Northern California anglers have a summertime incentive to head to the Eel River: the Eel River Pikeminnow Fishing Derby is back for its third year, and catching one of the watershed’s most harmful invasive fish can earn prize money.<\/p>\n
The Eel River Pikeminnow Fishing Derby uses cash rewards to encourage the removal of a species that threatens native fish.<\/p>\n
What’s happening?<\/p>\n
From July 1 through August 31, the Eel River Pikeminnow Fishing Derby will award $5,000 in cash and prizes to anglers who catch Sacramento pikeminnow in the Eel River watershed,\u00a0Active NorCal<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n Participants can win up to $800, and anyone with a valid California fishing license may join at no cost. Children younger than 16 are exempt from the license requirement.<\/p>\n Sacramento pikeminnow have become a serious issue in the watershed. After arriving through Pillsbury Reservoir in the late 1970s, the species expanded into every fork of the river.<\/p>\n In a river already dealing with longstanding ecological damage, the fish add more pressure. They reproduce readily, move through a wide area, prey on native salmonids and lamprey, and compete with native species for food and habitat.<\/p>\n Why does it matter?<\/p>\n The condition of the Eel River is about far more than a single species. Salmon and other native fish are deeply tied to recreation, culture, and the broader identity of the region, and their decline reflects damage across the watershed.<\/p>\n Historic overfishing, destructive logging, and habitat loss have already taken a toll on the river system. When an invasive predator also feeds on young native fish, recovery becomes even harder for populations already under stress.<\/p>\n Removing even a portion of these predators could help give native fish a better chance while also raising public awareness about what is happening in the watershed.<\/p>\n What’s being done?<\/p>\n Beyond offering prizes, the derby also helps collect information. Each fish turned in gives researchers and fisheries managers more data on pikeminnow abundance and the species’ effects on native fish.<\/p>\n That effort builds on research that began in 2018 with a Wiyot Tribe and Stillwater Sciences study of pikeminnow diet in the South Fork Eel, according to Active NorCal.<\/p>\n There is no entry fee for licensed anglers, and participants under 16 can take part without needing a fishing license.<\/p>\n Get TCD’s free newsletters<\/a> for easy tips, smart advice, and a chance to earn $5,000 toward home upgrades. To see more stories like this one, change your Google preferences here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Northern California anglers have a summertime incentive to head to the Eel River: the Eel River Pikeminnow Fishing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":425436,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8,166538,169643,115753,266],"class_list":["post-425435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-eel-river","tag-native-fish","tag-native-species","tag-northern-california"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=425435"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425435\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/425436"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=425435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=425435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=425435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}