California’s Pike Pickle

This isn’t just a fish story, it’s a nightmare. It’s about the pickle the state is in because of the pike in Lake Davis. The northern pike, that is, a voracious, predatory invader. Where the pike is native, as in parts of the Midwest, it’s prized by anglers. Elsewhere, the pike is an outlaw, decimating other species.

A $14-million pike control program by the Department of Fish and Game doesn’t seem to be working. About 5,000 pike were counted in the lake this summer, eight times the number of the year before. The trout population is declining. The fight must be intensified.

The 4,500-acre Lake Davis is near Portola in the Plumas National Forest about 35 miles northwest of Lake Tahoe. Over the years it became prized for its rainbow trout fishing. The first northern pike was discovered in 1994. No one is sure how it got there. But the pike population grew rapidly, threatening to destroy the trout fishery. A female pike can deposit 8,000 eggs per pound of body weight, and pike can grow to 25 pounds.

Without adequately consulting local residents, Fish and Game decided in 1997 to eradicate the predator with 50,000 pounds of the chemical rotenone. The problem was that all the other fish would die too. Local residents were understandably outraged. Their recreation-based economy was devastated for a year and their water supply lost. Worse yet, it now is clear that the rotenone didn’t kill all the pike.

The big danger is that some pike will escape the lake’s outlet and make their way down into the Feather River and to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. If that happens, the pike could destroy much of California’s prized salmon and steelhead population. The most urgent goal is to keep the pike from getting out of Lake Davis. A number of programs are underway. Ultimately, there must be a plan to eradicate these invaders. That will require drastic action. The last resort might be the most effective: to drain the lake. This would kill all the trout again and decimate the local economy for two years or more. But the trout population may disappear anyway unless the pike is eliminated.

At least this time, Plumas County residents and officials will help make the decision. The state has done an excellent job of coordinating its work with the local population, in contrast with the fiasco of 1997. Now it’s time to end Lake Davis’ pike nightmare for good.