Agriculture Daily News 1/30

In a sobering assessment, state and federal officials told a House panel that their big investment in the smelt hasn't paid off yet. The concession comes as officials contemplate spending an additional $10 billion or more for new California water projects and related environmental work. Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Robert Johnson said he could not even estimate how much money has been spent on measures to protect the fish, although it's likely in the tens of millions of dollars. The hearing convened by the House panel Tuesday could set the stage for federal legislation, although nothing specific has been introduced. Sacramento Bee 1/30/08

 

The state's largest salmon run is suffering an "unprecedented collapse," part of a broader decline throughout the West that has scientists vexed and likely will trigger severe fishing restrictions, according to federal fishery regulators. The number of chinook, or king, salmon returning from the Pacific Ocean to spawn in the Sacramento River and its tributaries this past fall dropped 67 percent from a year earlier, according to an internal memo to members of the Pacific Fishery Management Council. CC Times 1/30/08

 

Beaches in Pacifica and at Moss Beach's Fitzgerald Marine Reserve were closed Monday after tar balls, ranging from the size of a quarter to the width of a hubcap, washed up along the coast, according to San Mateo County officials. The source of the oil, first thought to be remnants of the Cosco Busan oil spill, became more of a mystery as the day wore on and the Coast Guard received reports of thick, coagulated tar ball "patties" washing up on beaches as far south as Monterey. Inside Bay Area 1/30/08

 

The Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to begin a City Hall push to get artery-clogging trans fats out of the food served in San Francisco restaurants. With the approval of the city's leading restaurateurs' association, the board voted unanimously to institute a voluntary program in which restaurants that pledge to cook without trans fats will receive a decal that can be displayed to let customers know their food is being prepared without partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.  The legislation's author, Supervisor Sophie Maxwell, said the next step is to make the ban mandatory. SF Chronicle 1/30/08

 

UnitedHealth, the nation's largest health insurer, faces penalties of up to $1.3 billion from California regulators for thousands of alleged violations that include wrongly denying claims, losing patient records and failing to respond to complaints. SJ Mercury 1/30/08

 

Building on California's allure as America's "Capital of Culinary Travel," the California Wine Institute and the California Travel and Tourism Commission (CTTC) have entered into an historic partnership to promote the state's wine and cuisine offerings to the fast-growing travel segment of culinary connoisseurs -- and those who aspire to be. The heart of the campaign focuses on a new LandofWineandFood.com Web site which will debut at wine and food and travel media events. PR Newswire 1/30/08