Calif. thiobencarb agreement protects salmon and steelhead from pesticide

Federal and state agencies have collaborated with pesticide manufacturer Valent have collaborated in an effort to save endangered salmon and steelhead trout from the effects of thiobencarb, a pesticide, according to a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency release.

The collaboration has resulted in a federally enforceable restriction of the range in which thiobencarb can be used that still respects the business interests of rice growers. The California Department of Pesticide Regulation determined the proximities of pesticide usage to salmon and steelhead habitat, while the EPA incorporated the geographical limits into the pesticide label.

California is the only place where rice is grown in the range of salmon and steelhead populations.

Top image: Chinook salmon swimming underwater. (Credit: Riccardo Rossi, via Wikimedia Commons/CC BY 2.0)