August 5, 2013 — I am proud to count myself as one of the many fishermen who are salmon stewards. I have spent decades to help support and conserve and rebuild our salmon fishery. We expect the same dedication and effort from our state and federal fish agencies, which have both the authority and obligation under the law to do their part and help us keep our Central Valley salmon thriving.
That is why I, along with 79 other commercial and recreational fishermen, sent a letter to agency leaders in the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Bureau of Reclamation, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, California Department of Water Resources, and the National Marine Fisheries Service, asking them to fulfill their obligations under the San Joaquin River Restoration Program and bring back our salmon.
The San Joaquin River was once among the largest salmon producing rivers in the Pacific. After the Friant Dam was built in the 1940’s, all the water was diverted, the river ran dry, and the salmon was gone.
It has been more than six years since we won the 18-year court battle over the dewatering of the San Joaquin River. The court sided with salmon fishermen and our allies, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, ruling that the fish and salmon management agencies needed to restore and maintain fish populations in good condition – naturally-reproducing and self-sustaining populations – in the main stem of the San Joaquin River below Friant Dam to the confluence of the Merced River.
The resulting San Joaquin River Restoration Settlement Agreement called for an extensive multi-agency effort to put enough water back in the river to support fall and spring Chinook salmon runs. These leading state and federal fish agencies committed to a salmon reintroduction that was supposed to begin by 2012.
Douglas is owner and skipper of the charter boat Wacky Jacky and is known as the matriarch of the San Francisco fishing fleet. For more than 40 years, she has led locals and tourists on salmon fishing trips out of San Francisco’s Fishermen’s Wharf. She is also the Chairwoman of the Golden Gate Fishermen’s Association, and has received numerous awards and honors for her work in salmon conservation.
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