Posted by Dave Hurley
on 2/7/2008, 10:06 pm
76.20.97.22
Longfin Smelt Moves Closer to State Endangered Status
by Dan Bacher
The California Fish and Game Commission in San Diego today voted 3-0 to designate the longfin smelt (Spirinchus thaleichthys), a native fish that has dropped to record low numbers in the San Francisco Bay-Delta and is nearing extinction in other northern California estuaries, as a "candidate species." This is the first step toward a formal listing as an endangered or threatened species under the California Endangered Species Act, according to a press release from a coalition of three environmental groups.
The abundance of longfin smelt, a cousin of the delta smelt, plummeted to a record low in 2007, according to the Department of Fish and Game's fall midwater trawl survey. The longfin smelt population collapse occurs within the context of the dramatic decline of delta smelt, juvenile striped bass, threadfin shad and other species.
State and federal scientists first documented the "Pelagic Organism Decline" (POD) in the spring of 2005. Since then, the POD team has revealed a continuing decline of delta smelt, longfin smelt, juvenile striped bass and threadfin shad populations in its surveys and studies.
The scientists believe that the number one cause of the food chain collapse is massive increases in water exports from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta since 2001, followed by toxics and invasive species. The state and federal governments exported a record 7,000,000 acre feet of water from the California Delta to subsidized agribusiness and southern California in 2007.
Meanwhile, the Central Valley salmon populations have experienced a collapse over the past three years paralleling the Pelagic Organism Decline. The Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) last week released data pointing to an "unprecedented collapse" of Sacramento River chinook salmon. This is extremely alarming, considering that the Sacramento salmon stocks have been historically the most robust along the California coast.
The Central Valley chinook salmon population plummeted from 802,000 fish in 2002 to only 90,000 fish in 2007. Although ocean conditions and other factors are believed to play a role in the decline, fishing and environmental groups are pointing to massive increases of water exports as a major factor in the decline of the salmon and other fish species.
“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,” said Jeff Miller, Conservation Advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity. “Delta smelt, longfin smelt, and Sacramento splittail populations have bottomed out, and Central Valley runs of salmon and green sturgeon are near record lows.”
I'm glad that Commission, not known for the environmental soundness of its decisions, did the right thing today and voted to give the longfin smelt "candidate species" status under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA). Below is the press release from The Bay Institute, Center for Biological Diversity and NRDC.
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