Court Considers Interim Fish Stocking Measures

As I discussed in my 4/18/08 post, in late 2006 the Pacific Rivers Council and Center for Biological Diversity sued the California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG) to compel the agency to complete a fish stocking Environmental Impact Report (EIR). In Spring 2007, the court agreed that an EIR was necessary and required that a draft environmental document be completed by the end of 2008.

Now with the 12/31/08 deadline looming and the CDFG apparently having made little progress toward completing the EIR, the agency petitioned the court to extend the completion date to 1/10/2010. In response, the Pacific Rivers Council and Center for Biological Diversity argued that the extension should not be granted unless interim stocking guidelines are put into place to minimize impacts of stocking on sensitive species while the EIR is being written. Sensitive species of particular concern include the California golden trout, Santa Ana sucker, mountain yellow-legged frog, and Cascades frog.

On 11/7/08, the court ordered the CDFG into talks with the Pacific Rivers Council and Center for Biological Diversity to develop these interim measures. So, the parties have until 11/24/08 to negotiate an agreement that specifies where the CDFG can stock fish pending completion of the EIR.

Using a tactic that they've used repeatedly in the past, the CDFG issued a press release that seems an ill-considered attempt to stir up controversy, perhaps to strengthen their hand in the negotiations with the Pacific Rivers Council and Center for Biological Diversity. Responding to the court order, CDFG Director Donald Koch made the claim that a failure by the parties to reach an agreement could "stop altogether or significantly reduce its fish stocking programs", with significant impacts to local businesses and communities. This far overstates the Court's order which considers limiting stocking only where a handful of sensitive species are present.

What will it take for the CDFG to take seriously its obligations to minimize impacts of fish stocking to California's native fauna? The outcome of the negotiations will speak volumes about the CDFGs intent. Things could get interesting....

Back to The Mountain Yellow-legged Frog Site.