A bigger, older fish gasping for more water: White sturgeon slipping away
Another fish native to the San Francisco Bay estuary may be joining the queue filing toward extinction. That’s the fear of a coalition of environmental groups that have petitioned the California Fish and Game Commission to list the white sturgeon, one of the largest freshwater fishes in the world, as a threatened species under California’s Endangered Species Act. At its June 19th meeting in Mammoth Lakes, the commission responded to the petition by calling for a full status review of the species, which could lead to a formal listing. The decision gives the white sturgeon full protected status while the review is underway. This will mean a pause on recreational sturgeon fishing—popular in the Bay and Delta—and more careful operation of water pumping stations in the south Delta. Water supply proponents have publicly opposed the review and feel the impacts it will have on water supply operations are unfair when the species is merely a candidate for listing.
Related news release:
- U.S. Bureau of Reclamation: Making a major river corridor more fish-friendly