California Fish and Game ends striped bass population mandate, allowing decline

The California Fish and Game Commission on Friday voted unanimously to amend its decades-old policy regarding striped bass, beginning a process that could allow the population to decline.

The decision ends a 1996 policy that had committed the state to sustaining a population of about 1 million striped bass in the Delta and other California waterways.

They’re voracious, nonnative predators that can weigh as much as 60 pounds. They’re especially popular among anglers. It’s unclear exactly how many striped bass are in the state, but the number is believed to be fewer than 300,000.

Farming groups and urban water associations have for years sought to reduce the population of striped bass, arguing that doing so would help the endangered Chinook salmon and Delta smelt that bass prey on and make environmental regulators less likely to impose restrictions on Delta pumping stations that send water to farms and Southern California.

The decision to adopt new Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta fisheries management rules and amend the striped bass policy followed impassioned public comment from both supporters and opponents.

“The commission is trying to update an old policy and strike a balance between the native fish and striped bass, which is not native, but has certainly been around a long time,” said commission spokeswoman Jordan Traverso.

That position was opposed by anglers, who believe that reducing the population of striped bass would lead to the eradication of sport fishing in Central Valley and Delta waterways.

Commission President Eric Sklar acknowledged in his remarks that the decision likely would please neither side of the debate.

The new policy does not spell out the specific number of fish, but commissioners and staff alike said they are committed to supporting the striped bass fishery.

The new policy “calls out explicit support for all game fisheries,” said Traverso, who added that the Friday decision is “a commitment to the fishery as well as recovery of the native species.”

This story was originally published February 21, 2020 at 4:24 PM with the headline "California Fish and Game ends striped bass population mandate, allowing decline."