California’s Fish Economy
The Golden State needs to meet the needs of fishermen as well as farmers
Part two in the series ‘Reflections On Water’
The link between water, agriculture and the economy is the primary foundation for most of the arguments in favor of further water storage and infrastructure. 80% of California’s managed water goes to agriculture. The economies and the communities of California’s vast Central Valley is almost entirely supported by agriculture, and much of the country is reliant upon California produce. The food production industry in California is a strategic national resource.
Of course, we must continue to provide water for agriculture. However, the argument is less easy if agricultural use negative impacts other industries. The fishing industries of Northern California — and the generations of families who’ve labored for them — have been experiencing a steady decline for decades. According to spokesman Larry Collins, the once vibrant San Francisco fishing community has dwindled from 300 fishing families to 30 in the past hundred years or so. The majority of fishermen working out of San Francisco generally commute to the city to fish each day. The link between dam building and decline of fish stocks is well established.
In the state capital Sacramento, the fishing industry makes less political noise than the Central Valley farmers, ranchers and lobbyists. A water development policy that balances the needs of agriculture and the needs of professional fisherman, anglers and the environment is a long way off. The primary question, ‘Is there enough water?’ is frequently obscured by political interests taking advantage of a crisis partially of there own making.
There is enough water if we manage it properly. Can we pay as much attention to issues of conservation and efficiency as we do those of storage infrastructure and dams? Conservation and efficiency (reducing massive waste and leaks) are the only possible solutions.
We cannot shortchange the environment to save agriculture, or give up on a domestic fishing industry to prop up a domestic veggie industry. To do so would not only be morally bankrupt, but it would also create a fundamental imbalance in a natural system with long-lasting repercussions.
Editors note: ‘Reflections On Water’ is a weekly series of thoughts and observations about water usage in drought-hit California. Part one was Wasting Water.
This is an edited version of an article originally published at Weyland Photo.
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