San Mateo County Times

Steelhead trout die as Pescadero sandbar breaks

By Amelia Hansen
STAFF WRITER

Tuesday, December 07, 2004

PESCADERO -- Sad, frustrated fishermen watched Monday as a grim annual event unfolded before their eyes. Steve Simms, a local fisherman, reported that at least 100 steelhead trout -- as well as other species -- were killed in what has become a yearly event in the Pescadero Marsh.

The kill has happened each winter for the last eight years.

Last December, 350 steelhead died after the sandbar separating the Pescadero Marsh and the Pacific Ocean broke.

Simms believes, as do many scientists who have studied the area, that once the sandbar breaks, the salt and freshwater in the lagoon mix, stirring up oxygen-depleted water and killing the fish.

The goal now, as Simms and his friends see it, is to do something to stop the kills. Determined as they are, however, fishermen are not in a position to take action on their own.

California State Parks owns the land surrounding Pescadero and Butano creeks, the Department of Fish and Game manages the creeks, and the federal National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) oversees fisheries.

In January, after last year's kill, fishermen, biologists, and environmentalists got together to see if they could come up with a plan to stop the kills, but no consensus was reached.

Biologists have said the entire ecosystem in the marsh needs to be taken into account before any physical changes are made to the environment. Simms said a representative from NOAA is expected to visit the site today. In the meantime, biologists were continuing to count the number of dead fish that had washed up on shore.

Staff writer Amelia Hansen covers the Coast. She can be reached at (650) 348-4301 or by e-mail at ahansen@sanmateocountytimes.com .