According to Bill Jennings, Chairman and Executive Director of the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance
"There is no "easy" answer that conveys the enormity of the situation. Its not simply how many fish are "ground up," it's the percentage of the population that is lost. As populations have crashed, the pumps "take" fewer fish. Also, the actual number of fish salvaged doesn't:
1) Reflect the number (Delta smelt) that pass through the louvers on the way to LA (many times those actually caught in the salvage buckets) and
2) The predation that is created in Old River and Clifton Court forebay as large numbers of fish are drawn into the dinner hall (many young fish sucked into a concentration of big hungry fish).
Predation losses of young salmon and smelt dwarf those actually "salvaged." Then there is the critical issue of the survival of "salvaged" fish.
When I come up for air, I'll send you the salvage numbers. But, to appreciate the massacre occurring at the pumps you need to understand the configuration and efficiency of the salvage facilities, the numbers of fish that escape salvage and end up in aqueduct, massive predation losses and salvaged fish that don't survive their return to the Delta."
You and everyone reading this thread can help rectify the situation by writing letters supporting AB 1806, a restoration and mitigation bill for the damage done at the pumps.
These letters are EXTREMELY important in getting AB 1806 passed.
You can find all the information at:
http://www...port.org/cspa7-21-08.htm
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