Hundreds of endangered fish were removed last week from bodies of water left damaged by the Palisades Fire.
A removal of more than 250 endangered southern steelhead trout took place last Thursday at Topanga Creek in a rescue operation led by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Fish and Wildlife, with assistance from other agencies including the Resource Conservation District of the Santa Monica Mountains, traveled with nets in hand to corral the endangered fish and remove them from Topanga Creek.
Officials said the creek’s watershed was severely degraded by the Palisades Fire, and it may remain uninhabitable for the species for years.
“Rescuing this genetically unique population of trout needs to happen now,” said Rosi Dagit, principal conservation biologist with the RCDSMM, adding that recent rainfall likely caused even further damaged to the creek’s water quality.
The trout were transported to the CDFW Fillmore Hatchery in Santa Paula for safekeeping while efforts are made to identify a new habitat. Plans are underway to relocate the trout to a suitable watershed in collaboration with the National Marine Fisheries Service.
Wildlife rescuers and researchers also rescued more than 750 tidewater gobies from the Topanga Lagoon, located downstream from Topanga Creek in an inlet of the Pacific Ocean.
The hundreds of freshwater fish have since been transferred to a Heal the Bay holding facility in Santa Monica and the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach for safekeeping. That rescue operation included RCDSMM, U.S. Fish and Wildlife and CSU Channel Islands.
The gobies will remain in human care for the foreseeable future until significant rain events are able to “flush out debris left over from the Palisades Fire, and they can be safely returned to the wild,” the Aquarium of the Pacific said.
The Palisades and Eaton fires have devastated both human and ecological communities. The fires have destroyed over 12,000 structures and displaced thousands of residents, with extreme weather conditions linked to climate change worsening their impact.
