The longfin smelt is a finger-sized fish that once roamed the San Francisco Bay, but its numbers have declined so dramatically that the federal government has determined the fish is in danger of extinction.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Monday that longfin smelt populations in the Gulf and Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta are now listed as endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act.
The longfin smelt is the sixth fish in the Gulf estuary to be added to the federal endangered species list. In 2009, the fish was listed as a threatened fish by the state.
Environmental group leaders say they hope federal protections will help save the fish by imposing additional restrictions on pumping water from the Delta.
“More river water needs to flow out of the Delta for this fish to recover,” said Jon Rosenfield, science director for the San Francisco Bay Keeper. “Their catastrophic decline is the result of us taking too much water from the rivers that feed the Bay. Another sign.”
The decision concluded long process It all started with a petition filed by California environmental groups in 2007 and was involved in multiple lawsuits.
Olfaction in albacore fish at the Bodega Marine Laboratory, University of California, Davis.
(Sam Briggs/Bodega Marine Laboratory)
albacore smelt once One of the most abundant fish species At the estuary, it was an important food source for large fish and birds, and briefly supported a commercial fishery in the 1800s.
Since the 1980s, studies show the population has declined by about 99 percent, Rosenfeld said.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said in the announcement that the population decline is primarily due to habitat loss, “primarily caused by long-term reductions and changes in freshwater flow into the San Francisco Bay estuary.”
Paul Souza, the agency’s regional director, said hot and dry conditions have contributed to the decline in albacore smelt populations.
“This species needs our help,” Suza said. “We are committed to working with others to protect longfin smelt.”
State and federal pumping facilities in the Delta region sometimes transport water in aqueducts from the State Water Project and the Central Valley Project. Need to limit pumping Minimize loss of protected fish species.
The Fish and Wildlife Service said federal protections for albacore smelt will “ensure consistency between state and federal endangered species regulations.”
Rosenfeld said Baykeeper and other groups will be watching closely to ensure the federal government implements science-based conservation measures.
Albacore smelt live in bays and estuaries along the Pacific coast.
Typically between 3.5 and 5 inches in length, they are larger than the Delta smelt, which is also on the endangered species list, and are more tolerant of saltwater.
Although they live primarily in estuaries, longfin smelt can migrate to the ocean. They usually enter the delta in winter and spring to lay eggs in freshwater areas.
Other fish species have also declined in the delta in recent years.
findings Delta smelt numbers declining In the wild. winter running Chinook Salmon about to extinct. Fall Run Chinook fishing season is over Canceled the past two years Because the population is small.
State officials are proceed checking To determine whether to protect the paddlefish, North America’s largest freshwater fish, as a threatened species.
“The estuary is giving us multiple signals that we’re pumping too much water,” Rosenfeld said.
“We need to divert less water, use water more sustainably and allow more water out of the Sierra Nevada to flow into and through the delta,” he said. “This can be done by reducing our demand for water – reducing agricultural demand. and municipal needs.”
Rosenfeld said federal protections are long overdue. In 1992, when he was just starting his career as a fish biologist, he first helped write a petition calling on the federal government to protect the longfin smelt, but the petition was rejected.
