20 February 28 , 2025 VOL . 44 • ISS . 2

ero Delta Smelt , an indicator

species that has been villainized by corporate agribusiness and

their political allies for supposedly being a “ worthless fish ,” have been caught in the California Department of Fish and Wildlife ’ s Fall Midwater Trawl Survey in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta for the seventh year in a row . It is significant that zero Delta smelt were caught in the survey despite the release of tens of thousands of hatchery-raised Delta smelt into the Delta over the past few years by the state and federal governments . “ The 2024 abundance index was 0 and continues the trend of no catch in the FMWT since 2017 ,” reported Taylor Rohlin , CDFW Environmental Scientist Bay Delta Region in a Jan . 2 memo to Erin Chappell , Regional Manager Bay Delta Region . “ No Delta Smelt were collected from any stations during our survey months of September-December . While FMWT did not catch any Delta Smelt , it does not mean there were no smelt present , but the numbers are very low and below the effective detection threshold by most sampling methods ,” she wrote . The California Department of Fish and Wildlife ( CDFW ) has conducted the Fall Midwater Trawl Survey ( FMWT ) to index the fall abundance of pelagic ( open water ) fishes annually since 1967 ( except 1974 and 1979 ), Rohlin stated . Why is this survey so important ? It ’ s because “ the FMWT equipment and methods have remained consistent since the survey ’ s inception , allowing the indices to be compared across time ,” Rohlin wrote . “ These relative abundance indices are not intended to approximate population sizes ; however , indices reflect general patterns in population change ( Polansky et al . 2019 ).” Other surveys last year also reveal the functional extinction of Delta smelt in the wild . A weekly survey by the US Fish and Wildlife Service targeting Delta smelt caught only one smelt in the summer of 2024 . “ A late April IEP juvenile fish survey ( the 20-mm Survey ) caught several juvenile Delta smelt in the same area ,” noted scientist Tom Cannon in his blog on the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance website . In a recent post on Truth Social , President Donald Trump falsely

claimed that Governor Gavin Newsom “ refused to sign the water restoration declaration put before him that would have allowed millions of gallons of water , from excess rain and snow melt from the North , to flow daily into many parts of California , including the areas that are currently burning in a virtually apocalyptic way . He wanted to protect an essentially worthless fish called a smelt , by giving it less water ( it didn ’ t work !), but didn ’ t care about the people of California .” I break down the four falsehoods that Trump made in this post here : https :// sacramento . newsreview . com / 2025 / 01 / 13 / falsely-blamingthe-la-wildfires-on-delta-protectionand-imperiled-smelt-is-creating-adistortion-of-california-water / To summarize , the Delta Smelt is definitely not a “ worthless fish .” In fact , the Delta Smelt is a key indicator species that demonstrates the health of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta , the largest estuary on the West Coast of the Americas . The 2 to 3 inch fish that smells like a cucumber is found only in the Delta . It was once the most abundant fish in the Delta , numbering in the millions , but now is functionally extinct in the wild due to massive water exports to agribusiness and other factors , including invasive species , toxics and pollution , over the past several decades . The significance of the Delta smelt ’ s role in the Bay-Delta Estuary can ’ t be overstated . ” Delta Smelt are the thread that ties the Delta together with the river system ,” said Caleen Sisk , Chief of the Winnemem Wintu Tribe . “ We all should understand how that affects all the water systems in the state . They are the irreplaceable thread that holds the Delta system together with Chinook salmon .” The other fish species collected in the fall survey — striped bass , longfin smelt , Sacramento splittail and threadfin shad — continued their dramatic decline since 1967 when the State Water Project went into effect . Only the threadfin shad showed an increase from the last year ’ s index — and the population is still at just a fraction of its former abundance . The survey uses an “ abundance index ,” a relative measure of abundance , to document general patterns in population change . The 2024 abundance index for striped bass , an introduced gamefish , was 136 , representing a 49 % decrease from last year ’ s index . The index was 175 for longfin smelt , a native fish species , representing a 62 % decrease from last year ’ s index . The index was 577 for thread fin shad , an introduced forage fish , representing a 12 % increase from last year ’ s index . The index for American shad , an introduced gamefish , was 1341 , representing a 45 % decrease from last year ’ s index . The index for Sacramento splittail , a native minnow species ,

By Dan Bacher

… the Delta Smelt is a key indicator species that demonstrates the health of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta …

was 0 , with 0 fish caught . Between 1967 and 2020 , the state ’ s Fall Midwater Trawl abundance indices for striped bass , Delta smelt , longfin smelt , American shad , splittail and threadfin shad have declined by 99.7 , 100 , 99.96 , 67.9 , 100 , and 95 %, respectively , according to the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance . The survey was released as the California Water Wars are heating up . Governor Gavin Newsom has been pushing three projects — the Delta Tunnel , Sites Reservoir and the Voluntary Agreements — that fish advocates say would hasten the extinction of Delta smelt , longfin smelt , Sacramento winter-run and spring-run Chinook populations , Central Valley steelhead and green sturgeon . In one of the latest fronts in the Water Wars , the State Water Resources Control Board has released a Water Quality Control Plan for the San Francisco Bay / Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Watershed ( WQCP ) that is “ both illegal and morally indefensible ,” said water policy experts from the California Water Impact Network ( C-WIN ) in a press statement . They said the draft plan promotes the Illegal “ Voluntary Agree- ments ” between the state and water contractors and violates the State Water Code . “ The draft plan would illegally delegate responsibility for maintaining healthy rivers and vibrant communities to water contractors serving corporate agriculture ,” said Max Gomberg , a C-WIN board member and the former Climate and Conservation Manager for the State Water Resources Control Board . “ It is morally indefensible for the Water Board to rubber stamp backroom deals that deliberately exclude tribes , environmental justice communities , and scientific experts .” Gomberg also noted that the WQCP specifically violates Water Code Section 13241 , which requires economic considerations for protecting the “ beneficial uses ” of water resources . “ Keeping water affordable and available to our environment requires reducing diversions to corporate agriculture ,” Gomberg said . “ Any honest plan would transparently address the ways to responsibly reduce production of luxury export products like almonds . This plan shows a callous indifference to the damage caused by massive agricultural water subsidies .” Tom Stokely , a C-WIN water policy and fisheries analyst , said the Delta Plan puts the Trinity River – a major tributary of the Klamath River that is essential for sustaining the Klamath ’ s salmon runs – at profound risk . “ This plan is essentially a raid on the Trinity River , given it will siphon off increasing volumes of Trinity River water for corporate agricultural operations in the Central Valley ,” said Stokely . “ The Trinity is the cold water tap for the Klamath . Without ample Trinity River water , we will see terrible salmon mortality in the Lower Klamath – as we did in 2002 , when 65,000 adult salmon died due to low Trinity flows .” “ Hundreds of millions of dollars were recently spent to remove four dams on the Upper Klamath and restore salmon runs . But as it stands , the WQCP completely undermines those efforts . Sacrificing Trinity and Klamath salmon for export almonds isn ’ t a good trade ,” argued Stokely .