Judge Upholds Protection for Wild Central Valley Steelhead

FRESNO, California, May 19, 2004 (ENS) - A federal judge has upheld protection for wild Central Valley steelhead trout while the federal government reviews how hatchery-raised trout is impacting the wild population.

Central Valley irrigators had gone to court to try and force the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to include steelhead born and raised in hatcheries must be included with wild steelhead when considering endangered species status.

U.S. District Judge Oliver Wanger of the Eastern District of California deferred to the federal agency's on-going review of the fish's status and ruled that wild steelhead will remain federally protected during the time it takes to complete that process.

In his ruling, Judge Wanger wrote that scientific evidence "indicates that the fish faces serious and irreparable harm if removed from the list and that, given its numbers, its listing is likely to be preserved after the review and update."

In addition, the judge agreed with the conservation and fishing groups that NMFS never determined that rainbow trout and steelhead in the Central Valley should be considered together.

"Anyone who has ever been lucky enough to see or catch a steelhead in the wild knows they are a special fish," said Norm Ploss of the Northern California Council of the Federation of Fly Fishers and its Wild Steelhead Committee, one of seven fishing and conservation groups that intervened in opposition of the irrigators' request.

"The irrigators did not bring this case because they were interested in protecting rainbow trout," Ploss said. "They wanted to use rainbow trout to allow more water diversions from Central Valley rivers."

The court's ruling did nothing to affect the amount of water the five Central Valley irrigation districts must divert to aid the endangered fish.

According to a report released in 2003, federal scientists are "highly concerned" that Central Valley steelhead populations continue to decline and less than one percent of the historic wild steelhead run remains.

"It is now up to NMFS to follow the science and continue to protect wild steelhead," said Kaitlin Lovell of Trout Unlimited. "Steelhead in the Central Valley have been lost from 95 percent of their historic habitat, and they continue to face threats from unchecked water use, blockage by dams, urban sprawl, and polluted rivers."

The case was the latest in a concerted effort by developers, irrigation and agribusiness interests, and others to strip federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections from salmon and steelhead populations along the Pacific coast following a controversial district court opinion in September 2001.

The ruling, recently upheld by a federal appeals court, found that under the agency's then-existing guidance, artificially bred hatchery fish could not be ignored in ESA listing decisions.

In light of the federal appeals ruling, the Bush administration has proposed counting hatchery raised fish in its listing decisions of Pacific salmon. Critics worry this decision could be extended to other fish species, including the Central Valley steelhead.

Treating hatchery fish as the equivalent of wild fish when making listing decisions has been widely criticized by scientists, conservationists, and fishermen.

They contend hatchery spawned fish can harm wild fish by introducing disease and altering the unique genetic makeup of the species.

In addition, fish bred and fed in hatcheries are often larger than their wild cousins, grow quickly, and compete with them during early life stages in freshwater and estuaries.

"The bottom line is this - without adequate ESA protection, steelhead recovery simply will not stand a chance," Lovell said.