As many as half of this year’s endangered Sacramento River winter Chinook salmon run may have perished in irrigation ditches, according to information disclosed in a federal agency report, a state agency report and an independent scientific assessment. To compound the problem, the weakened survivors face being hammered by the mismanagement of cold water releases […]
In the latest episode in the Brown administration’s Signgate scandal, Restore the Delta Thursday released an expert legal opinion finding that the California Department of Transportation’s (Caltrans) confiscation of Save the Delta! Stop the Tunnels! signs displayed by Delta land and business owners was done without any legal basis. The legal opinion from the First […]
While the state and federal governments have doubled down on a water-sucking peripheral canal that would be a boon for big agribusiness and Southern California, other state officials are emphasizing that it’s not yet a done deal. The California Natural Resources Agency on August 29 held the first public meeting of the Bay Delta Conservation […]
California Governor Jerry Brown got some backing for his plan to ship water to big agriculture and Southern California sprawl. But the source shouldn’t come as a surprise: it’s the American Council of Engineering Companies, California (ACEC California). But Delta advocates disagree strongly with ACEC California’s rosy assessment of Brown’s peripheral tunnel plan, noting that […]
By Jennifer Savage The Ocean Conservancy California made history today when the Fish and Game Commission voted to adopt a network of Marine Protected Areas for northern California. The vote marks the completion of the United States’ first statewide network of underwater parks, protecting California’s most iconic coastal waters and sea life, from rockfish and razor […]
The California Fish and Game Commission on June 6 adopted regulations for the North Coast marine protected areas (MPAs) created under the controversial Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative. Commissioners Michael Sutton, Richard Rogers and Jack Baylis voted 3 to 0 to approve the regulations covering approximately 1,027 square miles of state waters from the […]
The Delta Stewardship Council staff on May 14 released the final draft Delta Plan, drawing a response from Delta advocates that the fix is in to build a peripheral canal or tunnel that would grab millions of gallons of water for agribusiness and Southern California development, leaving fish, native tribes, and other users high and […]
As you have probably heard by now, HR 1837, which has acquired the nickname The Salmon Extinction Bill has passed the House of Representatives. This water grab amounts to a bailout for corporate welfare bums at great expense to fish, the environment and the people of the Delta. How bad is the bill? Spectacularly aweful: Barbara […]
Why are our tax dollars going to subsidize the creation of Frankenfish? It’s bad enough the government has totally failed to do any kind of regulation for genetically modified organisms (GMOs), including blocking attempts to at least mandate labeling for these artificial and barely-tested foods .
But why on earth should taxpayers have to subsidize the hugely-profitable companies that are developing them?
State fishery biologists are conducting tests on some of the million-plus sardines from the Redondo Beach Harbor in southern California to determine the cause of a massive die-off on Tuesday, March 8, according to Andrew Hughan, Department of Fish and Game (DFG) spokesman. Approximately one million dead sardines were discovered in the Redondo Beach harbor […]
This is an updated version of an article that I did about John Laird when his appointment as California Natural Resources Secretary was not yet confirmed by the Brown administration. Below the article is my open letter to John Laird. Governor Jerry Brown on January 4 appointed John Laird, a former Assemblyman from Santa Cruz, […]
The harvest of soft shell and peeler blue crabs in Chesapeake Bay has been declared a commercial fishery failure by U.S. Government. The federal declaration is an important step in providing economic assistance to the communities reliant upon crab production.
According to this year’s report, Americans consumed a total of 4.908 billion pounds of seafood in 2007, slightly less than the 4.944 billion pounds in 2006. The average American ate 16.3 pounds of fish and shellfish in 2007, a one percent decline from the 2006 consumption figures of 16.5 pounds. But what most concerns scientists is the growth in imported farm-raised seafood coupled with declines global fishstocks.