CalTrout News
Southern California steelhead are now protected under California's Endangered Species Act extending more protections to these struggling fish.
The California Fish and Game Commission voted unanimously on April 18, 2024, to list Southern California steelhead as endangered under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA). This landmark decision provides critically important protections for this iconic species, which teeters on the brink of extinction.
Southern steelhead are crucial indicators of watershed health and river ecosystem integrity. Historically, tens of thousands of these fish swam in Southern California rivers and streams. Today, it’s rare to see even a few. Their numbers have dipped dangerously low due to impacts from habitat loss, fragmentation, and urbanization.
CalTrout applauds the Fish and Game Commission for underscoring the urgency of the situation with this vote today, and we thank the California Department of Fish and Wildlife for their comprehensive species status review as part of the CESA process and their long-standing support for Southern steelhead recovery. CalTrout has been actively advocating for this listing since 2021, when we submitted a petition to the California Fish and Game Commission to fully protect Southern steelhead as endangered under the state’s Endangered Species Act. The action today would not have been possible without the tireless efforts and advocacy of our many partners in Southern California working to save this species.
Read and learn more about the listing in the LA Times, Ventura Star, NBC LA, and LAist.
Thank YOU for showing up for these fish! From signing our petition to providing a public comment in the meeting today to sharing and amplifying this action throughout your communities - your efforts to voice your support for these fish have been crucial for today's outcome. Thank you from all of us at CalTrout!
What are the benefits of this decision?
Listing Southern steelhead as endangered under California's Endangered Species Act will:
- Bolster federal protections for these fish provided under the federal ESA listing giving agencies more tools for protection - which these fish clearly need
- Promote actions to protect them including removing obsolete dams, improving habitat, securing instream flow, and restoring watersheds
- Benefit human communities. For example, improving aging infrastructure will reduce the risk of flooding and increase public safety. Holistic watershed restoration will enforce and build strong relationships throughout the community. Ensuring our watersheds are hospitable to Southern steelhead indicates clean water which benefits all communities.
We look forward to working with our partners to implement the state’s conservation plan for these iconic fish, including continuing our work in the South Coast region on behalf of Southern steelhead. Our current projects include removing fish passage barriers and expediting removal of obsolete dams on the Ventura River (Matilija Dam), Malibu Creek (Rindge Dam), Trabuco Creek, the Santa Margarita River, and more; removing non-native aquatic species that threaten prime steelhead habitat; and restoring watersheds.
How did we get here?
In 2021, CalTrout submitted a petition to the California Fish and Game Commission to fully protect Southern steelhead as endangered under California’s Endangered Species Act. We used the best-science available to support our petition. Listing these fish as endangered would promote actions to protect them including removing obsolete dams, improving habitat, securing instream flow, and restoring watersheds. All of these actions would also benefit human communities. For example, improving aging infrastructure would reduce the risk of flooding and increase public safety and holistic watershed restoration would enforce and build strong relationships throughout the community.
In April 2022, the California Fish and Game Commission unanimously voted that the state ESA listing of Southern steelhead “may be warranted” initiating a year-long species status review by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. During this time, Southern steelhead were considered a candidate species with full ESA protection.
In October 2023, CalTrout successfully defended the petitioned listing in California Superior Court in Los Angeles. This victory brought us one step closer to providing these fish the protections they deserve. “As predicted, the strength of our underlying petition really carried the day,” said Redgie Collins, CalTrout’s Legal and Policy Director. “Ruling in CalTrout’s favor, Judge Chalfant noted the scientific rigor of our petition, which is a testament to the hard work and diligence of CalTrout’s Dr. Sandra Jacobson and Russell Marlow.” Learn more here.
In January 2024, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife submitted a peer-reviewed species status report to the Fish and Game Commission. Their extensive review came to the same conclusion as CalTrout’s initial petition – the Commission found the petitioned action to list Southern steelhead as an endangered species under California’s ESA to be warranted. With the CDFW species status review period complete, the Fish and Game Commission has tentatively scheduled this item for their April 2024 meeting. In this meeting, the Commission will formally decide whether the species should be listed as endangered, or whether further action is not warranted.
From February through April 2024, CalTrout gathered over 7000 signatures in support of listing Southern steelhead.
On April 18, 2024, the California Fish & Game Commission voted unanimously to list Southern steelhead as endangered under California's Endangered Species Act.
Cover Photo: Southern steelhead by Mark Capelli
