California officials will poison lake to target nonnative fish 10

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1. 

   metalman Posted 8:17 am
   24 Sep 2007

   destroy the invader!Anyone remember the the Viet Nam era phrase  "it became necessary to destroy the village to save it" ? It's insanity to spread poison like that, any fool knows. How has the petrochemical industry succeeded so well in pushing it's war-for-profit agenda? Why are people so stupid as to tolerate or encourage this? The nail in the coffin of 'nativism' is climate change and habitat destruction from human activities To blame any non-native organism for our wanton and thoughtless plundering of the planet is merely advanced displacement. And it probably will not work for long anyway... grrr., poison users make me mad...

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2. 

   TCWriter Posted 1:35 pm
   24 Sep 2007

   Get a clue...Petrochemical industry? You don't know what you're talking about.
   Some idiots illegally introduced northern pike into Lake Davis -- they're voracious predators and the danger is they'll escape and eventually arrive in the California Delta. Once there, they'll pretty much decimate the already-declining salmon runs (both coming and going), knock the steelhead for a loop, etc.
   This isn't something done lightly, but it's hell of a lot better than watching what's left of our Sacramento River salmon runs disappear down the throat of a fish that doesn't belong within a thousand miles of here.
   Any fool knows that.

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3. 

   Mary Posted 3:08 am
   25 Sep 2007

   Whatever the cause......what a horrific plan.

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4. 

   Erik Hoffner Posted 3:09 am
   25 Sep 2007

   invasivesGristmill had a lively discussion of the relative dangers of invasives and the occasional over reactions to their presence like in this case, here:
   http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2007/6/5/72157/85745
   Add you 2 cents if you like.
   Erik
   
   

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5. 

   TCWriter Posted 4:28 am
   25 Sep 2007

   General Terms; This is SpecificI'd read the prior article about invasives, and felt it wholly lacked specifics. Invasive species are doing a great deal of damage to native species, and the "don't worry, it'll be OK" tone of the article seemed pointless.
   In this case, yes, the plan to poison Lake Davis is wholly unpleasant, but everything else has been tried (what's your plan).
   The environmental consequences of Northern Pike in the California Delta are truly horrifying, especially in terms of our already beleaguered salmon populations -- the returns for which this year have plummeted.

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6. 

   johna Posted 4:38 am
   25 Sep 2007

   Take action against Northern PikeThis is not the first time the California Department of Fish and Game has poisoned Lake Davis and it is not something that the biologists working on the issue take lightly.  Northern Pike are a serious threat to our native fish populations.  The really enemies here are the idiot fishermen (not all fishermen are idiots) that illegally introduce Pike to California lakes as game fish - a practice that we should all work to prevent.

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7. 

   Erik Hoffner Posted 5:33 am
   25 Sep 2007

   Spike the pikeI agree: introduction of non-native species has got to be stemmed. No question.
   Poisoning whole ecosystems to root out those that are already established is questionable.
   Elsewhere it's likely that herbicides will be used around a large swath of the west's public lands in the coming year to kill off some of the weeds there, and this summer the state of NJ sprayed its northern forests with BT to kill the larvae of gypsy moths, but managed to kill lots of other moth and butterfly caterpillars. Hopefully no Luna moths were killed, but it's likely.
   So, mixed results. I'll take Luna moths and a few gyspy moths thrown in, too, thanks.

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8. 

   TCWriter Posted 7:32 am
   26 Sep 2007

   TCWriterWhat's questionable is waiting for the pike to exit their existing habitat so they can lay waste to a much larger habitat -- the California Delta and its dwindling salmon runs.
   I keep hearing "poison bad."
   Yes it is. But given that fish & game has tried explosives, netting, electroshock and overharvest, I've gotta ask: What's your solution?

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9. 

   Erik Hoffner Posted 10:07 am
   27 Sep 2007

   solutionsThe fact that there is no alternative solution to this pike problem, so far as I can imagine, does not make the plan to poison the lake the right one. I'd like to hear any other ideas as well.

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10. 

    Erik Hoffner Posted 5:56 am
    25 Oct 2007

    Lake DavisI dug into this more and found that Lake Davis is man made, unsurprisingly, and has been pike-poisoned in the past, and that didn't work either. So the toxics they plan to use in this municipal water supply will be even more deadly this time? Sounds like a bad idea, again. If that were my tap water, I'd be pretty incensed.
    A grassroots group in the region, South Yuba River Citizens League, has the dirt:
    http://www.syrcl.org/sierra-citizen/sc-view_article.asp?i ...
    Sounds like a cluster-you-know-what all 'round.

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