CalTrout and Partners Applaud Governor Newsom for Signing AB 809 Into Law

Long-term fish monitoring programs in California have often struggled to receive adequate attention and funding. However, we are thrilled to share that AB 809 was recently signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom. This bill will establish a dedicated program to support the long-term monitoring of California’s native salmon and steelhead trout populations. AB 809 was authored by Assemblymember Bennett, and CalTrout co-sponsored this bill with our partners in the California Salmon and Steelhead Coalition, The Nature Conservancy and Trout Unlimited.

The California Monitoring Program (CMP) was created to monitor and collect comprehensive data on our endangered anadromous fish populations, including Chinook salmon, coho salmon and steelhead to inform future management decisions. This bill will put CMP into statute, which will allow us to ensure continuous operation of the program and eliminate data gaps.

Why should you care? Salmon and steelhead are important indicators of watershed health. This bill will help us identify where we do and do not have clean and healthy waters – something that all of us rely on! When we uncover problems with our fish, it typically means there’s a bigger problem within the watershed. Often fish surveys are the only boots on the ground in critical watersheds.

Improving our knowledge of fish populations also helps us understand where and how to focus our restoration efforts, ensuring that the money that we – and you as donors – put into restoration is having a positive impact. Long-term population level monitoring is the best way to keep track of our progress to recover culturally and economically important salmon runs.

Thank you to everyone who supported this bill as it made its way to the Governor’s desk, thank you to Assemblymember Bennett for authoring, and thank you to Governor Newsom for recognizing the importance of this bill for protecting California’s vulnerable native fish populations!