OUTDOOR NOTES : More Than 4 Years of Drought Taking a Toll on Wildlife

Steelhead can’t get upstream to spawn because their streams no longer reach the ocean, Chinook salmon are running out of time, deer populations are down and waterfowl are being squeezed into shrinking feeding grounds.

That’s the gloomy picture Pete Bontadelli, director of the Department of Fish and Game, painted for the State Water Resources Control Board on the first of two days of hearings in Sacramento Tuesday.

Not all of the problems can be blamed on the drought, now midway through its fifth year. Development, thoughtless abuses and mismanagement--some by the DFG--also have hurt, but the creatures can learn to live a limited life with those factors. They can’t live without water.

“The cumulative impacts of the last four years of drought, the lack of adequate environmental protection and the growing competition for over-appropriated existing water supplies have put our fish and wildlife resources in jeopardy,” Bontadelli said.

Bontadelli wasn’t the only witness. More than 100 others were scheduled, representing all groups of water users in the state. But his was the main voice for wildlife. He wasn’t asking for more water. He knows the board can’t make rain. But he wants the board to understand that wildlife can’t stand much less. Fish already are swimming in minimum pools.

Some of Bontadelli’s proposals, paraphrased:

--First priority should be given to threatened and endangered species.

--In some cases, it may be preferable to sacrifice certain reservoir fisheries, which can be more easily replenished, to save downstream fisheries.

--Where possible in allocations, favor growers whose annual crops provide secondary wildlife benefits.

Bontadelli’s recurring theme to the board was this: Whenever it considers an action affecting fish or wildlife, check with the DFG first.

“Much of what you need to do will require our advice and expertise,” he said.

Richard May, president of the conservation lobby CalTrout, said that for too long the DFG was regarded as a “weak-sister agency.” He was glad to see Bontadelli flex his muscles.

“Constituents are demanding that Fish and Game be stronger,” May said.

“I welcome the department’s willingness to be more assertive with the Water Board. The state should rely on them absolutely when it comes to what the needs of the fish are.”

From a peak of 749,020 in 1988, recreational boat sales in the U.S. plunged to 637,000 in ’89 and 504,100 in ‘90, while ownership climbed to a record 16,022,000. What this means is that more people than ever have boats. They just aren’t buying new ones.

That is the problem facing the dealers who will display more than 900 boats at the 35th annual Southern California Boat Show, running Friday through Feb. 9 at the L.A. ConventionCenter.

One solution proposed by Eric Sponberg, a yacht designer from Newport, R.I., was that old fiberglass boats, which never rot, should be re-cycled--ground up--to make room in the market for new boats.

Show hours: 2-10 p.m. weekdays, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturdays, 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Sundays. Admission: adults $6, children under 12 free. Off-street parking with free shuttle service is available at 12th Street and Grand on weekends.

Briefly

INSTRUCTION--A two-day bass fishing school is being offered Feb. 9-10 at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, with some of the country’s top professional bass fishermen as instructors. Details: (714) 432-5880. . . . Casting, strategy and tackle for success in saltwater fly fishing will be the topics of Les Eichorn, Nick Curcione and Chico Fernandez Feb. 16-17 at Bob Marriott’s Fly Fishing Center in Irvine. Details: (714) 525-1827. . . . Doug Swisher, casting instructor and fly tyer, will speak at the Pasadena Casting Club meeting Thursday, Feb. 14, 7:30 p.m. at the San Marino Masonic Temple. No admission charge.

MISCELLANY--A nature-discovery workshop sponsored by the Pacific Wilderness Institute--introducing plant, animal and bird life in various Orange County habitats--will meet Tuesdays from 9 a.m. to noon between Jan. 29-Feb. 19. Details: (714) 998-4596. . . . A workshop highlighting the historical, recreational and legal aspects of shipwrecks off the California coast will be held Feb. 16 at 1 p.m. at the Cabrillo Marine Museum in San Pedro. No cost. Details: (213) 548-7618.

The 18th annual wildfowl arts festival--in which more than 250 people will compete for awards for their carvings--will be held Feb. 16-17 at the San Diego Princess Resort. Cost: $5. Details: (619) 421-1034. . . . Mexican fishery officials are finally expressing concern over dwindling giant black sea bass stocks and--although there have been no laws or limits restricting their take--urge that those fish be released when caught. The species has a life span of about 100 years but doesn’t spawn until it reaches 11. It is protected in California.