CDFW News | CDFW, San Diego County Brings Sacramento Perch to Southern California to Create a Future Urban Fishing Opportunity
CDFW, San Diego County Brings Sacramento Perch to Southern California to Create a Future Urban Fishing Opportunity
**Joint press release from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and County of San Diego**
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) in partnership with the San Diego County Parks and Recreation Department has introduced Sacramento perch to Lake Lindo in Lakeside in an effort to establish the first population of Sacramento perch in Southern California and create a unique community. An urban hunting opportunity in the future.
Thirty-seven baby Sacramento perch collected from the Bridgeport Reservoir in Mono County were transferred to Lindo Lake County Park and released August 10 in the recently restored and refurbished East Lake Lindo aquarium. This is the second stocking of Sacramento perch in Lake Lindo as thousands of Sacramento perch fry were released there last year. CDFW will conduct additional fish transfers from Bridgeport over the next two years to supplement the Lake Lindow fisheries. Watch the process of collecting Sacramento perch from Bridgeport’s reservoir (video).
The Sacramento perch is the only sunfish native to California and the only native sunfish west of the Rocky Mountains. The Sacramento perch is abundant in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and Clear Lake in northern California and was displaced from its historical range as a result of competition with non-native sunfish, including the greengill and green sunfish, which have been widely introduced to California. At the beginning of the twentieth century.
Today, Sacramento perch is a “species of particular concern” in California, and is found in only about two dozen isolated waters mostly in remote parts of Northern California and along the eastern Sierra. Where they are found in large numbers, particularly at Crowley Lake and Bridgeport Reservoir in Mono County, Sacramento perch supports the famous sport fishery and is especially prized for its good food on the table. The record Sacramento perch was caught in Crowley Lake in 1979 and weighed 3 pounds, 10 ounces.
“We are grateful to San Diego County for welcoming these unique native species to Southern California and Lindo Lake County Park specifically,” said Max Fish, CDFW’s chief ecologist. “This is an exciting introduction and is part of a broader three-year effort. “We’re working to make sure our existing populations of Sacramento perch continue to thrive, enhancing genetics where we can, and we’re looking to expand the range in terms of conservation collections as well as creating recreational fisheries. New.”
Although Sacramento perch struggles to coexist with non-native sunfish, this species can tolerate a wide range of environmental conditions and thrive where many other fish species cannot, including waters with higher alkalinity, salinity, and higher temperatures. Cold and warm temperatures, making the Sacramento perch a fish. A good candidate for establishing sport fisheries in some urban garden ponds and historically underserved communities through CDFW fish farming efforts.
Lake Lindo is currently closed to recreational fishing to give Sacramento perch time to establish a self-sustaining community and grow to fishable size. Recreational fishing plans for Lake Lindo also include stocking for rainbow trout in the winter and catfish in the summer.
Lake Lindo is the only natural lake in San Diego County. In the 1960s, a dam was built upstream to prevent the flow of fresh water into Lake Lindow from Quail Creek. For several decades, the lake’s primary water sources were a mixture of well water, urban runoff, and rainwater. Sedimentary deposits, pollution and rising temperatures have significantly reduced water depth and water quality over time. A long-term revitalization project was launched in 2020 to improve Lake Lindo, starting with the 12-acre semi-arid East Basin where Sacramento perch were released.
Among other improvements to Lake Lindo, approximately 100,000 cubic yards of sediment were removed, deepening the lake bed to 10 feet. 48-inch diameter culverts have been constructed to connect the eastern and western basins for optimal water circulation, and 100 fish habitat structures such as tree shelters, pebble laying areas, rocky reefs and spawning tubes have been installed to support fish growth and repopulation.
In the same week that the Sacramento perch was added to Lake Lindo, CDFW carried out a number of other transfers involving about 300 fish in all. Sacramento perch were collected from the Pescar reservoir in Lassen County and transferred to the Bridgeport reservoir while Sacramento perch collected from the Bridgeport reservoir were brought to the Pescar reservoir to improve the genetic diversity of both groups. Forty-three fish were also transferred from the Pescar Reservoir and Bridgeport Reservoir to a pond in Yolo County to help re-establish the species within its historic range in the Sacramento Valley. The CDFW will supplement the Yolo County pond with additional fish over the coming years to ensure genetic base diversity.
Like most sunfish species, the Sacramento perch is incredibly fertile, and a female Sacramento perch can lay anywhere from 10,000 to 100,000 eggs from a single spawn.
CDFW image of Sacramento perch by Travis VanZant.
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Media communication:
Peter Terra, CDFW Communications, (916) 215-3858
Donna Durkel, San Diego County, (619) 323-4613
