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24 April 2009 - Business Letter

Honorable Jared Huffman, Chairman
Assembly Committee on Water, Parks and Wildlife
1020 N Street, Suite 160
Sacramento CA 95814

Oppose AB 1253
Fuller - Striped Bass

Chair Huffman and Committee Members:

Assemblywoman Fuller’s proposed legislation is bad for the environment and bad for California business. The stated legislative intent is to enhance water exports from the Delta by significantly reducing the population of striped bass. However, we encourage the Committee members to closely examine the true consequences of the proposed legislation - this legislation will likely hurt many and help none. Further, the businesses most impacted by this legislation receive no government subsidies and contribute significantly to the tax base of their communities. We, who have signed this letter, are but a small representation of the affected businesses.

We urge close examination at which time you will find the proposed legislation;

• Will SIGNIFICANTLY HARM the businesses that depend on viable recreational fishing in the Delta.
• Will not enhance the abundance (population) of threatened and endangered species associated with the Delta, such as Delta Smelt, Winter-Run and Spring-Run Chinook Salmon.
• Will divert attention away from the significant environmental factors that need be addressed in order to provide reliable irrigation water to California’s farmers and restore the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

Should you pass the proposed legislation, you will likely endanger the livelihood of many businesses and industries that depend on the striped bass recreational fishery; including fishing guides, fishing party boats, bait and tackle shops, marinas, resorts, restaurants, boat dealers, boat and motor repair shops, and numerous related and supporting employers. According to the last assessment, about 20% of the Delta economy depends to a significant extent on the striped bass fishery. However, you can see from the geographic range of concerned businesses that the entire state will be impacted by this legislation, including many businesses in Assemblywoman Fuller’s district. The likely consequence of Assemblywoman Fuller’s legislation will be to add Californians in fishing-related businesses to the growing number of unemployed in our state.

Sincerely,

Sign Letter

24 April 2009 - Individual Letter

Honorable Jared Huffman, Chairman
Assembly Committee on Water, Parks and Wildlife
1020 N Street, Suite 160
Sacramento CA 95814

Oppose AB 1253
Fuller - Striped Bass

Chair Huffman and Committee Members:

Assemblywoman Fuller’s intent for AB 1253 is to enhance water exports from the Delta. She claims this will be accomplished by eliminating gamefish protections for striped bass, causing a reduction in the population of striped bass and reducing striped bass predation on threatened and endangered fish, allegedly by significant amounts. Assemblywoman Fuller’s line of reasoning further relies upon the contention that reduced striped bass predation will result in significantly increased populations of threatened and endangered fish. Fuller’s hypothesized recovery in the population of threatened and endangered smelt, salmon, steelhead and sturgeon would, in turn, lessen water export restrictions, particularly the export restrictions recently implemented by the Department of Water Resources and the Bureau of Reclamation in an attempt to stem the Delta Smelt’s slide to extinction. Finally, Fuller’s line of reasoning alleges that lessened restrictions on water exports, on behalf of threatened and endangered fish, would translate into greater water exports for irrigated agriculture, especially water for her constituents in the southern San Joaquin valley.

We encourage the Committee members to closely examine the true consequences of the proposed legislation and not rely on Assemblywoman Fuller’s complex, alleged, and hypothesized consequences - this legislation will likely hurt many and help none.

Upon close examination, you will find the proposed legislation;

• Will not enhance the abundance (population) of threatened and endangered species associated with the Delta, such as Delta Smelt, Winter-Run Chinook Salmon, and Spring-Run Chinook Salmon.
• Will not facilitate increased or more reliable water exports from the Delta and consequently will not increase the economic stability of agricultural interests than depend on such exports.
• Will divert attention away from the significant environmental factors that need be addressed in order to provide reliable irrigation water to California’s farmers and restore the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
• Will significantly harm the businesses that depend on viable recreational fishing in the Delta.

According to fishery biologists with the State and Federal fish agencies, fishery biologists with the State and Federal water contractors, California Resource Agency biologists and managers, and fishery biologists at the State’s respected academic institutions; the proposed legislation lacks scientific basis, contradicts the established science, and may have unanticipated environmental consequences. These experts generally indicate the proposed legislation will not have the intended consequences. Additionally, according to toxicologists at the State heath agencies, the proposed legislation will have unintended public health consequences because subsistence fishers and their children will excessively consume mercury-laden and PCB-laden striped bass if gamefish status for striped bass is revoked. We encourage you to solicit input from the objective experts before seriously considering the proposed legislation.

As you are likely aware, Assemblywoman Fuller’s proposed legislation is the subject of a lawsuit filed by Assemblywoman Fuller’s constituents. Judge Oliver Wanger, US District Court, Eastern District of California, is scheduled to hear this case in February 2010. The complex issues of striped bass predation will be thoroughly considered in this lawsuit. You should await the results of this lawsuit before seriously considering Assemblywoman Fullers proposed legislation.

As you are also likely aware, various activities have been recently completed or are underway to address (1) reliable water exports from the Delta and/or (2) recovery of threatened and endangered Delta fish; including the recently-completed Delta Vision process, the recently-completed Delta Smelt Biological Opinion, the near-final Salmon/Steelhead/Sturgeon Biological Opinion, the ongoing Pelagic Organism Decline investigation, and the under-development Bay Delta Conservation Plan - all these efforts represent policy-based and science-based, comprehensive efforts that explicitly consider the impacts of striped bass. In light of these efforts, Assemblywoman Fuller’s proposed legislation, if passed, could be viewed as special interests usurping cooperative, deliberate, regulatory, democratic processes. The problems of the Bay-Delta ecosystem demand a cooperative solution, not special interest legislation.

Sincerely,

Sign Letter

24 April 2009 - Fishing Organization Letter

Honorable Jared Huffman, Chairman
Assembly Committee on Water, Parks and Wildlife
1020 N Street, Suite 160
Sacramento CA 95814

Oppose AB 1253
Fuller - Striped Bass

Chair Huffman and Committee Members:

Our organizations oppose Assemblywoman Fuller’s proposed legislation that would remove gamefish protections for striped bass.

Many of our members enjoy the recreational fishing opportunities provided by the West Coast striped bass fishery. Many of our members are conservationists that support the preservation and restoration of threatened and endangered species, including smelt, salmon, steelhead, and sturgeon. Furthermore, many of our members support the balanced use of California’s water resources, which includes sustainable allocation of the State’s limited developed water to support irrigated agriculture and its resulting employment benefits. We reject Assemblywoman Fuller’s false choice between a recreational striped bass fishery and sustainable irrigated agriculture.

We encourage the Committee members to closely examine the true consequences of the proposed legislation - this legislation will likely hurt many and help none. Upon close examination, you will find the proposed legislation;

• Will not enhance the abundance (population) of threatened and endangered species associated with the Delta, such as Delta Smelt, Winter-Run Chinook Salmon, and Spring-Run Chinook Salmon.
• Will not facilitate increased or more reliable water exports from the Delta and consequently will not increase the economic stability of agricultural interests than depend on such exports.
• Will divert attention away from the significant environmental factors that need be addressed in order to provide reliable irrigation water to California’s farmers and restore the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
• Will significantly harm the businesses that depend on viable recreational fishing in the Delta.

According to fishery biologists with the State and Federal fish agencies, fishery biologists with the State and Federal water contractors, California Resource Agency biologists and managers, and fishery biologists at the State’s respected academic institutions; the proposed legislation lacks scientific basis, contradicts the established science, and may have unanticipated environmental consequences. These same experts generally indicate the proposed legislation will not have the intended consequences. Additionally, according to toxicologists at the State heath agencies, the proposed legislation will have unintended public health consequences because subsistence fishers and their children will excessively consume mercury-laden and PCB-laden striped bass once striped bass harvest regulations are removed. We encourage you to solicit input from these experts before seriously considering the proposed legislation.

The issue of striped bass predation, or more broadly the issue of piscivorous behavior, is neither new nor unregulated. The California constitution, along with existing law and regulation, charge the California Fish & Game Commission, the California Department of Fish and Game, and in the context of Delta exports, the California Department of Water Resources, with mitigating significant predation from either introduced (striped bass) or invasive species. Assemblywoman Fuller’s proposed legislation represents a deliberate attempt to circumvent established process instead of working within process.

As you are likely aware, Assemblywoman Fuller’s proposed legislation is the subject of a lawsuit filed by Assemblywoman Fuller’s constituents. Judge Oliver Wanger, US District Court, Eastern District of California, is scheduled to hear this case in February 2010. The complex issues of striped bass predation will be thoroughly considered in this lawsuit. You should await the results of this lawsuit before seriously considering Assemblywoman Fullers proposed legislation.

As you are also likely aware, various activities have been recently completed or are underway to address (1) reliable water exports from the Delta and/or (2) recovery of threatened and endangered Delta fish; including the recently-completed Delta Vision process, the recently-completed Delta Smelt Biological Opinion, the near-final Salmon/Steelhead/Sturgeon Biological Opinion, the ongoing Pelagic Organism Decline investigation, and the under-development Bay Delta Conservation Plan - all these efforts represent policy-based and science-based, comprehensive efforts that explicitly consider the impacts of striped bass. In light of these efforts, Assemblywoman Fuller’s proposed legislation, if passed, could be viewed as special interests usurping cooperative, deliberate, regulatory, democratic processes. The problems of the Bay-Delta ecosystem demand a cooperative solution, not special interest legislation.

Sincerely,

Sign Letter