LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Chi Council for the Clear Lake Hitch will meet this week to discuss the latest developments on petitions to list the hitch as an endangered species and the upcoming spawning season.
The group will meet beginning at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 27, at the Lake County Agriculture Department, 883 Lakeport Blvd. in Lakeport.
The Chi Council has been instrumental in helping to document the hitch's current situation through citizen science efforts, including fish counts and mapping.
The spring spawning runs are coming up, and at Wednesday's meeting the council will make plans for the annual monitoring of the runs.
Also on the agenda is a discussion on the status of the federal and state petitions filed last September seeking Endangered Species Act status for the hitch.
The Center for Biological Diversity filed both petitions, as Lake County News has reported, citing plummeting numbers for the fish, which is native to Clear Lake.
Earlier this month, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife released its evaluation of the state endangered species petition as part of a report to the state Fish and Game Commission.
The agency concluded that “there is sufficient scientific information available at this time to indicate that the petitioned action may be warranted.”
The petition evaluation emphasized that in making that recommendation that the petition may be warranted, there are issues, including the fact that “limited qualitative and quantitative information exists on both historical and current population numbers and information on the best scientific approach to enhance the existing population.”
The evaluation can be seen below.
For more information about the Chi Council visit www.lakelive.info/chicouncil .
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.