The trout are back, some of them anyway.
22,000 pounds of trout put in recovering Lake Davis
One last residue from poisoning remains, and waters will stay closed until tests show it's gone.
By Jane Braxton Little - Bee Correspondent
Published 12:00 am PST Thursday, December 13, 2007
PORTOLA – State officials planted 22,000 pounds of trout in Lake Davis Tuesday and Wednesday despite the presence of chemicals lingering in the water from poisons applied in September to eradicate non-native northern pike.
By the end of the week the Plumas County reservoir will have 33,000 pounds of Eagle Lake trout, all of them between 2 and 4 pounds, said Steve Martarano, a spokesman for the California Department of Fish and Game.
But the lake remains closed to fishing due to the continued presence of Fennedefo 99, one of several chemicals used to help disperse the poisons into the water.
Although the chemical poses no human health issues, state officials agreed to continue the public closure until Lake Davis shows no signs of toxins for three consecutive tests, said Randy Kelly, Lake Davis pike coordinator for Fish and Game.
The pressure to release trout into the reservoir before it is completely chemically free came from the American River hatchery, he said.
The fish intended for Lake Davis were growing too large to remain in the hatchery tanks, he said.
"We risked losing them to another lake," said Kelly.
Fennedefo 99 is the last remaining residue still detectable from the state's $16.7 million chemical treatment, said David Spath, who is overseeing the project for the state Department of Health Services.
Rotenone, an organic insecticide used to kill all of the fish in the lake, is now undetectable in the water, he said.
After the poisoning, department officials said no fish would be planted until lake waters tested chemical-free in three consecutive tests. They decided to plant the trout this week on the advice of state health officials, Kelly said.
Fennedefo 99 is commonly used as a food additive in gum and several soft drinks, he said. It was used in Lake Davis as a distribution agent for the toxins. It poses no risk to human health, he said.
It's apparently safe for fish, too.
Last month department officials put trout in cages for 96 hours at five different depths in the reservoir. All survived, said Kelly.
