Five individuals have been caught illegally mining along several California waterways, state officials announced. According to a Sept. 26 news release from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the citations began in August of last year, when authorities found someone operating a suction dredge — a powerful tool that sucks materials out of underwater cracks and crevices — on the Salmon River. … According to the CDFW, this motorized equipment can harm fish and their native habitat by releasing contaminants, causing erosion and potentially creating more favorable conditions for the invasive signal crayfish.