Golden State Salmon Association Needs Your Help
We need your support to keep working on your behalf for stronger salmon runs and to restore the parts of California salmon need to prosper.
Why do you want to be part of GSSA and help Golden State salmon?
Because of the work we’re doing. Here’s a list of recent GSSA accomplishments with examples of how your support is put to work.
· GSSA succeeded in convincing CDFW to use release sites further west in SF Bay for hatchery releases in 2021 and 2022, a move that will double survival compared to prior release sites.
· GSSA forged a partnership with the US Fish and Wildlife Service to produce and release an additional two million fry from the Coleman Hatchery in spring of 2022 and include parent based DNA tagging to assess success.
· Finalized a three-year pilot project trucking Coleman Hatchery salmon (the largest but lowest survival hatchery) 75 miles downstream to a safer release site to boost survival. Acoustic tags showed significant survival advantage for the trucked fish.
· GSSA and allies remain in court challenging State rules currently allowing unsustainably high levels of Delta water exports
· GSSA played a key role in overcoming federal opposition to increased releases in 2021 and 2022 at Ft. Baker in Sausalito, one of the highest survival spots for trucked fish.
· Played a key role in getting federal funds reinstated for side channel rearing habitat restoration in the Sacramento Basin. This resulted in miles of additional side channel habitat being restored.
· Moved the state to finally work on a major hot water problem in the Feather River that’s killing salmon after 14 years of delay. (this could eventually spare 30,000 Feather River hatchery fish from culling and open an additional 15 miles of spawning and rearing habitat)
· Played a key role in deleting a funding burden on the CA Dept. of Fish and Wildlife by getting the CA Dept. of Water Resources to pick up a bigger, fairer, share of hatchery costs at Feather River Hatchery.
· Played a central role in restoring a major Feather River floodplain that will provide prime salmon rearing habitat
· GSSA efforts to protect and restore Central Valley rivers flows were followed by the State moving to impose better environmental protections on tributaries of the San Joaquin River.
· Radio ads produced and paid for by GSSA have elevated the issue of SF’s hardline stance on sharing water with the environment in the Tuolumne River, the SFPUC’s water source and a formerly great salmon river.
· Led a successful effort to protect Sacramento River winter and spring flows by stopping the raising of Shasta Dam
· GSSA and allies legal efforts succeeded in getting the Biden Administration to withdraw harmful water operation rules for the federal Central Valley Project issued by the prior administration. This will boost survival of salmon and other wildlife.
We’re only able to do this and more thanks to your donation and support. We’re giving voice to salmon fishermen and women throughout California, as well as those who simply value the same rich natural resources needed by salmon we’ve been blessed with here.
Last year, with only two paid staff members and two part-time freelance consultants, we accomplished all of this to keep salmon in the picture for you and everyone else here in California. Much of this work requires ongoing engagement, and some of it will go on for years before we see the full benefits. Consider it an investment in you and your family’s future and, it’s tax-deductible since GSSA is a federally recognized non-profit organization.
Thank you for your help to keep California’s salmon runs strong.
Thanks,
GSSA