| File Number: |
18181-4R |
| Application Status: |
Application Complete
|
| Project Title: |
Renew: Ongoing Monitoring and Rescue and Relocation of ESA-listed Fishes in California's Central Valley. |
| Project Status: |
Renewal |
| Previous Federal or State Permit/Authorization: |
18181-3A |
| Permit/Authorization Requested: |
- ESA Section 10(a)(1)(A) permit (Pacific fish/invertebrate enhancement)
|
| Where will activities occur? |
California (including offshore waters)
|
| State department of fish and game/wildlife: |
Project will be carried out by CDFW |
| Research Timeframe: |
Start: 01/01/2021 End: 12/31/2025 |
| Sampling Season/Project Duration: |
Permit 18181-4R will cover the following monitoring and rescue activities in the Central Valley:
1) Juvenile emigration monitoring in the Sacramento River at Knights Landing (river mile [RM] 88.5), Tisdale Weir (RM 119.5), a Delta Entry site (between RM 62-73), and in the Lower Feather River within the High Flow Channel (HFC) will occur annually from August through June.
2) Adult trapping for the Steelhead Monitoring Program in the Sacramento River between Clarksburg (RM 42) and Knights Landing (RM 93) will occur year-round, as conditions allow.
3) The Upper Sacramento River Restoration Site Monitoring will occur from Keswick Dam (RM 302) downstream to the Red Bluff Diversion Dam (RM 243) annually at restoration sites, as needed.
4) Fish salvage and rescue operations including rescues within bypasses (Yolo and Sutter), agricultural canals and drainages (Wallace Weir, Colusa Basin Drainage Canal), and Upper Sacramento redd dewatering and juvenile stranding surveys. |
| Abstract: |
CDFW proposes to carry out rescues, research, and monitoring activities in California’s Central Valley. Juvenile salmonid emigration monitoring will occur using paired 8-foot rotary screw traps (RSTs) along the Sacramento River at various sites and at one site within the Lower Feather River from August through June of the following year. Data will be collected on the emigration timing, race composition, and abundance of juvenile salmonids entering the lower Sacramento River and Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
The Steelhead Monitoring Program will utilize wire fyke traps to capture, mark, and recapture upstream migrating adult steelhead in order to estimate adult steelhead escapement and migration timing from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. Fyke trapping will occur year-round as conditions allow.
The Upper Sacramento River Restoration Site Monitoring will involve juvenile presence/absence surveys at a variety of sites on the Upper Sacramento River, upstream of the Red Bluff Diversion Dam. The monitoring will occur year-round and will establish baseline use at proposed restoration sites to help determine the success once restoration projects are implemented.
CDFW will also assess entrainment of ESA-listed salmonids and green sturgeon resulting from extreme environmental conditions and complex water operations within California's Central Valley. Prior to conducting fish rescue operations, CDFW will assess the conditions leading to stranding and/or entrainment and determine whether rescue and relocation activities are warranted. In some instances (i.e. trapping operations at Wallace Weir Facility), CDFW aims to prevent entrainment by trapping and relocating adult fish species of concern before they encounter inhospitable conditions. Other times, entrainment results from environmental conditions such as flooding or drought. |
1) If your activities will involve equipment (e.g., scientific instruments) or techniques
that are new, untested,or otherwise have unknown or uncertain impacts on the biological or physical environment , please discuss
the degree to which they are likely to be adopted by others for similar activities or applied more broadly.
RSTs are commonly used for juvenile fish monitoring and associated impacts are well understood. Additionally, CDFW has extensive experience utilizing wire fyke traps for capture of larger adult fish in the Sacramento River. The dual identification sonar (DIDSON) unit, although somewhat newly developed is a passive survey technique and will have little to no effect on the biological or physical environment. CDFW has adequate experience utilizing this technique.
2) If your activities involve collecting, handling, or transporting potentially infectious
agents or pathogens (e.g., biological specimens such as live animals or blood), or using or transporting hazardous substances
(e.g., toxic chemicals), provide a description of the protocols you will use to ensure public health and human safety are not
adversely affected, such as by spread of zoonotic diseases or contamination of food or water supplies.
There is not an anticipated threat of collecting, handling, or transporting potentially infectious agents or pathogen. Fish will be handled, transported, and released within the same connected waterway or watershed.
3) Describe the physical characteristics of your project location,
including whether you will be working in or near unique geographic areas such as state or National Marine
Sanctuaries, Marine Protected Areas, Parks or Wilderness Areas, Wildlife Refuges, Wild and Scenic Rivers,
designated Critical Habitat for endangered or threatened species, Essential Fish Habitat, etc. Discuss
how your activities could impact the physical environment, such as by direct alteration of substrate during
use of bottom trawls, setting nets, anchoring vessels or buoys, erecting blinds or other structures, or ingress
and egress of researchers, and measures you will take to minimize these impacts.
Multiple trapping locations will be used for rescue activities within the CBDC. The first will be located approximately 14 miles upstream from the town of Knights Landing, near the town of Dunnigan. The other trapping locations will be within the series of agricultural drainage canals and creeks that feed the CBDC located near the town of Williams. There is no critical habitat or essential fish habitat within these areas. RST monitoring, fyke trapping, and beach seining will likely occur within EFH and designated Critical Habitat, however the effects to the physical environment and substrate will be negligible.
4) Briefly describe important scientific, cultural, or historic resources
(e.g., archeological resources, animals used for subsistence, sites listed in or eligible for listing in the National
Register of Historic Places) in your project area and discuss measures you will take to ensure your work does not
cause loss or destruction of such resources. If your activity will target marine mammals in Alaska or Washington,
discuss measures you will take to ensure your project does not adversely affect the availability (e.g., distribution,
abundance) or suitability (e.g., food safety) of these animals for subsistence uses.
We will not be impacting any scientific, cultural or historic resources during our sampling. These resources are not expected occur in any of the study areas.
5) Discuss whether your project involves activities known or suspected of introducing
or spreading invasive species, intentionally or not, (e.g., transporting animals or tissues, discharging ballast water, use
of equipment at multiple sites). Describe measures you would take to prevent the possible introduction or spread of non-indigenous
or invasive species, including plants, animals, microbes, or other biological agents.
Department protocols will be followed to prevent the spread of invasive species through our work within the CBDC, Sutter and Yolo bypasses, and the Upper Sacramento River Basin (including associated tributaries). All equipment will be used only in the study area, therefore minimizing the potential to spread invasive species.
