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By Ed Zieralski UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER March 3, 2006
LONG BEACH – A luncheon gathering of fishing industry leaders from
business and government has been one of the highlights of the Fred
Hall Fishing Tackle and Boat Show here the past three years.
Bart Hall, the show's producer, and his associates once again put
together a dynamic panel for the discussion yesterday. Included were
California Department of Fish and Game Director Ryan Broddrick, Royal
Polaris captain Frank LoPreste, Eastern Sierra trout hatchery owner
Tim Alpers, Dana Landing owner Don Hansen and Jim Martin of the Pure
Fishing conservation program.
They joined others to discuss the state of fishing, particularly
California's fishing.
One of the big discussions covered the possibility that
recreational and commercial salmon fishing could be canceled this year
from southern Oregon to the Mexican border because of low numbers of
salmon in the Klamath River.
“It's a big issue,” said Hansen, chairman of the Pacific
Fisheries Management Council, which meets to discuss the issue next
week in Seattle. “It affects both California and Oregon, and we're
looking at a total ocean closure on salmon fishing.”
Darrell Ticehurst of the Pacific Fisheries Management Council said
the issue is more about water allocation than fishing. Some blame
Oregon farmers for taking too much of the water that supported salmon
and other river life.
“The state (DFG) is saying there aren't enough fish coming
through,” Ticehurst said. “But in 1992 there was a new low run of
fish, and three years later the fish came back in record numbers.
Fishing didn't cause this. It's more a water allocation issue.”
Meantime, Broddrick, the DFG director, said he's facing a hiring
freeze and budget cuts of more than $76 million – from $387 million
to $311 million, the DFG's total budget to manage fish and wildlife in
California. But he added that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has allocated
$6 million from the general fund to cover AB 7, the hatchery bill that
requires one-third of all money received from the sale of state
fishing licenses to go to the hatchery program. Broddrick said he'll
announce a five-year “rollout plan” to outline the DFG's plan to
abide by that legislative directive.
One of the better items to emerge from the luncheon was news that
the Department of Fish and Game will launch a program to reward
anglers for fishing in California waters.
DFG marine biologist and outdoors writer Carrie Wilson authored the
program, and Broddrick and others in his department have embraced it.
Essentially, anglers will get awards, prizes and other incentives to
fish the state's freshwater and saltwater.
Broddrick said Wilson's California Fishing Passport program will
appeal to all levels of fishermen, from first-time anglers to seasoned
fishermen who “think they've done it all.”
The fishing passport will contain a list of all game fish occurring
in state waters – more than 40 species of freshwater sportfish, 150
species of saltwater game fish and a handful of shellfish such as
lobster, clams and crabs. Anglers will get stamps for their passports
when they fish and redeem them for prizes. Sponsors who have signed on
so far include Berkley Fishing, West Marine and the Recreational
Boating and Fishing Foundation.
“This is the first positive, proactive program the DFG has had in
more than a decade,” said Tom Raftican, president of the United
Anglers of Southern California. “It's really encouraging that the (DFG)
is going forward with such a positive program to promote fishing.”
Wilson said the passport program will launch on June 10, the free
fishing day in the state. She expects it to be fully running by Jan.
1. She said it will take minimal staffing to run it and that most of
it will be handled by a computer program. Wilson added that there may
be a small charge for entering the California Fishing Passport
Program. |