A federal judge has lifted limits on irrigation pumping from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, which salmon fishermen say will threaten young fish migrating to sea and the future of the fishing industry.
Districts representing some of the country's largest farms asked for a temporary restraining order that would suspend the limits in the delta through mid-June. The pumping restrictions are part of a plan by federal biologists aimed at safeguarding winter-run Chinook salmon as they breed and swim out to the Pacific Ocean.
Despite the restrictions, several native fish populations are still crashing. Sacramento River salmon -- the backbone of the West Coast salmon fishery -- have returned in such small numbers in recent years that fishermen were not allowed to fish along hundreds of miles of shore in 2008 and 2009. Farms have also suffered under the persistent drought, leaving thousands jobless.
U.S. District Judge Oliver Wanger said Friday afternoon the limits could be lifted for two weeks.
But Dave Bitts, president of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations, said that the temporary restraining order issued by Wanger comes as winter- and spring-run Chinook are leaving the river system. He said that young salmon that stray from the main segment of the Sacramento River toward the delta pumps have a much less likely chance of surviving the trip to salt water.
Is the government doing everything it can to destroy the crown jewel of West Coast fisheries? Bitts said. And why?
Blog Comments