Sierra Club
Redwood Chapter Newsletter
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Restoring Clear Lake's Native Hitch Juliana Vidich | |
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"The name Clear Lake brings to mind outstanding bass, catfish, and crappie fish to many of its recreational users. While the lake is famous for its outstanding sport fishing, Clear Lake is host to dozens of other fish species both native and non-native. The Clear Lake hitch, Lavinia exilicauda chi, a cyprinid, is listed as a species of special concern in California. Hitch have been historically significant, but have not been studied in great depth." The above quote is from an invitation to a Clear Lake Hitch Monitoring Workshop this May, sent by the Lake County Water Resources department. The workshop was prompted by the efforts of Sierra Club Lake Group members, spearheaded by Peter Windrem and the Lake Group ExCom, who jointly decided to make restoring native fisheries a high priority during a retreat in April of 2003. The Clear Lake hitch is the oldest fish in Clear Lake, is a member of the minnow family, and is thought to have come here by way of Cache Creek from the Sacramento River drainage many thousands of years ago. It has evolved into a separate subspecies of the Sacramento hitch, with larger eyes and rounder bodies, and it is found nowhere else in the world. Lake County old-timers say that when the hitch ran up the streams decades ago, they were so thick that you could walk across the river over their backs. In Peter's words, "Each spring, native Clear Lake hitch leave the lake and migrate up the creeks to spawn. They are wonderful to watch as they swim upstream in an ancient annual ritual." Rick Macedo, Fish & Game expert on hitch, describes the historic scene: "As spectacular as any salmon run on the Pacific coast, hitch mass by the thousands and ascend the . . .streams . . . The tumultuous splashing . . . and the appearance of herons, ospreys, egrets, and bald eagles signify . . . that the hitch are in. Along stream banks, raccoons, mink, otter, and even bears join the birds to feed on hitch." |
"A few decades ago, hitch numbered in the hundreds of thousands, but since then their numbers have dwindled dramatically to a few thousand. They are now considered a species of special concern and appear to be in decline. The degradation of the creeks from mining and erosion and the construction of physical barriers are thought to be among the causes for the decline." (Moyle, Inland Fishes of California, pp. 133-139) In March and April, Lake Group members and other volunteers spent a few minutes every few days to monitor hitch at highway bridges over the creeks, and then emailed their data to Peter. He compiled and published the information in order to begin developing a data base on the condition of the hitch. As a result of this monitoring effort, the Chi Stewardship Council has been formed to focus on the habitat and population of Clear Lake Hitch, as well as water quality, and watershed stability. The overall goal of the Chi Stewardship Council is the protection and restoration of the watershed ecosystem leading to restored migratory runs of the Clear Lake Hitch. Additional project goals include improvement of fishery and wildlife habitat, mitigation of erosion and sedimentation, and eradication of non-native invasive weeds. Many individuals have volunteered to be monitors for the upcoming hitch runs next spring. It's great to see the Sierra Club Lake Group collaborating with the Native American community, fishermen, farmers, local government and others who share an interest and concern for the fish, the creeks and the lake. |