The California Fish and Game Commission in San Diego confirmed the endangered status of longfin smelt by voting 3-0 as the native fish is nearing extinction in other northern California estuaries. According to the commission this is the first step toward a formal listing as an endangered or threatened species under the California Endangered Species Act.
The Department of Fish and Game’s fall midwater trawl survey read that the abundance of longfin smelt, a cousin of the delta smelt, plummeted to a record low in 2007. It also reported that the sudden fall of longfin smelt population occurs within the context of the dramatic decline of delta smelt, juvenile striped bass, threadfin shad and other species.
The team of state and federal scientists has revealed a continuing decline of delta smelt, longfin smelt, juvenile striped bass and threadfin shad populations in its surveys and studies. Jeff Miller, Conservation Advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity, said that the mismanagement of the Bay-Delta and outrageous levels of fresh water diversions have helped push the ecosystem toward collapse and our native fish to the edge of extinction.
Miller also suggests that delta smelt, longfin smelt, and Sacramento splittail populations have bottomed out, and Central Valley runs of salmon and green sturgeon are near record lows.
