Tag: California Dept. of Fish and Wildlife

News

What ever happened to those 469 rescued rainbows?

The old adage, “all the news that’s fit to print” might be changed in the future to “all the bad news that never seems to end.”

First you read or watch the bad news — never good news — then you hardly ever hear what happened later. Weeks, months, years may go by with nary an update.

Well, this is one of those few and far between “what happened later” stories, about a cause celebre, at least one for those who love rainbow trout and their cousins, the “steelies.”

It was September, 2020, and God smote the San Gabriel mountains with his fury, namely an ongoing, record-breaking drought and the Bobcat Fire, one of the largest in L.A. County history. The fire broke out near Cogwell Dam at the top of the beloved West Fork of the San Gabriel River bike path. As it happened, a story I wrote about the WF had just come out in California Fly Fisher. A letter to the editor put it succinctly: “Unfortunately, shortly after the issue came out, much of that river’s watershed was reduced to charcoal and ash by the Bobcat Fire.”

The letter writer went on to predict what anyone who has lived here a while realizes: without vegetation to hold back mud and debris from our steep hillsides during even a moderate rain, streams quickly get hammered, creating sediment that kills fish and makes hard for those remaining to spawn.

Shortly after the fire, the Forest Service predicted as much greenlighting a rescue effort to save the rainbow trout population in the West Fork. As an influential genetics study put it, “ The WFSGR coastal rainbow trout population is recognized as a valuable genetic resource for Southern California Steelhead and native coastal rainbow trout.”

In other words, the trout swimming in our local mountains could eventually become steelhead trout, tragically few in number and endangered.

According to Joseph Stanovich, an environmental scientist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, “Over a period of four electrofishing efforts, 1,365 coastal rainbow trout were rescued, 469 of which were translocated to Arroyo Seco Creek on Nov. 24 and Dec. 1.”

Since then, CDFW biologists have snorkeled Arroyo Seco Creek the last three years to see if this bold rescue worked. And, fellow fishers, here’s that good news to come out of a tragedy — it has.

The numbers vary by year, but Stanovich’s team found a total of 657. Here’s what the data look like:

Why the overall drop from 2022 to this year? What’s interesting to me is the precipitous decrease in fry (under 2.9 inches) and the increase of the last three categories.

“Most of the population’s size is less than 2.9 inches. This could be attributed to the fact that drought conditions i.e., thermal shifts, low DO, and minimal water availability, may have stunted growth in fish or caused mortality in larger fish,” Stovich said. “Furthermore, prey availability may also be a contributing factor to the concentration of smaller size fish. Lastly, based on the results of size class distribution there appears to be successful recruitment across all size classes.”

So dream with me for a minute. We have two fish passages, one close to downtown, the other near Paramount down river, that eventually could help steelhead return to spawn in our mountains. Slower currents, resting areas and shade are all on the drawing board. Now, there could be a third piece to the puzzle.

According to Natalie Ouwersloot, the Engineering Manager with Pasadena Water and Power, the $15 million Arroyo Seco Canyon Project, a bypass fishway is also in the works, about a half-mile into the canyon behind Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

“We will remove the existing concrete structure and in its place construct an operable gate that will be lowered to bypass sediment and raised to take in water to the infiltration basins. Here is also where we are working with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) on a bypass fishway for the rainbow trout,” Ouwersloot said in an email. “We are currently working on finalizing designs, applying for grant funding, and applying for CDFW permits.”

The project, which was halted and revised because of a lawsuit from the Arroyo Seco Foundation and Pasadena Audubon, could be completed by 2027.

In other words, the dream of Lewis MacAdams, co-founder of Friends of the LA River, to see steelhead freely swimming from ocean berms to mountain tops, is a little closer today, thanks to the efforts of the smart, dedicated people you never hear about in the news. More on this story soon.

Lewis MacAdams by his beloved Los Angeles River.

See you on the river, Jim Burns

News

Another dastardly deed …

I am writing to inform you of a recent cybersecurity incident that involved recreational fishing license data. This notice provides information about the incident, what information may have been exposed, and what you can do to protect yourself.

WHAT HAPPENED

On March 30, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) was made aware of a cybersecurity breach within the network of a third-party vendor who uses fishing license information to conduct the Automated License Directory Online Survey (ALDOS) necessary to produce recreational ocean fishing catch and effort estimates.

WHAT INFORMATION WAS INVOLVED

The following fishing license information may have been included within the documents saved on the compromised network:

  • Last Name
  • First Name
  • Middle Name
  • Suffix
  • Age In Years
  • Gender
  • Email Address
  • Primary Phone Number
  • Secondary (Evening) Phone Number
  • Mobile Phone Number
  • GO ID (Fishing/Angler License #)
  • Information about the license, such as license type and sales date.

WHAT WE ARE DOING

Upon notification of the incident, CDFW ceased sharing any additional license data with the vendor. CDFW is considering a suite of options to better protect the license data from future incidents. We are also taking the additional step, out of an abundance of caution, to alert you to the fact that your personal information may have been viewed by an unauthorized person so that you can determine what further actions you would like to take to prevent any potential personal harm.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

If you have concerns about any potential harm, please consult the resources below; these websites have helpful information to protect you from potential identify theft, including how to receive a free copy of your credit report either through the Fair Credit Reporting Act or as a result of placing a fraud alert on your credit files:

If you suspect you may be a victim of identity theft, you should place a fraud alert on your credit file. You can also place a security freeze on your account to help prevent unauthorized access to your credit reports. Fraud alerts and security freezes must be initiated at each of the three credit bureaus:

When you receive your credit reports, carefully look them over for the following:

  • Accounts you did not open;
  • Inquiries from creditors that you did not initiate;
  • Personal information, such as your home address and Social Security number, that is not accurate.

If you see anything you do not understand, call the credit reporting agency at the telephone number on the report. If you do find suspicious activity on your credit reports, call your local police or sheriff’s office and file a report of identity theft. Get a copy of the police report as you may need to give copies to creditors to clear up any issues.

We offer our sincerest apology that this unfortunate incident occurred. Please be assured that protecting and safeguarding your personal information is one of our highest priorities. Please send any questions or concerns regarding this matter to ALDOS.Help@wildlife.ca.gov.

Sincerely,

Craig Shuman
Marine Regional Manager
California Department of Fish and Wildlife

Events

Fisherfolk ready for Saturday’s Opening Day in the Sierra

This brown got fooled by a lot of elk hair caddis on a size 14 hook. (Jim Burns)
This brown got fooled by a lot of elk hair caddis on a size 14 hook. (Jim Burns)

Opening Day in the Sierra is almost upon us (April 27), and according to writer Darcy Ellis, it heralds at least a decent season. Ellis penned “Epic season taking shape,” but after reading her piece in the Inyo Register Eastern Sierra Fishing Guide, I’m not sure “epic” is exactly the word the average fisherman would use.

“All of the elements have come together in 2013 for a banner fishing season: plenty of water, even more fish and lots of angling-related action for fishermen and their families,” read the article’s lead sentence.

Ample water is based on an interview with a Dept. of Fish and Wildlife environmental scientist, quoted as saying that “… we’re not anticipating low water this year.” Adequate water is one of the key criteria before the DFW will plant fish.

With the Monrovia fire still smoldering as I write this, it may surprise parched Southern Californians to hear this sort of prognostication. It also surprised the California Dept. of Water Resources.

“The snowpack is at 54 percent of normal, so it’s not looking good,” said Jennifer Lida, an information officer for the department.

The last manual survey of the year, in which DWR surveyors actually go into the mountains instead of relying on electronic sensors,  is scheduled in about two weeks on Echo Summit, near Lake Tahoe. This measurement traditionally documents the wetness of any given season. Snowpack normally provides about a third of California’s water as it melts into streams, reservoirs and aquifers. The short-term good news is that “most key storage reservoirs are above or near historic levels,” according to the department.

Given this scenario, I’d get my fishing in early. Last year in the Golden Trout Wilderness, one favorite creek had turned into runs of unconnected water by August.

Still it looks like there will be lots of trout in the middle Sierra, the L.A. mecca for fly fishing.  According to Ellis’s article, DFW plans to plant just shy of 1 million pounds of trout this season. You can check the planting schedule here.

Finally, there certainly will be family events during the summer. One that’s new is Trout Fest on June 29 at the Hot Creek Hatchery outside Mammoth. The flier promises kids going to the event that they will be able to “catch a fish, feed a fish, taste a fish, touch a fish.”

See you on the river, Jim Burns