THE IRIDEUS - SEPTEMBER 2019
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onservation onversation
With Julie Ruth Haselden
Central Valley Salmon — A message from Dr. Mark Rockwell, D.C. President & VP Conservation, NCCFFI, and Will Moore.
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ello all. Please read the L.A. Times article linked below. It tells us exactly what we’re up against in Washington to save California central valley salmon, steelhead, Delta Smelt, striped bass and others fish, including Southern Resident Killer Whales. We heard rumors that NOAA’s Fisheries Jeopardy Opinion on water operations in the Delta, a 1,123 page analysis, is being suppressed by the Administration. The opinion found proposed changes in government water operations would harm species protected by the Endangered Species Act, including perilously low populations of winter-run salmon, trout and killer whales.
The scientists who wrote it have been removed from the project. They have been replaced by a second team to do a “re-write”, i.e., to come up with the right political answer. A copy of the original report was leaked to the LA Times. Read the LA Times’s view on
the matter and follow the links to the original report https://www.latimes.com/environment/ story/2019-08-20/trump-california-watersalmon-farms I met with four others in Los Angeles last Friday with Senator Feinstein’s staff and discussed for 90 minutes the issues in the BayDelta with water and fish, and this will be sent to them as a follow-up. We asked the Senator to not allow this to happen, and to take action in an Op-Ed and within the Senate to block the administration’s efforts. Our fisheries are at stake. All hands on deck! FISH HANDLING AND PHOTOGRAPHY BASICS.
Kirston Koths demonstrates the proper handling of a fish to take a great KEW photograph - image courtesy of Kirston Koths
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hen it comes to handling fish that we plan to release, a few basic practices will go a long way. Same goes for capturing that moment in photographs. Here are a few simple things to consider the next time a fish comes to hand and the camera comes out. • Make sure your camera is ready to go! Keep your camera easily accessible and make sure that it has plenty of battery, storage capacity,
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