Steelhead poacher caught but raises a larger question

If those who own and control the habitat don't care about the fish, can the battle be won?

From a fly fishing news group  SJ Flycasters) mailing:

A landowner in Gilroy, real estate developer Luke Brugnara, was indicted yesterday in Oakland for illegal poaching of steelhead.  Some years ago, Flycasters helped to build a fishladder on this property to allow the fish to pass by a small dam.  California Fish and Game alleges that the owner trapped the fish above the dam by closing the flashboard gate and then removed them illegally.  Although the following article from the Mecury News mentions some of the evidence, I believe the most damaging findings were steelhead found in a freezer during a search of the property.

The fact that quite a few large fish were found in the pool above the dam is excellent evidence that the two fishladders our club has financed and built on the Uvas watershed are functioning as designed.  Herman Garcia of the Gilroy conservation group CHEER has continually reported the presence of steelhead in the river.  We should be proud of the results of our conservation activities. 

xxxxxx (name removed)
Conservation Chair


Landowner denies poaching trout
S.F. MAN CHARGED WITH DAMMING GILROY STREAM TO CATCH STEELHEAD
By Patrick May and Mark Gomez
Mercury News
Article Launched: 04/12/2008 01:43:22 AM PDT

You'd think having property with a active steelhead run would be more valuable than a few fish in the freezer.  Disturbing.

I used to ride my bike to the stretch of Little Aurthur Creek that they're talking about. It is the main spawning trib to Uvas Creek (in the Pajaro River watershed). Amazing to see 12lb wild steelhead in a creek that spans merely 5 feet across. Most people would be really surprised to learn how many fish spawn in the Pajaro watershed....considering the lower river is in such poor shape. I used to fish the legal stretch of Uvas creek quite a lot as a kid.

There have been a few different versions of this story published. It will be interesting to see how it all shakes down. Hopefully the guy gets his comeuppins.
PK

If those who own and control the habitat don't care about the fish, can the battle be won?

The answer is NO.  BTDT.  That said I have watched the post-project re-appearance of salmon and steelhead turn the biggest skeptic into Mr. save the salmon...BTDT too.

OMG, that truly is sad all around.  Had no idea there were any remaining steelhead in gilroy.  That really sucks that those confirmed fish are gone, but presume the guy innocent until otherwise proved.  Wouldn't be surprised though if he flips his story and ultimately says he was frogging for bass when a steelie hit.

Wouldn't be surprised though if he flips his story and ultimately says he was frogging for bass when a steelie hit.

That particular area is closed to fishing year-round. So the guy is screwed regardless. Hopefully the guy is forced to serve time instead of pay a fine...because he's loaded. Owns some $30 mil bldgs in the financial district in SF.
PK

Wouldn't be surprised though if he flips his story and ultimately says he was frogging for bass when a steelie hit.

That particular area is closed to fishing year-round. So the guy is screwed regardless. Hopefully the guy is forced to serve time instead of pay a fine...because he's loaded. Owns some $30 mil bldgs in the financial district in SF.
PK

Greedy Landlord and poacher...? Throw the f*ing book at him. I agree with Yakuza; he should get his due process but I hope he can't buy his way out of it if he is guilty...

Holy crap!! I read a couple of the articles on this guy, and I've realized that I'm in deep doodoo. I've got fishing poles, with lures, with actual hooks(!!!) at my folks place. Said residence has a creek that is closed to fishing year round because of the native steelhead population, don't you know. The one that is landlocked above a 60' dam with no fish ladder, no less. To further compound the issue, at any given point in time, I may have O. mykiss* in my fridge or freezer!!!!! Sitting right next to the fillets of O. kisutch and S. ruberrimus**!!!

With that kind of evidence, I suggest you all better hang me, I must be a poocher!!!!!!

</TIC>

Scott

*never you mind that these Trout may have been obtained, like, at the store. Or in completely legal fishery.
**never you mind, that these Salmon and Yelloweye may have been obtained, like, in Alaska.

Weird that he'd poach the steelies like that if he's so wealthy.

>You'd think having property with a active steelhead run would be more valuable than a few fish in the freezer.  Disturbing.

Having threatened/endangered species present on one's property is a major liability.  They'll only enhance the property value if they're de-listed and in-stream fishing resumes.  For small streams so close to the bay area's army of fishermen, I can't see that happening.  Now if the state paid landowners that host endangered species, rather than (or at least to offset that they) harass the heck out of them, it might be a different story. 

This is a copy+pasted article.
PK


The president of a Bay Area real estate firm, who last week was charged with filing false tax returns, is now facing federal charges for allegedly blocking a stream on his Gilroy property and poaching endangered steelhead trout.
Luke D. Brugnara, 44, president of Brugnara Corp., was indicted Wednesday by a federal grand jury in Oakland on four counts of "taking" steelhead trout and two counts of making false statements during the investigation, according to the Department of Justice. Among Brugnara's holdings are at least one high-rise building in the San Francisco's financial district.
This is the first federal criminal case in the country charging an individual and corporation with poaching steelhead trout through blocking access to upstream habitat, according to the justice department.
In a separate action last week, federal prosecutors also charged Brugnara with failing to report capital gains from the sale of properties that totaled about $45.6 million. According to property records, Brugnara's holdings include a 16-story office building in San Francisco's financial district valued at $24.6 million, a San Francisco home worth $7.5 million and a home in Las Vegas currently on the market for $7.5 million. Prosecutors allege that Brugnara intentionally blocked the flow of Little Arthur Creek, an important Pajaro River watershed for steelhead trout, through a private dam on his 112-acre property in Gilroy that includes a cabinand four additional structures, according to court documents.

Brugnara allegedly told an investigator he had used a fishing rod with a "top water floating frog lure" in an attempt to "scare the steelhead up the fish ladder" and through the dam.
The population of steelhead in the Little Arthur Creek is threatened with extinction and is listed on the Endangered Species Act, according to the justice department. One of the reasons for the decline in steelhead populations is that access to historic spawning and rearing areas upstream has been blocked by dams, according to federal officials.
Prosecutors allege that for about four months in 2007, Brugnara closed off the opening in his dam that had allowed the steelhead to migrate upstream. State and federal investigators found numerous trapped adults downstream of the dam that were unable to migrate upstream to suitable spawning habitat.
A federal biologist determined the trapped adult steelhead were vitally important to the species' survival and recommended that the adults be rescued and moved upstream. When the rescue team arrived to move the steelhead, investigators found that the fish were gone and said there was evidence of poaching activities, including a fishing line with hooks attached, according to court documents. Brugnara is also accused of making false statements to state officers during the investigation. Brugnara, who is scheduled to appear Wednesday in federal court in San Francisco, could face up to 12 years in prison if convicted on all charges.
__________________

Having threatened/endangered species present on one's property is a major liability.  They'll only enhance the property value if they're de-listed and in-stream fishing resumes. 

Depressing, but true.

Now if the state paid landowners that host endangered species, rather than (or at least to offset that they) harass the heck out of them, it might be a different story.

That's a good idea that's already ongoing to some degree.  They're called conservation easements.  Conservation groups and agencies pay landowners to keep stream corridors undeveloped in perpetuity.  The down side is they sometimes deflate the value of the land in future sales due to your above stated reasons.  Probably why hotshot guy didn't do it.

Yeah, it should be a rent or a property tax reduction, not a one-off payment for an easement.  Enhancing the habitat should increase whatever benifits the landowners get.  If endangered species were rent-paying tenants, folks would welcome them.  A one off cash/easement transaction means someone can pocket the cash and not care about the habitat afterwards.  CRP does this, we should have stream CRP.

I'll take said property off his hands and consider it an honor to have such beautiful fish as Steelhead passing through my property. No matter my net worth, I'd not sweat any diminution in value due to the presence of those fish and their reliance on my land for their survival. What an opportunity to contribute to the survival of this noble fish. I am certain if I fell on hard times, there are many conservation and angling groups who would help with volunteers and donations to help me keep my trust to the fish. But with this guy's net worth, it is surely no burden at all. Despite his wealth it appears he wanted something his money couldn't buy--fresh caught local Steelhead in his freezer. He'll get his day in court as he should. I hope justice is served however it comes out. Steelhead here are on the edge of extinction and tenaciously trying to survive and come back. One person's greed and selfishness might wipe them out in a watershed at this point.

SJ Flycasters has many volunteers to do such things and is very active. We (I took off a few hours from work to help) rescued a couple dozen Steelhead from the creek running through Sunnyvale/Mountain View last year when it dried up and trapped them in the warming waters.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/04/21/MNV4109CM0.DTL

One of Gilroy's largest garlic-processing companies took responsibility Monday for letting chunks of garlic slip into a nearby creek, creating a "swamp gas" that killed hundreds of fish, authorities said.

The company, Christopher Ranch, agreed to pay $60,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by the Santa Clara County district attorney's office.

"When raw garlic comes into contact with large bodies of water it forms hydrogen sulfide, which takes oxygen out of water, suffocating the fish," said Ken Rosenblatt, who prosecuted the case.

Several hundred suckerfish and at least nine federally protected steelhead salmon died when the garlic spilled into Carnadero Creek in February 2007. The garlic apparently fell off delivery trucks and was swept into a parking lot storm drain that is supposed to be opened only in the event of catastrophic flooding, Rosenblatt said.

Typically, errant garlic is sent into a pit and pumped into an evaporation pond so the garlic can dry and compost back into the soil.

But someone left the guillotine-style gate open on the flood pipe, which empties into the creek. A local naturalist who monitors the creek daily noticed a milky white sheen and lots of belly-up fish Feb. 3, 2007.

In response to the spill, Christopher Ranch spent $250,000 upgrading its storm water drainage system, which was nearly 50 years old.

The $60,000 fine will be put into fish and game preservation funds maintained by Santa Clara County and the state.

The garlic spill cleared up on its own, Rosenblatt said, but sent a clear warning that water and garlic don't mix.

E-mail Meredith May at [email protected].

This article appeared on page B - 8 of the San Francisco Chronicle