CDFW Provides $36 Million for Project to Save Salmon and Other California Fish

By: LOG STAFF

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife announced on April 13 that they would be supporting nearly $36 million in projects to benefit salmon and their habitats and to continue supporting climate resiliency, wildlife corridors (a strip of natural habitat connecting populations of wildlife that are otherwise separated by cultivated land), and wetland restoration.

According to the CDFW, many key actions for future Californians will be required in or to save salmon and rebuild their populations. Acts will include:

• Investing in and restoring salmon strongholds as climate refugia.

• Increasing partnerships.

• Working with Tribes.

• Incorporating more large-scale restoration faster.

• Modernizing old infrastructures.

• Creating fish passage around migration barriers.

Awards will be distributed as the following:

Salmon Strongholds: Klamath, Scott, and Shasta Rivers.

The CDFW will award $20 million in Drought Emergency Salmon Protection Grants to 10 projects that will provide support by collaborating with Tribes a nd landowners in the Shasta and Scott rivers and their watersheds. Support will be provided by habitat improvement, removing barriers that black fish passages, and groundwater recharge projects. N ine million from the funds will go to Tribes in the Klamath River mainstream for post-McKinney Fire debris flow damage remediation, slope and sediment stabilization, and restoration for salmonids.

Climate Resiliency and Nature-Based Solutions.

The CDFW will award $6.9 million to nine projects to expand support to nature-based solutions, climate resiliency, w ildlife corridors, and restoration of wetlands. Projects funded with these grants w ill go toward planning and implementation of wetlands and mountain meadows, including expanding habitat for Lahontan cutthroat trout habitat on the Upper Truckee River, addressing urgent degrading water and habitat conditions due to c limate change impacts in Shasta and Sonoma counties, and creating habitat connectivity through wildlife corridors funding for species such as Clear Lake hitch and newts, among other projects.

While awaiting the commencement of these projects, t he CDFW will continue to accept applications for new projects and make awards on an ongoing basis as long as they emphasize a strategic approach to rebuilding salmon and other species through the removal of barriers to migration, improving water management and quality, restoring core salmon strongholds, and taking substantial steps to modernize older infrastructures for salmon-friendly results.

The CDFW announced in late 2022 that $200 million in new funding was available for restoration, including $100 million in emergency drought funding for protecting salmon against drought and climate change.

F unding under the Addressing Climate Impacts and Nature-Based Solutions initiatives provides:

• Grant funding for projects addressing water and habitat impacted by climate.

• Restoring wetlands and mountain meadows.

• Creating wildlife corridors.

On March 7, 2023, CDFW announced its first round of awards totaling $22.5 million for 19 projects from this funding.

To achieve that goal of California accomplishing more restoration faster, the CDFW has developed a single set of General Grant Program Guidelines with an overview of eligible project types, priorities, and i nformation on the application process, available at www.wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Watersheds/Restoration-Grants/ Concept-Application.

More information about these funding opportunities, including guidelines and how to apply, general information about CDFW’s grant programs, and a schedule for upcoming grant solicitations, once available, can be found at w ww.wildlife. ca.gov/grants.

Sport Fishing Magazine Shares Ten Weird Ways to Catch Fish

By: KATHERINE M. CLEMENTS

If you always thought the ways to catch a fish were limited to rods and nets, sportfishingmag.com has something to tell you, and they’re saying you can leave the rod and reel at home.

Unsurprisingly, in a world where technology blossoms daily, drones can now be used for fishing— hunting for kelp patties just got easier.

A ccording to S port Fishing , landbased shark and tuna anglers have begun using drones to chauffeur their bait past the breakers where the bigger fish commonly are found— a technique that is easier as the advancement in technology lowers the price of drones.

The article by Joe Albanese reads, «These anglers rig their drones with remote triggers, allowing them to place baits exactly where they want them. This also permits them to use whatever rod and reel combo is needed to beat big game, including the largest Penn Internationals or similar.»

N ext, S port Fishing a nd Albanese talk about electrofishing. Electrofishing is a fishing technique using direct electricity flowing between a submerged cathode and an anode. This affects the movements of nearby fish, so t hey swim toward the anode, where they can be caught or stunned. According to Albanese, this method is generally used for sampling. The stunned fish are placed in holding tanks, and then bio - metric data like length and size is collected before release. According to ScienceDirect, electrofishing is the most p opular method for sampling fish populations. Read more about electrofishing at https://www.sciencedirect.com/ topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/ electrofishing.

The cutest way the article suggests to fish without a reel and rod is by using an otter to fish. Using animals to catch fish has been around for a while. Birds and mammals have both been used. Cultures, including the Chinese, Japanese, Greeks, English, and French, use cormorants— an aquatic bird— to catch fish, whereas, in Brazil, fishermen coordinate with dolphins to catch fish.

In Albanese’s article, “10 Weird Ways to Catch Fish,” he says, “Now typically only practiced in Bangladesh, anglers i n Scandinavia, Germany, Poland, England, Scotland, China, and even North a nd South America used otters to catch fish. An illustration on a map from 1539 of what was then known as Scandinavia depicts an otter fetching a fish for its handler, who is ready to fillet and cook it.”

I n a 2014 report from Phys.org, Shashudhar Biswas, a fisherman from Bangladesh, says that the otters do not actually catch the fish. Instead, similar to how the Brazilian fisherman works with the dolphins, the otters will chase the fish toward the net that is placed next to the boat.