Limited efforts by the state and federal governments to reduce export pumping during key migration times for the Delta smelt have not been aggressive enough to prevent the species from nearing extinction in the wild. There “is no easy answer” why the smelt declined even in a record water year when biologists would have expected a rebound, according to Dr. Peter B Moyle, Distinguished Professor, Emeritus, at the Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology, Center for Watershed Sciences, UC Davis. [3] It functions as an indicator species for the overall health of the Delta's ecosystem. McAllister DE. Radtke, LD (1966) Distribution of smelt, juvenile sturgeon and starry flounder in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. This was the first description of H. transpacificus, named for its supposed occurrence on both sides of the Pacific, and also "to the friendship of Japanese and Canadian ichthyologists." This is plausibly due to a geographic isolation of a widespread eastern Pacific ancestor, of which some members were isolated in a freshwater basin in western California, possibly in the lakes that would have been located in the southern San Joaquin Valley during the Pleistocene epoch.[7]. The best explanation I can think of is that numbers are so low that an increase (or decrease) in the index would not be detectable with the FMT sampling,” he said. Water export operations likely have a great effect on the distribution, abundance, and genetic diversity of delta smelt.[14]. Sweetnam DA. We cover climate change, clean energy, solar power, healthy food, and the national and local politics and policy that make it all possible. Two others, threadfin shad and Sacramento splitail, didn’t fare so well. [5] Efforts to protect the endangered fish from further decline have focused on limiting or modifying the large-scale pumping activities of state and federal water projects at the southern end of the estuary, thereby limiting water available to farming. California Department of Fish and Game, California, p 6, Miller J, Swanson C, Poole KS (2006) Emergency petition to list the delta smelt (, Bennett, WA (2005) Critical assessment of the delta smelt population in the San Francisco Estuary, California. The find, reported today (April 1) in the journal Pelagic Papers,… [12][13] Delta smelt disappeared from the southern portion of their historic habitat in the late 1970s, which coincides with substantial increases in the amounts of water exported from the delta. The agency collected the smelt, along with other five other pelagic (open water) species, in trawl nets at 100 index stations throughout the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, the largest estuary on the West Coast of the Americas, from September 1 through December 13. “The population is so low that they can’t find each other to mate,” Tom Cannon, a fish ecologist and consultant for the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, told the Stockton Record. Only two hundred sixty-two Threadfin Shad were collected at index stations. Because of its one-year lifecycle and relatively low fecundity, the smelt is very susceptible to changes in the environmental conditions of its habitat. Wet years generally lead to higher recruitment per spawner. Citation: ELR 10714. Abundance again declined drastically in 2002, dropping more than 80 percent in just three years. Only one splittail was collected at an index station in December from Suisun Bay. The Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers then transport the delta smelt larvae downstream to the mixing zone, normally located in the Suisun Bay. Newman KB (2008) Sample design-based methodology for estimating delta smelt abundance. In the 1980’s, he began to see a startling drop in the number of Delta smelt in his population samples. [34] An additional 16,000 job losses in the Central Valley were attributed to the drought California had been experiencing in recent years. The index for the Sacramento splittail “shows a continuing trend of very little to no catch of Splittail in FMWT,” said White. The delta smelt is semelparous, living one year and dying after its first spawning. Three hundred ninety-nine age-0 Striped Bass were collected at index stations. To read the Federal Register, go to: www.gpo.gov/…, http://www.dfg.ca.gov/delta/data/fmwt/indices.asp, Lake Camanche Trophy Trout, Bass Lurk Above Ruins of Lancha Plana, Reclamation announces extension of Shasta Dam raise comment period to Oct. 5, Tuesday, Jan. 16, from 6-8 p.m. at the San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority, 842 Sixth St. in Los Banos, Tuesday, Jan. 23, from 2-4 p.m. at the Stanford Room, 650 Capitol Mall in Sacramento. The tiny delta smelt is one of the best indicators of environmental conditions in the San Francisco Bay-Delta, an ecologically important estuary that is a major hub for California's water system — and an ecosystem that is now rapidly unraveling. Note that indices for splittail and threadfin shad are meaningless because the FWT is not a good way sample them.”. However, these efforts have not prevented the species from becoming functionally extinct in the wild. temperature, salinity, water depth) of these areas have not changed. During the last big water year, 2011, the number of Delta smelt increased ten times, but not this year. A revision of the smelt family, Osmeridae. Soon after UC Davis researchers first began sampling in the delta, nearly 40 years ago, the delta smelt populations suffered a huge blow: their numbers had suddenly declined by more than 80%. The decline of the Delta Smelt population is of great concern to scientists. A: Yes, we can estimate population numbers using data from consistent survey points and a complex set of calculations for the Delta. Found only in the upper Sacramento-San Joaquin Estuary of California, it mainly inhabits the freshwater-saltwater mixing zone of the estuary, except during its spawning season, when it migrates upstream to freshwater following winter “first flush” flow events (around March to May), according to Wikipedia. That was 163,000 acre-feet more than the previous record of 6,470,000 acre-feet set in 2005, according to DWR data. The index for striped bass, a popular gamefish, rose from 124 to 470, the highest since 2001. Publish your stories and upcoming events on Indybay. Sommer, T. et al. Only 262 threadfin shad were collected. Because of this, the fish is an “indicator species” that demonstrates the health of the Delta ecosystem. Two others, threadfin shad and Sacramento splitail, didn’t fare so well. The Delta smelt index dropped from 8 in 2016 to 2 in 2017, according to James White, California Department of Fish and Wildlife environmental scientist, in a memo. Maligned by agribusiness groups and San Joaquin Valley Republican Congressman as a “small minnow” supposedly standing in the way of deliveries of Delta water to irrigators, the Delta Smelt is in fact a indicator species that demonstrates the health of the Delta ecosystem like the proverbial “canary in the mine.”. [23] This time, the FWS came to the opposite of its earlier conclusion, finding the water projects were jeopardizing the continued existence of the delta smelt. [17][18] Critical habitat was listed for delta smelt on December 19, 1994. Governor Brown has proved that he can stand up to President Trump in the past, so why not now?” said Barrigan-Parrilla. Young delta smelt then feed and grow in the mixing zone before starting their upstream spawning migration in late fall or early winter. Inland fishes of California. [19], Delta smelt are threatened with extinction due to anthropogenic alterations to their ecosystem, including urbanization, non-native species, water diversions, contaminants, and the conversion of complex tidal habitats to leveed channels. © 2015   Sustainable Enterprises Media, Inc. Red State Voices and Blue State Voices coming together for GREEN, Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window), Election 2020: No, Joe Biden is NOT Satan (despite Dilbert creator Scott Adams' stupid musings), Environmental Justice: Governor vetoes bill to reform California's top toxics regulator, the DTSC, Trump's USDA is serving up diseased chicken. “What is interesting is that the indices for striped bass and American shad show a fairly strong positive response to the wet winter,” Moyle stated. Once the most abundant fish found in the estuary that numbered in the millions, the fish has declined dramatically in recent years. They are better indictors of a functioning estuary than are smelt these days. [28] While the new biological opinion was “a ponderous, chaotic document, overwhelming in size”, it was found not arbitrary and capricious. Evolutionary and biogeographical patterns within the smelt genus Hypomesus in the North Pacific Ocean. [21] The Natural Resources Defense Council sued, and in 2007, Fresno U.S. District Court Judge Oliver Wanger found the biological opinion was arbitrary and capricious and ordered protections for the delta smelt while the document was redone. Efforts to protect the endangered fish from further decline have focused on limiting or modifying the pumping activities of state and federal water projects in the South Delta. On December 29, the Bureau of Reclamation announced its intention in the Federal Register to increase Delta water exports to San Joaquin Valley growers, in spite of the Delta smelt nearing the abyss of extinction. The delta smelt (Hypomesus transpacificus) is an endangered[1][2] slender-bodied smelt, about 5 to 7 cm (2.0 to 2.8 in) long, in the family Osmeridae. California Department of Fish & Game,State of California, The Natural Resources Agency, California. The spawning migration of delta smelt in the Upper San Francisco Estuary. Three other species surveyed by the agency, longfin smelt, striped bass and threadfin shad, did relatively better in the high water flow conditions that hit the Delta from the fall through summer. The delta smelt is endemic to the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta in California, where it is distributed from the Suisun Bay upstream through the delta in Contra Costa, Sacramento, San Joaquin, and Solano Counties. To view the table of monthly abundance indices, go here: http://www.dfg.ca.gov/delta/data/fmwt/indices.asp, Reclamation plan to “maximize water deliveries” published in Federal Register. “We’re lucky to have any smelt. University of California Press, Berkeley. Moyle, PB. For additional information, please contact Harrison at 916-414-2425 (TTY 800-877-8339). Field identification of delta smelt and wakasagi. No other splittail were collected in September, October, or November from index or non-index stations, said White. [8], Modern analysis of the genus would elevate all of McAllister's subspecies to full species status, based on fin ray counts and the number of chromatophores between their mandibles, a change which genetic analysis has supported. We are 100% volunteer and depend on your participation to sustain our efforts! The Delta smelt (Hypomesus transpacificus) is an endangered smelt, about 2.0 to 2.8 inches long, in the Osmeridae family. © 2000–2020 San Francisco Bay Area Independent Media Center. Two thousand three hundred fifty-seven American shad were collected. [24] When six new plaintiffs sued, Judge Wanger preliminarily ordered the FWS to give him weekly justifications of delta flow restrictions and appointed four scientists as his own expert witnesses. For example, Tien-Chieh Hung had no problem collecting a 100 smelt in one day for his smelt culture program,” he noted. Nichols FH, Cloern JE, Luoma SN, Peterson DH (1986) The modification of an estuary. [29] The Ninth Circuit affirmed that the water projects were jeopardizing the existence of the delta smelt, and given TVA v. Hill's command that endangered species must be saved "whatever the cost", Circuit Judge Jay Bybee opined that California could only use the smelts' water after receiving an exemption from the God Squad.