The State Fish and Game Commission recently Southern California steelhead trout declared an endangered species, Do you think? These have been native beauties It has been in danger for decades.
In March, excitement spread when a steelhead was spotted in the Santa Ynez River Basin in Santa Barbara County.
“There’s one fish where there used to be 25,000,” says Russell Marlow, South Coast project manager. California Trout, a non-profit activist organization.
“While I celebrate a fish’s ability to survive, this is a huge red flag.”
Five years ago, three adult steelhead were spotted in the Santa Clara River, which flows between Santa Clarita and Oxnard, Marlow says.
He says there have only been 177 Southern California steelhead sightings in the past 25 years.
Endangered? They are practically extinct.
“I get a lot of students from Southern California and many have no idea about these beautiful creatures that are unique to this area. “They’d never heard of them before,” says Andrew Rypel, a fish biologist at UC Davis.
This male steelhead is one of several radio tags that scientists have outfitted in hopes of tracking their movements up and down the Elwha River.
(John McMillan/NOAA/Northwest Fisheries Science Center)
“This is a species that is really headed for extinction. If things continue as they are, it may only last another 30 to 50 years – and that’s probably even more generous.
It’s sad, especially for someone like me who is old enough to remember the excitement of steelhead spawning along the Ventura River. This was before so much human “progress”.
Steelhead is a rainbow trout He – unlike his freshwater little brother – grows in the sea. And it gets really big, up to 2 or 3 feet.
Steelhead are like their cousin the salmon. They are both born upstream and, as children, Fight off the bad guys and head out to sea, where they rely on marine nutrients not available in fresh water. They then struggle their way back up the river to their original spawning waters and give birth to a new generation.
However, unlike salmon, steelhead do not die after spawning. These superfish survive, make it back to the ocean and return once or twice to mate and reproduce.
That’s how nature designed it and that’s how it worked for thousands of years until humans messed it up – mostly when we overpopulated California after World War II.
We built dams that blocked spawning grounds, diverted fish waters for agricultural and urban use, and destroyed estuaries with development — all while saying the right things and kidding ourselves. They were sure that this would not cause any harm to the fishes. Correct!
As a young child I became fascinated with steelhead as I watched my father fish them out of the Ventura River. We had a small orange farm on the edge of the river valley in Ojai.
I remember one late afternoon when my brother and I tagged along with our father and his best friend, Bill – a former hunting and fishing guide on the Smith River near the Oregon border – as they deftly rigged spinners. Had cast into a picturesque pool with his fly. Sticks.
This was before fishing rods were made of fiberglass, let alone graphite. Dad had a beautifully varnished broken bamboo.
Twice, he and Bill used tricks to lure steelheads into nets. And somewhere in the house, in a shoebox of treasures, is a priceless photograph of my father and his fishing buddy holding two beautiful natural wonders.
At that time, the winter steelhead run was a festive time for fishermen along the Ventura River.
Then one day in 1947 I was in the front yard with my father and heard a loud bang.
“What is that?” I asked This was dynamite. “They’re building a dam but it won’t work,” Dad replied. “Why not?” “It will just be filled with sand and dirt.”
Dad had only an eighth grade education, but he knew about nature and coastal waters.
Certainly, the reservoir behind the Matilija Dam filled with sediment in just a few years and has been in a disused and deplorable state for a long time. Worse, it blocked steelhead from their spawning grounds in Matilija Creek, a tributary of the Ventura River.
The final death knell for Ventura River steelhead was the construction of the large Casitas Dam near Oak View in 1959. That reservoir is partially fed by water from the Ventura River, which is diverted through a canal below the Matilija Dam.
A few weeks ago I visited Ojai again. There was a strong flow of the river till the diversion canal. After that, the stream was a torrent. It is doubtful that any steelhead can swim in that water.
Many locals and fish lovers – like the California trout – have been trying for years to breach the Matilija Dam and reopen the spawning grounds. The reservoir is filled with 99% raw water. But it could be a $200 million project.
A $10 billion “climate bond” is being talked about for a November vote in the Legislature. This would include $100 million for dam removal.
But that bond is in competition with other proposals for housing and education. And everyone is nervous because Gov. Gavin Newsom’s $6.4 billion mental health bond barely rattled voters in the March election. There is a legitimate concern that voters will be unwilling to spend more borrowed money.
“We have to go into this with our eyes open,” says Senator Ben Allen (D-Santa Monica), who is pushing for a climate bond.
But for any steelhead to survive in the Ventura River, that dam will have to be torn down and less water diverted.
The Santa Clara and Santa Ynez Rivers were also once stocked with steelhead. And likewise they need a lot of attention to save the majestic fish.
The Endangered Species Act gives states the tools to take action. There are plans and lots of things in it. But very little clear action.
Can a few dozen native fish survive and reproduce in waters occupied by 22 million humans? it’s possible. But this does not seem compatible with human nature.
worst. We have lost a priceless asset – the asset that once attracted people to California.
