The 79 stores on the list, released Thursday, include no California Kmarts, and only three California Sears stores.

Lakeport has one Kmart, and there are no full-line Sears stores in Lake County, only “hometown stores” in Lakeport and Clearlake, the corporation reported.

Sears Holdings Corp. had said Tuesday that it intended to close as many 120 stores in response to declining sales in some categories.

The move is expected to generate between $140 and $170 million as inventory is sold and real estate is sold or leased, as Lake County News has reported.

The Thursday closures list has only one West Coast Kmart – one in Lacey, Wash. – with most of the closures appearing to come in the Midwest and Southern states.

Among the Sears stores slated for closure, those in California are located in San Diego, where there will be two store closures, and El Monte.

A typical store slated for closure employs between 40 and 80 associates, the corporation reported.

“Employment varies by store and format and at this time we cannot provide the total number of impacted associates,” according to the statement.

Sears Holdings Corp. operates 1,307 Kmart stores across 49 states, Guam, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and 890 full-line Sears stores.

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122911 Kmart and Sears Store Closures

William J. Adams, 59, was transported via REACH air ambulance to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital following the crash, which occurred at 8:20 a.m., according to the California Highway Patrol.

The other driver in the crash, 35-year-old Christopher Genho Jr. of Clearlake Oaks, claimed no initial injury but may have possibly suffered shock, the CHP said.

The CHP report said Adams was driving his 2002 Saturn coupe eastbound on Highway 20 at an unknown speed through a series of “S” curves in Lucerne and passing Country Club Drive, with Genho traveling westbound at between 40 and 45 miles per hour in his full-size GMC 2500 panel van.

As Genho was approaching Ogden Road, Adams reportedly drifted across the double yellow lines into Genho’s path, the CHP said.

The crash’s cause is still under investigation, but the CHP report suggested that, based on a brief statement Adams was able to provide as well as that of an independent witness following his vehicle prior to the crash, Adams may have fallen asleep while driving.

That witness and Genho both told the CHP that Adams drifted across the double yellow lines, with Genho attempting to take evasive action by veering the van toward the eastbound lane in order to avoid hitting Adams, the CHP said.

However, Adams unexpectedly swerved back toward the eastbound lane. The CHP said Genho then moved the van back toward the north, with Adams again changing direction.

The front left portion of Adams’ Saturn struck the van’s front left area, with both vehicles coming to rest within the westbound traffic lane. The CHP said the van was oriented in a westbound direction with the Saturn positioned eastbound.

Northshore Fire personnel had to extricate Adams from the Saturn due to his injuries and the vehicle’s condition, the CHP reported.

Reports from the scene indicated Highway 20 was closed briefly as firefighters and CHP worked at the scene.

Officer Nick Powell is investigating the crash.

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The corporation said it hasn’t yet determined which stores will be closed.

"Given our performance and the difficult economic environment, especially for big-ticket items, we intend to implement a series of actions to reduce on-going expenses, adjust our asset base, and accelerate the transformation of our business model,” said Chief Executive Officer Lou D'Ambrosio. “These actions will better enable us to focus our investments on serving our customers and members through integrated retail – at the store, online and in the home.”

The corporation reported that it operates 1,307 Kmart stores across 49 states, Guam, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and 890 full-line Sears stores.

There are no full-line Sears stores in the Lake County area, with the closest being in Santa Rosa, according to the Sears Web site.

However, the corporation Web site showed there are “hometown stores” – not reported to be slated for closure – in Lakeport and Clearlake. Lakeport also is home to a Kmart.

The proposed closures are expected to generate $140 to $170 million of cash as the net inventory in these stores is sold, along with additional cash proceeds from the sale or sublease of the related store real estate, the corporation said.

Sears Holdings Corp. said it expects to reduce its 2012 peak domestic inventory by $300 million from the 2011 level of $10.2 billion as a result of cost decreases in apparel, tighter buys and a lower inventory position at the beginning of the fiscal year.

The Tuesday report attributed Kmart's sales decline to decreases in the consumer electronics and apparel categories and lower layaway sales, while Sears’ declines were primarily driven by the consumer electronics and home appliance categories, with apparel sales flat and Lands' End in Sears stores up by mid-single digits.

D'Ambrosio said the corporation plans to take several specific actions to improve its situation, including focusing on improving gross profit dollars through better inventory management and more targeted pricing and promotion; reducing fixed costs by $100 to $200 million; and carefully evaluating store performance going forward.

“While our past practice has been to keep marginally performing stores open while we worked to improve their performance, we no longer believe that to be the appropriate action in this environment,” the corporation said in its Tuesday statement. “We intend to accentuate our focus and resources to our better performing stores with the goal of converting their customer experience into a world-class integrated retail experience.”

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Nationwide law enforcement fatalities, 1961 to 2011. Courtesy of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.

For the second straight year, law enforcement fatalities nationwide rose sharply with 173 federal, state and local officers killed in the line of duty during 2011, according to preliminary data compiled and released today by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.

This represents a 13 percent increase over the 153 officers killed in 2010 and an alarming 42 percent spike when compared to the 122 officers who lost their lives in the line of duty in 2009, the group reported.

The primary cause of death in 2011 was gunfire, which claimed the lives of 68 officers and nearly matched the decade-long high of 69 firearms-related deaths in 2007, the report showed.

For the past 13 years in a row, traffic-related incidents had been the primary cause of law enforcement fatalities.

In 2011, though, the number of officers killed on the roadway dropped by 10 percent. There were 64 traffic-related deaths among officers in 2011, which matched 2005 for the second-lowest total in the past 15 years.

Of that total, 44 died in automobile crashes, 11 were struck and killed while outside of their vehicles, seven died in motorcycle crashes and two were killed when their car was struck by a train.

“Drastic budget cuts affecting law enforcement agencies across the country have put our officers at grave risk,” declared National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund Chairman Craig W. Floyd. “At a time when officers are facing a more cold-blooded criminal element and fighting a war on terror, we are cutting vital resources necessary to ensure their safety and the safety of the innocent citizens they protect.”

Floyd also noted that the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund is partnering with the U.S. Department of Justice and the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, among others, on a number of law enforcement safety initiatives to combat this growing problem.

Floyd cited a recent survey by the International Association of Chiefs of Police that found 60 percent of responding law enforcement agencies had cut back on training, 64 percent had cut back on buying or upgrading major equipment, and 58 percent had cut back on buying or upgrading technology.

A report issued in October by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, stated that by year’s end, it is expected that nearly 12,000 police officers and sheriff’s deputies will have been laid off.

In addition to the officers killed by firearms or traffic-related incidents, 27 officers died as a result of job-related illnesses, four died as a result of falls, two drowned and two were stabbed.

One officer died due to each of the following causes: aircraft accident, beating, bomb-related incident, struck by a falling object, electrocution and strangulation, according to the report.

During the past year, more officers were killed in Florida, 14, than in any other state; followed by Texas with 13; New York with 11; and California and Georgia with 10 each.

Ten of the officers killed nationwide in 2011 served with federal law enforcement agencies. Seven of the officers who died during the past year served with correctional agencies. Eleven of the 173 fatalities were women.

On average, the officers who died in 2011 were 41 years old and had served for 13 years.

The preliminary 2011 law enforcement fatality report was released by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund in conjunction with Concerns of Police Survivors (C.O.P.S.), a nonprofit organization that provides critical assistance to the surviving family members and loved ones of officers killed in the line of duty.

“The hard fact is that for the first time in 2011, more officers were killed in firearms-related incidents than traffic-related incidents,” said Linda Moon Gregory, national president of Concerns of Police Survivors.

“I’m deeply concerned that budget constraints may be compromising the safety of our remaining law enforcement officers due to cuts in personnel and reduced affordability of life saving equipment. At a time when criminals have the latest technology and weapons, we must ensure that our peace officers are adequately equipped and protected,” she stated.

Her brother, Officer James Homer Moon from the sheriff’s office in Jacksonville, Fla., was shot and killed in the line of duty in September 1971 and Gregory’s family continues to deal with parole issues related to her brother’s death.

The statistics released by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund and C.O.P.S. are based on preliminary data compiled and do not represent a final or complete list of individual officers who will be added to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in 2011.

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2011 Preliminary Law Enforcement Fatality Report

Luwana Quitiquit of Nice, Calif., died on Friday, December 23, 2011, at her home. She was 70 years old. Photo courtesy of the Quitiquit family.

NICE, Calif. – In the days before the Christmas holiday, Luwana Quitiquit was tired.

The 70-year-old Quitiquit, a respected local Pomo elder and basket weaver, artist and activist, had been the lead plaintiff in a case filed against Robinson Rancheria, whose council was trying to evict her and several others from their homes on the reservation.

It was the latest assault on Quitiquit and her family, who in 2008 were disenrolled by the tribe. Also disenrolled at that time was her mother, who was posthumously removed from the tribe’s rolls.

Quitiquit, who had formerly served on the Robinson Rancheria tribal council, told Lake County News at the time that the move to force her family out of the tribe was purely political and retaliatory.

“I'm ready to fight,” she said in a December 2008 interview. “They're not going to make me cry. I'm going to fight all the way.”

She had continued to fight, even as the tribe attempted to push her from her home, signing up to be the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit to fight the evictions. A judge recently had granted a delay in the proceedings until March, according to her sister, Wanda Quitiquit.

But, as sister Wanda pointed out, Luwana Quitiquit was both busy and tired from the battle, and she was struggling with her health.

“You would not believe the stress she was under,” Wanda Quitiquit told Lake County News.

In order to pay for the retainer fee for the attorney representing her and others targeted for eviction, Luwana Quitiquit had just sold one of her exquisitely beaded American Indian dresses, Wanda Quitiquit said.

With money to pay the attorney, Luwana Quitiquit believed things were going to be all right, said her sister.

On Thursday, Dec. 22, she went to bed exhausted. The next morning, her son went to check on her.

“She died in her sleep and we should all be so lucky,” said Wanda Quitiquit, who called her sister her best friend.

Wanda Quitiquit said the fight to battle the evictions at Robinson Rancheria needs to continue on behalf of her sister.

“They can't touch her now,” she said of the tribal council.

Luwana Quitiquit was born in Isleton, Calif., on Nov. 13, 1941, to father Claro Quitiquit, of Filipino ancestry, and mother, Marie Boggs Quitiquit, who came from Robinson Rancheria.

She was from a big family, with a total of 15 siblings.

She grew up on Union Island in the Bay-Delta area near Stockton, where she and her family were employed as farm workers.

Luwana Quitiquit of Nice, Calif., demonstrated traditional Pomo basket weaving. She died at age 70 on Friday, December 23, 2011. Lake County News file photo.

Her interests and activism took root there, but grew beyond the boundaries of a youth spent in farming.

While in her 20s she worked at the University of California, Berkeley, and in November 1969 she took part in an earlier “occupy” movement, when she and other American Indians decided to occupy Alcatraz Island in the San Francisco Bay.

Her family said she was one of the first Indians to step foot on the island as part of that occupation, remaining there until its end two years later, in 1971.

Her older brother Lawrence Thompson, who died in 2009, also had been involved in the Alcatraz occupation, captaining a boat that transported people from San Francisco Pier No. 40 to the island.

In the years that followed the Alcatraz occupation, Luwana Quitiquit continued her education. In 1977 she received her bachelor's degree in sociology from U.C. Berkeley.

Since then, she had become known as a talented scholar, researcher and grant writer, and worked to address challenges facing natives in Indian Country.

Her family said she even went on to visit New Zealand and Australia. Indigenous leaders there encouraged her to work to preserve her Pomo culture and heritage.

Luwana Quitiquit studied Pomo basketry – renowned weaver Mabel McKay was among her teachers – and owned and operated the Pomo Fine Art Gallery in Lucerne’s Harbor Village Artists complex.

She traveled around the state to share her talents, going to Albany last month to take part in an American Indian art show with her son, Alan Harrison.

“Luwana taught a cultural wellness class at the health clinic that became a class model for other tribal clinics in California,” said friend Sandy Elgin. “She was, and still is, a legend with a gentle spirit that will live on forever.”

Luwana Quitiquit is survived by her three children, four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, 11 of her siblings, and numerous nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her son, Tyrone A. Douglas; her parents and four of her brothers.

Quitiquit's obituary can be viewed here: Luwana Quitiquit, 1941-2011 .

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Joy White modeled one of the original handmade buckskin dresses made by Pomo artisan Luwana Quitiquit (left) of Nice, Calif. Quitiquit died at age 70 on Friday, December 23, 2011. Lake County News file photo.

In October 2010, Harris filed a lawsuit against 10 companies for engaging in price fixing of LCD panels from 1999 to 2006 that resulted in higher prices for California residents and businesses, as well as government agencies.

Tuesday’s settlements resolve Attorney General Harris' claims against seven companies, along with those of seven other attorneys general and a national class action.

As part of the settlements, the companies that engaged in price fixing will provide a fund for consumers and businesses in 25 states, including California.

The settling companies also have resolved claims brought by Attorney General Harris for civil penalties under California's Unfair Competition Law, as well as restitution for government agencies that purchased the flat screen LCD panels.

Attorney General Harris is joined in these settlements by the attorneys general of Arkansas, Florida, Michigan, Missouri, New York, West Virginia and Wisconsin, as well as a class action brought on behalf of private claimants in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.

Settling defendants include: Chimei Innolux Corp., Chi Mei Optoelectronics USA, Inc., Chi Mei Optoelectronics Japan Co., Ltd, HannStar Display Corp., Hitachi, Ltd., Hitachi Displays, Ltd., Hitachi Electronic Devices, USA, Inc., Samsung Electronics, Co., Ltd., Samsung Electronics America, Inc., Samsung Semiconductor, Inc., Sharp Corp. and Sharp Electronics Corp.

The California case was originally filed in San Francisco Superior Court, where litigation continues against AU Optronics Corp., AU Optronics Corp. America, Inc., LG Display Co. Ltd., LG Display America Inc., Toshiba Corp., Toshiba Mobile Display Co. Ltd. and Toshiba America Electronics Components Inc.

In 2008, two companies – LG Display Co., Ltd. and LG Display America, Inc. – pleaded guilty to federal charges for price fixing TFT-LCD panels and paid $400 million in federal fines. Defendants AU Optronics Corp. and AU Optronics Corp. America, along with several employees, have been indicted on federal charges of price fixing.

The criminal trial is scheduled for January 2012 in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.

California consumers and government entities will receive a significant portion of the more than $500 million settlement, with an exact percentage to be determined later.

Following completion of the litigation, California consumers and businesses can file claims for monetary relief.

Information about how to file a claim will be available at the Attorney General's Web site at www.oag.ca.gov or by calling 800-952-5225.

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One center of attention will be the manual survey scheduled for 11 a.m. off Highway 50 near Echo Summit. This and other manual and electronic surveys up and down the state will determine the amount of water in the early winter snowpack.

Statewide electronic readings indicate that Wednesday’s snowpack water content – near the end of an unusually dry December – is only 24 percent of normal for the date.

On Dec. 27, 2010, the statewide snowpack water content was 202 percent of average.

Despite the low early readings, the snowpack and its water content can be expected to increase through the winter months to April 1, when melting snow begins flowing into streams and reservoirs.

“Thanks to good reservoir storage left over from last winter’s storms, we anticipate an adequate water supply next summer,” said DWR Director Mark Cowin. “Our initial estimate is that we’ll be able to deliver 60 percent of the slightly more than 4 million acre-feet of water requested from the State Water Project, and we hope to increase the percentage as winter storms develop.”

The initial delivery estimate for this calendar year was only 25 percent of the slightly more than 4 million acre-feet requested by the 29 public agencies that distribute State Water Project water to 25 million Californians and nearly a million acres of irrigated farmland.

As winter took hold, a near-record snowpack and heavy rains sweeping the state resulted in deliveries of 80 percent of requests in 2011.

The final allocation was 50 percent in 2010, 40 percent in 2009, 35 percent in 2008, and 60 percent 2007. The last 100 percent allocation – difficult to achieve even in wet years because of Delta pumping restrictions to protect threatened and endangered fish – was in 2006.

DWR and cooperating agencies conduct manual snow surveys around the first of the month from January to May. The manual surveys supplement and check the accuracy of real-time electronic readings as the snowpack builds then melts in spring and summer.

Most of the state’s major reservoirs are above normal storage for the date.

Lake Oroville in Butte County, the State Water Project’s principal storage reservoir, is at 115 percent of average for the date, or 72 percent of its 3.5 million acre-foot capacity.

Lake Shasta north of Redding, the federal Central Valley Project’s largest reservoir with a capacity of 4.5 million acre-feet, is 108 percent of average for the date, or 68 percent of capacity.

San Luis Reservoir in Merced County, an important storage reservoir south of the Delta, is at 139 percent of average for the date, or 94 percent of capacity.

San Luis, with a capacity of 2,027,840 acre-feet, is a critically important source of water for both the State Water Project and the Central Valley Project when pumping from the Delta is restricted or interrupted. An acre-foot is 325,851 gallons, enough to cover one acre to a depth of one foot.

The mountain snowpack that melts into reservoirs, streams and aquifers provides approximately one-third of the water for California’s households, industries and farms.

Statewide snowpack readings are available on the Internet at http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/snow/DLYSWEQ.

Electronic reservoir level readings may be found at http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cdecapp/resapp/getResGraphsMain.action.

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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Lake County Office of Education reported Tuesday that recently announced mid-year state budget cuts include massive and unequalled reductions to much-needed transportation funds for rural and small school districts.

As a result, Lake County Superintendent of Schools Wally Holbrook said Lake County school districts are again preparing to deal with more reductions to funding for education and schools.

This time, however, the proposed cuts are in the middle of the budget year, lack specificity and are based on disproportionate funding allocations for school districts that provide necessary but not mandated transportation, he said.

Holbrook said the Lake County schools revenue limit funding per-student has been reduced over the last five years by approximately $1,300 per-student, and local schools are now preparing for an additional $13.10 per student mid-year reduction.

In addition, transportation funding will be reduced by 51.5 percent, which Holbrook said will result in a loss of approximately $875,000 to Lake County schools.

The mid-year cuts in transportation raise many issues for Lake County’s schools, Holbrook said.

Lake County schools and parents rely heavily on home to school transportation – in the form of school buses – to get their children to school, Holbrook said. Due to the county’s geography and walking distances to school, a higher percentage of local students ride the bus.

While home to school transportation is not a state-mandated program, Holbrook said it is a critical service ensuring that students attend school on a regular basis, and average daily attendance (ADA) is the primary determiner for school funding. Simply discontinuing school transportation service is not a viable solution for Lake County schools.

Another issue raised is the apparent lack of fairness in how the reductions in transportation funds will be calculated, according to Holbrook.

The 51.5-percent reduction is planned to be applied in January to a decades-old base-funding appropriation that varies from district to district. Holbrook said the result of this approach will be a disproportionate reduction of dollars on a per-student basis.

According to the chart below, total Lake County reductions per-student will range from a low of $60 per-student to a high of $157, Holbrook said.

In addition, state transportation funds allocated to Lake County schools already have been reduced and do not fully cover the cost of providing transportation, Holbrook said.

In 2011-12 Lake County school transportation entitlements have been reduced by $435,000, thereby requiring local school districts to allocate more than $1,803,000 of scarce regular education dollars to maintain the current level of service, he said.

As an example, Kelseyville Unified School District’s initial transportation allotment was $442,359 and was reduced to $354,616 in July, Holbrook said. Now that allocation will be reduced again by 51.5 percent, leaving just $171,989 as the state funded amount.

Kelseyville’s regular education budget will now need to fund $277,230 of the total transportation costs, which Holbrook said amounts to $449,219.

Lastly, Holbrook said the timeline for implementation of mid-year reductions is problematic.

Schools cannot simply reduce personnel costs, he said.

Most, if not all, school districts are subject to collective bargaining agreements requiring them to adhere to strict procedures for notification and communication related to reducing staff, Holbrook said. In order to fairly and efficiently implement any reductions in staff, a minimum of 60 to 90 days is required, thereby reducing the potential savings in the remaining school year.

While it may be overly optimistic to expect that education would be held harmless from future cuts until the budget stabilizes, the reductions could be applied in a more equitable fashion, he said.

The same dollars generated in the 51.5 percent reduction to transportation could be achieved by a statewide “across the board” reduction of $42 per student, Holbrook suggested.

Holbrook is encouraging local parents to consider contacting Lake County’s state legislators to encourage them to quickly address this issue.

“Together we can make a difference,” Holbrook said.

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Michael Sean Shaffer, 27, of Lucerne, Calif., was arrested on Tuesday, December 27, 2011, after he attempted to flee deputies. Lake County Jail photo.

LUCERNE, Calif. – A Lucerne man who resisted arrest and fought with a deputy on Tuesday was finally arrested with the help of a sheriff’s K9.

Michael Sean Shaffer, 27, was arrested for a felony parole violation and resisting arrest, according to his booking sheet.

At approximately 11:45 p.m. Tuesday Lake County Sheriff’s deputies and a K9 responded to an address on Ogden Road in Lucerne in an attempt to contact Shaffer, who had a felony arrest warrant, according to Sgt. Steve Brooks of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.

Brooks said Shaffer is a known escape risk and had a history of resisting arrest and possessing prohibited weapons.

When deputies knocked on the door of the Ogden Road home and announced themselves, Shaffer exited the house and started running toward Country Club Drive, Brooks said.

The K9 deputy identified himself and told Shaffer to stop or he was going to send the dog. Brooks said Shaffer continued to run and the deputy deployed his K9.

The K9 engaged Shaffer as he collided with a garbage can and fell to the ground. Brooks said Shaffer continued to resist as the deputy struggled to gain control of his hands.

The K9 engaged Shaffer again and he was taken into custody moments later, Brooks said.

Shaffer was transported to the hospital where he received medical treatment for some abrasions, puncture wounds and a laceration behind his right ear which required several stitches, according to Brooks.

Brooks said Shaffer was arrested and transported to the Lake County Hill Road Correctional Facility and booked.

Shaffer remained in custody on Wednesday due to a no bail hold, according to his booking records.

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Lake County, Calif., had a foggy morning on Tuesday, December 27, 2011, which created some icy road conditions. Photo taken by Greg Cornish from his home in Nice, Calif.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Fog and icy road conditions resulted in county road workers and California Highway Patrol officers keeping an eye on the Nice-Lucerne Cutoff on Tuesday.

A thick morning fog came off Clear Lake in that area of the Northshore, resulting in icy roads, said Lake County Road Superintendent Steve Stangland.

“We didn’t have any accidents to our knowledge,” said Stangland.

Stangland said the Nice-Lucerne Cutoff is the busiest of the roads that Lake County maintains, and his staff gives it extra attention as a result.

A county sand truck on Tuesday spent part of the day sanding the cutoff, and the CHP set out flares to warn drivers of icy areas, Stangland said.

Stangland said the county has three road districts, each of which has a staff member who starts work at 4 a.m. – ahead of commuter traffic – to monitor areas like the cutoff, Bottle Rock Road and Point Lakeview Road for ice, downed trees and other road hazards.

With the fog lifting, Stangland said he’s not anticipating Wednesday to replicate Tuesday’s icy conditions.

The National Weather Service is predicting chances of showers increasing through the end of the week.

Stangland said the cloud cover and chance of rain will mean slightly warmer temperatures and less chance of icy roadways.

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The study, published this week in the early edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggests that even small oil spills can have a large impact on marine life, and that common chemical analyses of oil spills may be inadequate.

"Our research represents a change in the paradigm for oil spill research and detecting oil spill effects in an urbanized estuary," said Gary Cherr, director of the UC Davis Bodega Marine Laboratory and a study co-author.

On the foggy morning of Nov. 7, 2007, when the container ship collided with the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, bunker oil contaminated spawning habitats for the largest U.S. coastal population of Pacific herring – a month before spawning season.

The new study, which analyzed Pacific herring embryos following the spill, highlights the effects of bunker oil on fish embryos in shallow water, the potential significance of sunlight interacting with oil compounds, and the extreme vulnerability of fish in early life stages to spilled oil.

Specifically, the study found that components of Cosco Busan bunker oil accumulated in naturally spawned herring embryos, then interacted with sunlight during low tides to kill the embryos.

Laboratory fertilized eggs, caged in deeper waters, were protected from the lethal combination of sunlight and oil, but still showed less severe abnormalities associated with oil exposure.

Crude oil is naturally occurring, liquid petroleum. Bunker oil is a thick fuel oil distilled from crude oil and burned on ships to fuel their engines. It is contaminated with various, sometimes unknown, substances.

The study builds on research following the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill, which released up to 32 million gallons of crude oil into the comparatively pristine environment of Prince William Sound, Alaska.

That research established a new paradigm for understanding the effects of oil toxicity on fish at early life stages.

The new study suggests that this old paradigm is inadequate to explain the dramatic, lethal effects of very low levels of oil on fish embryos, even in an urban estuary with preexisting background pollution.

"Based on our previous understanding of the effects of oil on embryonic fish, we didn't think there was enough oil from the Cosco Busan spill to cause this much damage," Cherr said. "And we didn't expect that the ultraviolet light would dramatically increase toxicity in the actual environment, as we might observe in controlled laboratory experiments."

Researchers began the new study in February 2008. They analyzed the levels of oil-based compounds in caged herring embryos at four oiled and two non-oiled subtidal sites, all of which were at least 1 meter below the water's surface. Naturally spawned embryos from shallower sites were also analyzed.

Three months after the spill, caged embryos at oiled sites showed nonlethal heart defects typical of oil exposure.

But embryos from the shallower, intertidal zone not only exhibited the nonlethal heart defects, they also showed surprisingly high rates of dead tissue and mortality unrelated to heart defects.

"These embryos were literally falling apart with high rates of mortality," said Cherr.

In 2008, almost no live larvae hatched from the natural spawn collected from oiled sites.

The high death rates did not seem to be caused by natural or manmade causes unrelated to the spill, the researchers report. No toxicity was observed in embryos from unoiled sites, even those near major highways.

Embryos sampled two years later from oiled sites showed modest heart defects but no increased death rates.

Pacific herring is a commercially and ecologically important species. The fish travel in large schools, typically from the San Francisco Bay north to the Bering Sea, and serve as a forage fish for humpback whales, other mammals, birds and salmon. After two years at sea, they spawn in shallow areas of bays and estuaries.

"In San Francisco, herring is one of the last urban fisheries, and herring is an indicator for the health of the Bay," said Cherr.

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