Return to Prospect Island: DFG Survey Turns Up A Few Stripers, Lots of Carp

By Dan Bacher

The mounds of thousands of rotting fish killed during a levee repair at Prospect Island were no longer visible, buried under piles of dirt, although the smell of dead fish still lingered in the air.

Three DFG biologists – Curtis Hagen, Brad Burkholder and Lee McDonald - made a survey Friday morning of the south end of the island with an electro shocking boat as Bob McDaris, owner of Cliffs Marina in Freeport, John Soto, Delta hay farmer, Mike Chotkowski, Bureau of Reclamation biologist, and I watched.

As the biologists moved across the water, a variety of fish came up to the surface, temporarily stunned by the electro shocking equipment. Most of the fish were carp and goldfish, but the DFG staffers put into the live well 5 striped bass in the 3 to 4 pound range, 2 channel cats weighing 5 and 10 pounds and 10 black crappie.

After doing their survey of the island, Burkholder and McDonald placed the fish from the live well into Miner Slough. The biologists and anglers agreed that there weren’t enough fish to warrant another volunteer rescue like the one that McDaris and Jeff Nash coordinated on November 30, December 1 and December 2.

“It looks like you did a real good job of rescuing the remaining fish,” commented Hagen.

Hagen estimated that there were 800 carp, 400 goldfish and 200 blackfish in the area they surveyed. These fish are expected to survive in the remaining water on the island.

“There is enough good habitat, water and oxygen for the remaining fish,” said Mike Chotkowski, “I am also hopeful that the centrarchid (sunfish) population will recover.”

During the volunteer rescue operation, dozens of sportsmen rallied to rescue over 10,000 fish from impending death on the island. The volunteers rescued 1831 adult striped bass, as well as thousands of Sacramento blackfish, bluegill, crappie, black bass, threadfin shad and other smaller fish.

“I was definitely ready to organize another rescue,” said McDaris, “but the number of fish left doesn’t warrant it.”

Meanwhile, investigations into the fish kill continue. The Department of Fish and Game is conducing a criminal investigation of the kill and is expected to release more details by the end of December.

Jim Martin, West Coast Regional Director of the Recreational Fishing Alliance, has filed a Freedom of Information Act request of the federal government regarding the fish kill. “We would like to see paper and electronic interagency discussions about the Bureau of Reclamation’s project between the Bureau and US Fish & Wildlife and the National Marine Fisheries Service," said Martin.

During my testimony during an investigative hearing on the fish kill by Assemblywoman Lois Wolk in Rio Vista on December 6, I proposed that the Bureau, in order to mitigate for the loss to California's fisheries caused by the fish kill, donate Prospect Island to the state of California to be maintained as a wildlife area and public fishing access to Miner Slough and the Sacramento Deepwater Channel.

I asked Wolk to author a bill to make the property into the "Prospect Island Public Fishing Access and Wildlife Area" modeled after the "Oroville Wildlife Area.” I also proposed that the island be reflooded to provide fish and wildlife habitat, since this is some of the best habitat on the Delta.

Not only should the Bureau donate the land, they should pay for its maintenance in perpetuity. In addition, I recommend that the Bureau be required by the state legislature to mitigate for the direct losses of fish at the federal CVP pumping plant near Tracy.