Used for Region 6 fisheries documentsCDFW Data Portal RSS Feed GeneratorSun, 16 Apr 2023 15:39:19 -0700https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/documents/ContextDocs.aspx?cat=R6-FisheriesCalifornia Department of Fish and Wildlife Data Portal120https://nrm.dfg.ca.govhttps://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/images/ca_dfg/CDFW-Insignia-146x193.png85en-usSearch Documentshttps://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/documents/ContextDocs.aspx?cat=R6-FisheriessearchSpecies Account - Fish - 87529:2https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=87529Sun, 16 Apr 2023 15:39:19 -07002004-01-01T00:00:00Fish Species of Special Concern - Second Edition - The freshwater fish fauna of California is in serious trouble. Species, subspecies, salmon runs, and unique populations are on a fast track to extinction (Moyle and Williams 1989). The rapid rate of loss is of more than just local interest: 66 of the 116 native fish taxa are found only in California, and many of the remainder are shared with only a few other western states. In the event these fishes are lost from California, they will be globally extinct; there are no populations in some distant or remote location that can be used to resurrect the local populations. These fishes represent millions of years of evolutionary response to the fluctuating and often harsh aquatic environments of the state. As a result, there is extraordinary diversity of form and function among the native fishes. They are found in habitats ranging from tiny desert springs, to rivers that have huge fluctuations in flow, to high mountain streams, to shallow alkaline lakes, to salty estuaries. Although the native fishes are admirably suited for surviving the vagaries of nature, they have done poorly when forced to compete with humans for the waters that are their homes. Most streams have been dammed, diverted, turned inside out by mining, or altered by poor watershed management. Many lakes and marshes have been drained or filled in. Waters of all types have been polluted to one degree or another. Furthermore, numerous non-native fishes have been introduced that compete with or prey on the natives. In the first edition of this report (Moyle et al. 1989) we delineated the severity of the problem by documenting 52 species, subspecies, or salmon runs that required special protection or management to prevent their ultimate extinction. In addition to these 52 taxa, six forms already were extinct and 15 others had been formally listed as threatened or endangered by the state. In total, these 73 taxa represented 64 percent of the freshwater fish fauna of California. Unfortunately, in the short period since the first report, the situation has become substantially worse, in large part because prolonged drought accelerated the declines of many species. In the present report, we have added seven species accounts (green sturgeon1, longfin smelt, eulachon, chum salmon, Sacramento late-fall run chinook salmon, southern steelhead, and blue chub) and have removed three (Modoc brook lamprey, delta smelt, and winter-run chinook salmon). The lamprey was removed because we no longer regard it as a valid species, and the delta smelt and winter-run chinook were removed because they have been formally listed by the state as threatened or endangered species. Among the forms included in both editions, 19 have been downgraded to a worse category (e.g., from special concern to threatened or endangered) and only two (Gualala roach and Lahontan lake tui chub) have been upgraded.137077:1https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=137077Wed, 11 Jan 2017 14:14:57 -08001995-06-01T00:00:00