Wednesday February 8, 2023
Lake County News —
After two meetings and nine hours of hearings and public testimony, the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday evening voted unanimously to declare an emergency in an effort to save the Clear Lake hitch — a fish at the heart of Pomo culture — from extinction.
The board’s proclamation of a local emergency, which can be read in its entirety below, cites drought and habitat loss as factors in the potential extinction of the hitch, known to the Pomo as the chi.
The hitch is a native minnow that lives up to seven years, spawns in creeks and then makes its way to Clear Lake.
Supervisor Moke Simon, a member of the Middletown Rancheria, fished for them with his family and tribe growing up, and on Tuesday recalled seeing the creeks run black with the fish.
However, on Tuesday and on Jan. 24 — the meeting when the matter was first discussed — testimony from scientists and tribal members pointed out that the hitch’s numbers are in free fall.