Hatcheries are a very important management tool for fishing. Many waters in California were void of fish before hatcheries planted them. For instance, very few waters in the eastern sierras actually had any fish in them before the early 1900's.

Also, without planting many anglers would just end up going into the areas that are now catch and release.

Hatcheries crews are the ones who spawn native and wild fish in remote locations in California as well as producing millions of fish for angling.

As far as funding goes, there is no shortage of sportfishing license dollars. In 2003, DFG took in $48 million in sportfishing license revenue. In 2004, they took in $54 million, a $6 million increase, yet funding for native trout programs and hatcheries went down.

The problem is that DFG is not following the law. Fish and Game Code 711 states that hunting and fishing programs are to be funded out of hunting and fishing license revenues and these revenues shall not be used for non game programs.

This bill simply dedicates a portion of sportfishing license revenues to these programs. More than 60% of anglers in this state fish for trout. Also, sportfishing in California provides an economy of over $6 billion annually.

Brad
www.friendsofcaliforniahatcheries.org