20 November 3 , 2023 VOL . 42 • ISS . 15

ACRAMENTO - After a catastrophic fish kill ravaged Butte Creek in 2021 and a smaller one that hit the Butte Sink in 2022 , the California Department of Fish and Wildlife ( CDFW ) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ( NOAA ) Fisheries have finally announced an emergency action plan to capture Central Valley spring-run Chinook salmon juveniles in a move to prevent extinction of the threatened species . CDFW and NOAA Fisheries biologists are “ pursuing urgent measures this fall to save some of the last remaining Central Valley spring-run Chinook salmon after the numbers returning from the ocean this year fell sharply toward extinction ,” according to the joint release from the CDFW , NOAA Fisheries and UC Davis . “ Biologists call this year ’ s sharp decline a ‘ cohort collapse ’ because so few threatened adult spring-run Chinook salmon returned to the small streams still accessible to them . Mill and Deer Creek — two of the three streams that hold the remaining independent spring-run populations — each saw fewer than 25 returning adults this year . Returns to Butte Creek — the third independent population — were the lowest since 1991 and adults further suffered impacts of a canal failure in the watershed ,” the announcement stated . The captured juvenile spring-run will be raised to adulthood at UC Davis , in a last ditch effort to save this run ’ s unique genetic heritage . “ We are running out of options ,” said Cathy Marcinkevage , assistant regional administrator for NOAA Fisheries West Coast region . “ We want this species to thrive in the wild , but right now we are worried about losing them .” “ These drastically low returns come at a time when we ’ ve already been taking extreme measures to protect salmon strongholds and eliminate existing barriers keeping them from their historic habitat ,” claimed CDFW Director Charlton H . Bonham . “ We ’ ve got to continue to do everything we can to preserve these iconic fish .” However , the press release by the state and federal governments failed to mention that high water temperatures in the summer of 2021 on Butte Creek , the last stronghold of wild spring-run Chinooks in the Central Valley , forced the salmon into limited creek habitat . This resulted in outbreaks of disease that killed over 91 percent of adult spring-run fish prior to spawning .

In a huge investigative story that I broke , an estimated 19,773 out of the more than 21,580 spring chinooks that returned to spawn in Butte Creek perished before spawning . The carnage took place after PG & E didn ’ t release cold water from its hydroelectric project on the creek in time to save the fish . Despite Bonham ’ s claim that the Department has taken “ extreme measures to protect salmon strongholds ,” the state and federal water and fishery agencies failed to take necessary action to stop this disaster from taking place or at least alleviating it . In 2022 , only 5,132 wild spring-run salmon returned to spawn . Then in August 2023 , a breach on PG & E ’ s Butte Canal that carries water to their De Sabla Powerhouse , caused orange colored sediment to spill into and pollute Butte Creek . The pollution event , now under a law enforcement investigation by the CDFW , resulted in the destruction of salmon habitat and killed threatened spring-run salmon , rainbow trout and other species , as I documented in the Stockton Record and here in the Fish Sniffer . In response to the announcement , Scott Artis , executive director of Golden State Salmon Association , pointed out how the federal and state governments have presided over the pro-agribusiness water policies that have put Central Valley spring-run Chinook on the edge of extinction in the first place , making this last-ditch attempt necessary . “ Spring-run salmon were declared threatened in 1999 under the Endangered Species Act and experienced catastrophically low survival in 2021 ,” said Artis in a statement . “ This news is another blow to California ’ s salmon stocks and a beleaguered fishing industry impacted by the complete closure of the 2023 commercial fall-run Chinook salmon season . The closure has resulted in the loss of tens of thousands of jobs in California and Oregon , erased incomes for thousands of families , and threatens the survival of coastal communities .” “ We applaud and support the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries for implementing this critical action to save wild salmon ,” said Artis , “ But this current situation could have been avoided if Governor Newsom , state agencies and the Bureau of Reclamation had focused on the biological needs of salmon as much as they cater to industrial agriculture ’ s thirst for water to grow almonds and other nut crops for export .” Rejecting calls from Golden State Salmon Association , environmental organizations , environmental justice groups and tribes over the last decade to restore the health of California ’ s rivers , the Bureau of Reclamation ( BOR ), even during drought , has continued to divert the water salmon need to survive from the Sacramento River , according to GSSA , reported Artis . “ The BOR has the authority to reduce these diversions and provide life-saving cold water for salmon . Unfortunately , it has failed to do so even as the warning signs of devastating losses and low salmon returns continue to pile up ,” he stated . During the last few years , spring-run Chinook have continued to be exposed to harmful water temperatures and dangerously low water flows in Central Valley rivers , including the Sacramento River . Artis said the State Water Board continues to fail to adopt and implement new flow and temperature requirements to protect salmon – to replace failed standards that were adopted in 1995 . And on the Feather River , the California Department of Water Resources continues to stall spring-run restoration actions that it agreed to in 2009 . “ The Newsom Administration and the Bureau of Reclamation are pillaging our natural resources at the expense of people and wildlife , and using climate change as a scapegoat for policies that have reduced flows in our rivers to a trickle and raised temperatures to levels that kill salmon eggs . Enough is enough ,” argued Artis . “ We obviously did not learn our lesson on how to prevent a California condor-like situation . Instead , agencies continued to ignore the problems facing salmon .” “ They have let the population drop to a fraction of 2021 numbers on Butte Creek . Now we are at a point when a single pollution event results in a population catastrophe . And we find ourselves having to implement a capture program to prevent extirpation ,” stated Artis . California ’ s Sacramento-San Joaquin River system supports four distinct Chinook salmon runs — fall , late-fall , winter and spring . It is he only river system in the world that supports all four runs . The winterand spring-runs have seen periods of alarmingly low numbers and are designated as “ endangered ” and “ threatened ,” respectively , under the Endangered Species Act , said Artis . To get the winter-run Chinook

By Dan Bacher

listed under the federal ESA and the California Endangered Species Acts , Hal Bonslett , legendary conservationist and publisher of the Fish Sniffer magazine , myself and leaders of the Tehama Fly Fishers and Sacramento River Preservation Trust spent many hours in meetings arguing for the necessity of the protected status until both the state and federal governments finally listed the fish over 30 years ago . But the captured state and federal governments , controlled by corporate agribusiness interests like Stewart and Lynda Resnick , owners of the Wonderful Company , the Westlands Water District and Southern California water brokers , have failed to take the necessary actions to restore the “ protected ” salmon runs . The Resnicks , major promoters of the controversial Delta Tunnel and increased water pumping from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta , have donated a total of $ 431,600 to Governor Gavin Newsom since 2018 , including $ 250,000 to Stop The Republican Recall Of Governor Newsom and $ 64,800 to Newsom For California Governor 2022 . Newsom received a total of $ 755,198 in donations from agribusiness in the 2018 election cycle , based on the data from www . followthemoney . org . That figure includes a combined $ 116,800 from Stewart and Lynda Resnick and $ 58,400 from E . J . Gallo , combined with $ 579,998 in the agriculture donations category . The fall-run , currently the only commercially and recreationally fishable stock , was closed in 2023 for the third year in California ’ s history , due to low numbers of adults that survived the hostile conditions encountered in Central Valley rivers . The previous closure was in 2008-2009 , when the Sacramento River fall run collapsed to its lowest recorded levels , due to massive water exports to San Joaquin Valley water contractors , combined with poor ocean conditions . In addition , the late-fall run has been eliminated from most of its native spawning habitat . “ All four Chinook salmon runs are dependent upon cold water flows and releases from reservoirs for mitigation and spawning . If our leaders do not want to stand by as salmon runs become extinct and fishing jobs are lost , the time to act is now . Californians should send three words to Governor Newsom – temperatures and flows ,” Artis concluded .