, artificial only.
Although we anticipate no immediate action at the November Fish and Game Commission meeting, interested clubs should plan to have representatives in attendance. We will continue to monitor the situation for any further developments.

Santa Paula Creek Steelhead Passage Blockages

A recent Ventura County Star newspaper article has spurred club interest in the condition of steelhead migratory passageways in Santa Paula Creek. The creek is the first major steelhead spawning tributary closest to the mouth of the Santa Clara River. The creek was home to migratory endangered southern steelhead prior to modern construction projects, poor design and subsequent lack of maintenance. The barriers are listed below:

Freeman Diversion Dam on the Santa Clara River: this facility and fish ladder was improperly designed and is a keystone barrier for the entire Santa Clara River watershed. All spawning tributaries are above this facility. Only a few steelhead have been documented to make it over the fish ladder in the intervening years. A NOAA Biological Opinion and threatened lawsuit by CalTrout has resulted in United Water Conservation District's agreement to redesign and modify the facility to enable fish passage. However the timeline is uncertain.
Army Corps of Engineers flood control channel and fish ladder on Santa Paula Creek: The creek has three major passage barriers, two of which are total blockages. The Army Corps of Engineers flood control channel and fish ladder facility is located about 1 ½ miles above the confluence with the Santa Clara River. The COE has budgeted $7.5 million to re-do the fish ladder which was improperly designed by overlooking the extremely high flows of rock and sand. It has never functioned as intended. It was damaged by high debris laden flows, filled with sand, gravel and boulders and is a significant barrier to passage. Fish are only able to make it through the “fish ladder” on low flows. The COE is working to get the project approved and out to bid by Sept 30, 2010 or the federal stimulus funds could vanish.

Harvey Diversion Facility: This diversion facility is located below Steckel Park. The fish ladder that was included in the original project has never functioned well and has had constant siltation issues. The lower end of the fish ladder is also prone to scour, preventing fish passage. Currently it is impassable and no water is diverted to the fish ladder. Hence no chance for steelhead migration until it is rebuilt. CA Dept of Fish and Game is said to be preparing plans for repairs, but funding is not available.
Hwy 150 Bridge washout: This is a CalTrans facility that washed out in the floods of 2005. It is located just below St. Thomas Aquinas. The concrete channel below the bridge failed and collapsed, creating an impassable water fall (much too high for fish to jump). Although there is CA legislation that requires passage barriers to be addressed wherever CalTrans must perform facility maintenance, CalTrans does not consider this failure to be part of the facility and currently has no plans to repair the damage. This is a total blockage to upstream migration.
There is an opportunity for the Sespe Fly Fishers to take an active voice in pressing for action to repair these faulty facilities and to help restore steelhead to this stream.

Comment from the News letter editor, Earl Arnold. Santa Paula Creek is my home water. I fished there with my father more than 50 years ago. A few years ago I was heading up the creek to go fishing and I saw a single mom trying to teach her son to fish. They were right under the bridge. I watched for a while and the grampa in me took over and I asked them if they would like to catch a fish. Ten minutes later the boy was into his first trout. There was always a trout in the eddy of the concrete pool just under the bridge. (They stocked the creek back then). I never fish there anymore because the oil seeping out of the ground gums up my fly line and wrecks my flies. Upstream is better. Except that now the DFG has closed Santa Paula Creek below the falls at the punchbowls. Why? To protect the Steel Head Trout that can't get there and haven't been able to get there since they built the Harvey Dam and the Freeman Diversion decades ago.