Peter B. Moyle Fisheries Biology Recipient 1994-1995 Professor Moyle has used his knowledge of California’s inland fishes to influence public policy decisions, educate the public, and find solutions to conflicts over water. His expertise has been especially useful in dealing with problems in the San Francisco Estuary, in regulated rivers, in waters of the Sierra Nevada, and in coastal streams. Professor Moyle has testified before government boards, worked with decision makers, talked with citizen groups, taught students from elementary to college age and even wrote a popular fish book to promote public understanding of the need to protect fish and encourage conservation. His recently published book Inland Fishes of California is designed to be a source of information for environmental managers, NGOs , and others who are taking actions that affect fish populations. Working with the Natural Heritage Institute, a public interest law firm, Dr. Moyle helped to shape water quality standards for the San Francisco Estuary by testifying at hearings and other fora. As an expert on the native fishes of the estuary, he prepared the petition that resulting the delta smelt being listed as a state and federal threatened species. He also developed background material on other potentially threatened and endangered fishes, which became the basis for other species listings. The US Fish and Wildlife Service subsequently appointed him to head the interagency Delta Native Fishes Recovery Team which produced the recovery plan for these species. More recently he was part of a team of scientists who wrote the strategic plan for the CALFED Ecosystem Restoration Plan (ERP). He now serves on the scientific advisory board for the ERP. As the principal fish biologist of the Sierra Nevada Ecosystem Project Team of the US Forest Service, Dr. Moyle developed a watershed conservation strategy that is being applied in areas as distant as Kashmir. For the north coast, his laboratory team compiled information that demonstrated severe depletion of coho salmon populations in California, leading to their being listed as threatened by federal and state governments. The designations of Critical Habitat and Essential Fish Habitat for coho by the National Marine Fisheries Service is largely based on his coho report. Working with the Sierra Club and other environmental groups, he has served as an expert witness in lawsuits to protect coho populations. He is currently serving on the National Research Council committee to resolve scientific issues involving water for endangered fishes, including coho salmon, in the Klamath River basin. Closer to home, he has worked closely with the Putah Creek Council to restore flows and habitat in Putah Creek. He was the principal expert witness on fish and fisheries in a trial that led to an increase in flows of the creek. He works with a group of faculty on the Putah-Cache Bioregion Project which is creating a greater public (and university) awareness of the remarkable region encompassed by the Putah and Cache Creek watersheds. Back to Past Recipients