Fund the fish hatcheries

IN LOS ANGELES, BUSINESSES SOMETIMES team up to improve local shopping districts. In the eastern Sierra, they do it to buy fish food.

Hatcheries are a matter of economic survival for the state’s mountain tourism industry, but because of repeated cuts in the budget of the state Fish and Game Department, they’re in trouble. In response, businesses and local governments in Mono County raised about $100,000 for fish food and fuel for the Hot Creek hatchery near the town of Mammoth Lakes. It’s an admirable effort but, without help from the state, it may not be enough to keep the hatchery afloat.

Even more than skiing, backpacking and mountain biking, trout fishing is the economic backbone of the eastern Sierra. About three-fourths of the anglers come from Southern California. Many fear that Fish and Game officials will close Hot Creek and the Fish Springs hatchery near Big Pine, especially after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed $3 million appropriated by the Legislature this summer for hatcheries. Production at Fish Springs has declined from a usual 500,000 pounds of trout annually to 275,000, according to Tim Alpers, who raises trophy fish at his trout farm and who is leading the effort to save Hot Creek.

Hatchery closures could decimate trout populations in eastern Sierra lakes and streams. That could be avoided if Schwarzenegger signs a bill sponsored by Assemblyman David Cogdill (R-Modesto). His AB 7 would dedicate a third of the income from sport-fishing license sales to keep the hatcheries running and to help bring back native trout species in certain areas. The measure passed the Legislature without a single “no” vote. But the Department of Fish and Game is lobbying Schwarzenegger to veto the bill, claiming that it would force cuts in other priority programs. Alpers and his allies argue that the department refuses to identify what other programs might be hurt.

Passing laws to permanently earmark money for specific programs generally is bad policy. An increasing amount of Fish and Game’s budget comes from licenses and fees, and less from the state’s general fund. The state budget still has red ink, but potentially dooming hatcheries by vetoing a $3-million appropriation is also poor policy. Because the state has failed to find the money to support the century-old hatchery system, the Cogdill measure is needed. Schwarzenegger should sign this bill.