Court of Appeals decision strikes the precautionary principle in determinations under the Endangered Species Act The directive from Congress that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) must base their decisions on the “best scientific and commercial data available” under section 7 of the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) has inarguably contributed to the conservation of imperiled species. The California condor, the gray wolf, and the bald eagle are all examples of this. Unfortunately, the federal wildlife agencies predictably drift from value-neutral assessment of the status of species and the effects of human activity on those species to assumptions in line with the precautionary principle, when confronted with substantive uncertainties regarding the ecologies of listed species and the environments […] Written by Paul S. Weiland July 3, 2023July 5, 2023
Let’s dispel myths attending California’s latest Chinook salmon fishery closure Reports and posts accompanying the salmon season closure have been rife with misinformation, repeating three persistent and self-serving myths regarding the factors that have contributed to the imperiled state of Central Valley salmon runs. Written by Bradley J Cavallo May 3, 2023May 10, 2023
Is the longfin smelt population in the San Francisco Estuary really endangered? It’s not a rhetorical question… The only responsible path forward for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in its decision-making for longfin smelt in the Bay and Delta leads back to the drawing board. Written by Dennis D. Murphy March 23, 2023March 24, 2023
Strengthening the Species Status Assessment Process: The Longfin Smelt SSA Provides Instructive Insights Based on close reading of the Longfin Smelt Species Status Assessment, we have identified four ways in which the Service should update its Species Status Assessment Framework. Written by Paul S. Weiland February 28, 2023March 2, 2023
Water, water everywhere — but where is the science supporting its management in the Delta? Wrong-headed management decisions have done nothing to help the imperiled delta smelt and contributed to perpetuating the economic and social pain caused by years of drought across much of California, from Silicon Valley to the Central Valley and southern California. Written by Dennis D. Murphy January 17, 2023January 19, 2023
Petition aimed at protecting non-native Striped Bass will only worsen the plight of California’s imperiled native fishes The Northern California Guides and Sportsmen’s Association (NCGASA) has filed a petition for regulatory change with the California Fish and Game Commission that would alter sport fishing such that only striped bass within a 10-inch size range could be legally harvested. Stripers less than 20 inches would be protected from harvest, as would stripers larger than 30 inches. The existing regulations allow anglers to keep any fish 18 inches or greater in length. The stated purpose of the proposed change to a “slot limit” is to contribute to the conservation of striped bass — to grow the population in the San Francisco Estuary and its tributary rivers and to boost […] Written by Paul S. Weiland September 6, 2022September 6, 2022
The mystifying absence of hypothesis testing in the Delta science endeavor Just about every one of us was introduced to the scientific method in a middle-school science class. We were told that science happens when hypotheses about how things work are evaluated using observations and data. Facts we were told emerge when hypotheses stand up or don’t stand up to that test. And that we learned is how science is done Of course, for the very most of us that straightforward explanation had no ready adolescent application, and the lesson like so many others was lost in the white noise of stuff that mattered at the time. Now, even for the teenagers who were later to become scientists, that early in-one-ear-and-out-the-other […] Written by Dennis D. Murphy August 29, 2022August 30, 2022
Are threatened and endangered species better off without a definition for habitat? The federal wildlife agencies think so. If conservation scientists agree on one big thing, it’s that the destruction and fragmentation and degradation of habitats are the dominant threats to the persistence of most imperiled species. Congress recognized that fact a half century ago in the purpose statement to the Endangered Species Act (ESA) – that is, “to provide a means whereby the ecosystems upon which endangered species and threatened species depend may be conserved.” In that light it is curious that the principal focus of the ESA is on species rather than their habitats. Concurrent with a determination to list a species as endangered or threatened under the ESA, Congress instructs the Fish and Wildlife Service […] Written by Paul S. Weiland July 7, 2022July 7, 2022
How can science help the Voluntary Agreements succeed? This past week a number of federal, state, and local agencies took a significant first step toward negotiation of Voluntary Agreements (VAs) that could be the basis for implementing updated water quality objectives for California’s Bay-Delta. This is a notable milestone but much work remains. The participating agencies must agree upon the details of the VAs, and ultimately, the State Water Resources Control Board must consider whether to adopt the VAs as the means to implement the Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan. The memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed by the VA parties, and the term sheet attached to the MOU, explain the intent of those parties to present VAs to […] Written by Paul S. Weiland April 8, 2022April 11, 2022
American shad — the Delta’s most-abundant and least-considered anadromous fish American shad are the Chinook salmon of herring. Like Chinook salmon, adult American shad spend several years in the ocean before returning to rivers for spawning — they’re anadromous. Also, like salmon, anglers love shad because they’re fun to catch and good to eat. Well, okay, shad are not as good to eat as ocean caught salmon, but they are delicious when prepared well. American shad are native to the east coast of North American. They were introduced to the Sacramento River after repeated releases of shad fry — transported via the then newly completed transcontinental railroad — between 1871 and 1880. Shad quickly became abundant in the Sacramento River […] Written by Bradley J Cavallo February 21, 2022February 22, 2022
On science and intellectual humility in resource management For the past three decades, the federal and California governments and diverse stakeholders have looked to scientists to explain the causes of the long-term population declines in fish species native to California’s Bay-Delta in an effort to chart a course to conserve those species. Water agencies across the State have invested billions of dollars in data collection and scientific research with the hope of finding clear answers to vexing problems stemming from more than a century of large-scale environmental change to the Pacific Coast’s most expansive estuary. Armed with a sense of urgency, regulatory agencies have felt the compulsion to act. “Clean narratives” sometimes supplied by scientists, but more often […] Written by Paul S. Weiland January 14, 2022January 18, 2022
Adaptive resource management in the Delta and Bay – it’s proving to be an elusive imperative Adaptive resource management is widely acknowledged as the de rigueur approach to the management of natural resources. It is a form of structured decision-making that facilitates use of the best available scientific information by resource managers, and it draws approval from the involvement of stakeholders in its design and implementation. So, when the Delta Reform Act of 2009 identified adaptive management as the format and approach to resource management, the State of California showed a commitment to ensuring that the best professional standards of resource-management practice would be used to address the damaged ecosystems and imperiled species in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and adjacent San Francisco Bay. The Act is anchored by […] Written by Dennis D. Murphy January 3, 2022January 3, 2022
