Special Notice / Hearing: None__
Vote Required: Majority
To: Honorable Board of Supervisors
From: Jonathan Gervais, Parks Director
Subject: California Department of Fish and Wildlife Propagation Fund Proposal
RECOMMENDATION:
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Adopt a resolution authorizing the Director of Parks, or his/her designee, to execute an agreement for funding the Coastside Fishing Foundation for the 2018 Chinook Salmon Smolt Net Pen Acclimation Project in the amount of $10,000 from the Parks Department’s California Department of Fish and Wildlife Propagation Fund.
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BACKGROUND:
The San Mateo County Parks Department manages the expenditure of funds deposited by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) in the fish and wildlife propagation fund (FWPF) under Fish and Game Code, Section 13100-13104. One half of all fines and forfeitures imposed or collected for fish and wildlife violations are deposited with the County Treasurer. These funds are to be expended for the protection, conservation, propagation, and preservation of fish and wildlife, under the direction of the County Board of Supervisors.
The FWPF has an estimated balance of $64,333. The Parks Department budgets as much as $10,000 per year on projects meeting the criteria for the FWPFs use. The Board of Supervisors’ approval is required for the use of FWPF funds.
In 2012, the Coastside Fishing Foundation (CFF) began working with CDFW on the Chinook Salmon Smolt Net Pen Acclimation Project in an effort to enhance ocean salmon fishery. The CFF is in their sixth year of this project and have acclimated approximately 2.5 million Chinook Smolt in the net pen their volunteers assemble in the waters at Pillar Point Harbor. The process includes vaccination of the small, three to four inch fish, feeding and monitoring them, releasing them from the pen after about a week, and disassembling, cleaning and storing the pen until the next year. The CFF has found the expense per fish for this acclimation process is about $0.10.
In addition to benefitting the salmon, the program provides recreational opportunities for thousands of fishermen and economic stability for commercial fisheries. In 2016, the CFF made a request for funding from the FWPF that the Commission reviewed at its June 4, 2016 meeting and recommended to the Board of Supervisors for approval. The Board of Supervisors subsequently authorized $10,000 in funding to the CFF from the FWPF.
DISCUSSION:
The CFF has requested funding from the FWPF for their 2018 Chinook Salmon Smolt Net Pen Acclimation Project. The CCF has requested a total of 720,000 fish for delivery in May of 2018. These fish will be assimilated and released from Pillar Point Harbor.
As the CFFs Project meets the CDFW criteria for protection, conservation, and propagation, and they also offer an educational program for school classes to visit and watch the releases, staff recommends presenting the Board of Supervisors with a request for $10,000 in funding from FWPF for their Project.
PERFORMANCE MEASURE:
|
Number of Species of Fish to be Acclimated |
|
Year |
Number of Fish Acclimated |
|
2014 Actual |
360,000 |
|
2015 Actual |
360,000 |
|
2016 Actual |
480,000 |
|
2017 Projected |
720,000 |
FISCAL IMPACT:
The CFFs Project will be funded by the Fish and Wildlife Propagation Fund. There is no impact on the General Fund.