The State - News from Aug. 7, 1989

The number of young striped bass, a popular large game fish in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, is near a 30-year low, which could mean a substantial decrease in numbers of mature fish available to fishermen three years from now, the state Department of Fish and Game reported. Officials said the count was even lower than they had expected, based on decreased water flow during the last three years of drought, and said they are looking at possible causes. “There has been a loss of fish in the diversion of water to state and local projects. There have also been substantial changes in the food supply and introduction of (competing) species,” said Pete Chadwick, program director of the department’s Bay Delta project. There is also a concern that toxic runoff from agricultural pesticides and herbicides may be contributing, he said.