Let me tell you their gameplan if you cannot see it for yourself. If we eliminate stripers, all that fishery will die and then we can go after largemouth bass since they are not native either. Since their is no Striped Bass and Largemouth Bass the Pike Minnow will flourish, which is the REAL threat to a Delta Smelt and Salmon Smolt. When you take away Stripers and Largemouth Bass fishing in the Delta you will see Tackle shops and Sport fishing go out of business. There will be less and less fishermen in the Delta and no opposition because there is no fish. Salmon will be in decline still because they have no water to spawn in. A salmon will flat out Die if it cannot make it to its spawning grounds. So lets pump more water so they dont make it their and Salmon fishing die also. Now lets build that Canal we were talking about and then kill off the freshwater in the delta and the saltwater column and brackish water will move higher into the Sac. River.

So stripers are the problem right? What about the Seals that feed off the stripers daily as part of their diet. You are going to take away that valuable resource of food from them, what do you think they are going to target next? oh thats right, Salmon! oh but we cant do nothing to the Seals because they are a federally protected species.

You do not see the impact this will have on the Delta 50 years from now. The Birds, The Animals, the Fish will be talked about in History books only.

Geez I am disgusted just writing this.......

1st the report you gave from digital & icesjms is for the east coast. Fish adapt to different surrounding and areas. Show me a substantial report for the Delta, you know the area we are talking about. Also another fail on using sustainabledelta as a resource....hahahaha!! NOW this one is funny. Do you even know who belongs to the Coalition to a Sustainable Delta?????????? Let me make it quick and easy for you, the same people that want our water!!! LMAO!! They started this group to show they care for the fishes, but are using stripers as a their scapegoat to eliminate fishing and if they succeed Largemouth will be next......Do more research fellas! [/quote]

FIrst off, the regulations proposed are not just on the delta. As you say, "Do your research!" Also, you said show you some evidence that salmon eat smolts. That's exactly what I did. Of course I should I have showed evidence in the West and if you read the second article they point to a study conducted on the West Coast. Anyways, here's more evidence: ftp://ftp.delta.dfg.ca.gov/Adult_Sturge ... 201992.pdf. More evidence (Mokelumne RIver Aka DELTA REGION): ftp://ftp.delta.dfg.ca.gov/Adult_Sturge ... 202007.pdf. More: ftp://ftp.delta.dfg.ca.gov/Adult_Sturge ... 202003.pdf. There's plenty more evidence. Use this thread, http://www.fishsniffer.com/freshwater-s ... cle-2.html to search through what articles you feel like reading in this: ftp://ftp.delta.dfg.ca.gov/Adult_Sturge ... e%20Cited/. Have fun reading if you care to at all.

You assume way too much. I also never said stripers are the only problem. They are just part of the problem. You act like all their doing or wanting to do to help restore salmon populations is implement these new striper regulations which isn't the case at all.

The statement Ender made is obviously pertaining to the majority of bass fisherman. Of course there's always some people that care about things.

i know how striped bass feed, and to say they are the sole reason the salmon are going down is untrue. If this proposal passes and the # of Salmon still dwindles, then who will be the fool? I guarantee you one thing, you add more water to the spawning grounds then you will have more salmon. Thats why the #s rebounded in the last few years due to the high volume of rain we recently had. 30 years ago we had HIGH volume of Striped bass and Salmons, recently striped bass have suffered in #s due to the water getting pumped down south and are dieing in #s fast but with LESS striped bass now they are MORE of a problem now than 30 years ago? Maybe you were not around when we had a striped bass bass stamp to help the rebound of striped bass.....and guess what Salmon were not a issue even then. So I dont see how salmon are linked to striped bass, Salmon did well when striped bass #s were high only difference is the amount of water being pumped down south. How would you like if you went to disneyland and on your way back home at pacheco pass there is a brick wall 100ft high and 100 miles each side....and you cant get home....well thats what happens to salmon when they try to go upriver to spawn, they hit that brick wall.

Also check out this link to the "research" done..

http://snugharbor.net/california_delta_water_wars.html

Salmon need water to strive...

But if this proposal passes and salmon populations actually benefit from it, who will be the fool? HAHA.

Yes it's true dams provide a barrier for salmon trying to move upstream and downstream (They have fish ladders to help with that and in some places have been successful others not so much).
Yes it's true adding more water to spawning grounds would help in some ways but some rivers and streams aren't threatened by low water tables. And what good is adding water to a stream threatened by sedimentation? Salmon eggs can't survive when the porous spaces in gravel are filled with sediment because there is no source of clean filtrated water for the salmon nest. However water scarcity, sedimentation, and barriers aren't the only threats towards salmon... There are various threats and obviously some greater than others. Focusing on mitigating one single issue is not a way to manage and restore endangered salmon populations and they aren't doing that.

As for you don't understand how striped bass are linked to the decline of salmon populations. I just gave you a bunch of information on how. It certainly doesn't happen overnight though. Although in some cases, human disturbances can have that sort of an impact on a particular area (see Klamath River). Lets see if I can word this right... Historically, continuous pressure from the various impacts is basically what has caused the decline though.