For the sake of the smelt, California farmland lies fallow.
San Joaquin Valley, Calif. — “We have the greatest factory anywhere on earth,” Harris Farms’ executive vice president, William Bourdeau, tells me, as our car bumps rapidly along the dirty, uneven track. “These are pistachio trees,” he says, sweeping his hand across the horizon. “Over there, we have asparagus.” He points through the windshield. “And in that facility, we process garlic.”
Around the corner and away from the freeway, I see almonds, broccoli, onions, watermelons, and tomatoes. Lettuce, which in the grand scale of things is a mere afterthought for Harris, is produced nevertheless on an astonishing scale, with 3 million cartons — 72 million head — being shipped out each year, the fruit of 700,000 man-hours. On neighboring Harris Ranch, the largest in the West, there are 100,000 cattle, most of which will eventually end up at In-N-Out Burger joints along the Pacific Coast and throughout the Southwest. The smell of the cattle permeates the air for a good mile around, announcing the farm to travelers before any signs come into view. In the distance, the mountains loom large.
More
DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
Smelt! Great eating! Everybody look them up on Wikipedia. They are a SALT WATER FISH like salmon that swim into fresh water streams to spawn. So they CAN live in fresh, but natively, they are salt water fish.
ReplyDeleteIf someone stocked a freshwater reservoir with them, well, they can survive, but you are trying to "create" a new breed.
You want to do that, you do it on your own private property, not property of the State.
The fish will make the irrigation water better for crops when the screens are removed. Feed us. Turn on the pumps, screw the Fish and WILDLIFE (not genetically modified cultivated interbred) Department!