Here in Northern California, our fisheries are under attack from all sides! You have the huge water users down south that are lobbying our Governor and Fish & Wildlife Department to eradicate striped bass to help save salmon — all while they divert record amounts of life-giving water from our estuary.
Salmon are under siege as well. The same water diversions I mentioned above are wiping out our salmon runs. Then you have this new narrative from the state and feds that calls for reduced hatchery production in lieu of a wild fish program that will pay dividends, maybe, in 100-300 years (their words, not mine).
This is just the tip of the iceberg, folks! Steelhead, salmon, largemouth bass, panfish, sturgeon and many more of our beloved species are in the crosshairs right now!
What can you do? Well, if you are like most folks, you care about these fisheries you hold so dear…but you have family and job commitments that leave you with very little extra time.
The best thing you can do is drop $20 to join the Nor-Cal Guides and Sportsmen’s Association (www.ncgasa.org). Even without doing anything else, adding your name to the membership makes a big difference. When our association goes into meetings with policy makers and department heads, we can say we represent X-number of California anglers, it makes a big impact.
We are constantly fighting for our fisheries and your help in this endeavor helps immensely.
At NCGASA, our goal is to unite anglers of all persuasions — fly, bait, sport, commercial, fresh and salt so we have a united front with which to enter these fights.
Here’s a quick glimpse at some of the projects we have been involved in recently:
• NCGASA lobbied successfully to get 1 million extra salmon raised at Feather River hatchery
• Fought to get thousands of downer steelhead released into the Sacramento River.
• Worked on sediment removal projects on the Feather River.
• Constantly fighting against programs and legislation aimed at removing largemouth, smallmouth, spotted and striped bass from the Sacramento River/Delta system.
AND SO MUCH MORE!
Please, lend a hand (and your voice) to the fight for California fisheries by joining for $20.
We of course have plenty of need for volunteer assistance as well and if you’d like to get more involved, we’d be happy to have you. For more information, visit the website www.ncgasa.org
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