Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition 3804 Feb 1-15 2019 | Page 24

Feb 1-15, 2019 VOL.38 • ISS. 4 CDFW Fall Midwater Trawl Finds ZERO Delta Smelt F or the first time ever, a fish survey that White. The longfin smelt, a cousin of the Delta the California Department of Fish and smelt, isn’t faring very well either in the Wildlife (CDFW) conducts every autumn estuary. “The 2018 abundance index (52) turned up zero Delta smelt throughout the was the 5th lowest value in FMWT history, monitoring sites in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta in September, October, a 63% reduction from the previous year (Figure 3). Thirty-one Longfin Smelt were November and December 2018. collected at index stations,” said White. The smelt, a 2 to 3 inch fish listed under The number of threadfin shad, an intro- both federal and state Endangered Species Acts, is found only in the Delta estuary. It is duced forage fish species, continued to decline. The 2018 abundance index (198) regarded as an indicator species, a fish that was the 4th lowest in survey history, a demonstrates the health of the entire Delta 32% reduction from the previous year. The ecosystem. CDFW found 150 threadfin shad at index Once the most abundant fish in the entire stations. estuary, the population has collapsed to The abundance of American shad in the point where not one fish was found the trawl is also disappointing. The 2018 in the 2018 Fall Midwater Trawl survey. abundance index (1064) was the 21st lowest The 2018 abundance index (0), a relative value on record, a 66% reduction from measure of abundance, is the lowest in the previous year. Seven-hundred and two FMWT history. American shad were collected at index “No Delta Smelt were collected from stations. any station during our survey months Bill Jennings, Executive Director of the of September- December,” wrote James California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, White, environmental scientist for the commented on the significance of the CDFW’s Bay Delta Region. dramatic decline of Delta smelt and other This is not the only survey of Delta smelt fish species in the fall midwater trawl. populations that the CDFW conducts — “You have Delta smelt and striped bass and the other assessments have found smelt, although in alarmingly low numbers. both with the lowest abundance in the trawl’s history,” said Jennings. “Longfin is White noted, “While this survey did not the fifth lowest, threadfin shad is the fourth catch any Delta Smelt, it does not mean lowest, American shad is a 66 percent they are not present. Spring Kodiak Trawl reduction from the previous year and the (SKT) survey caught 5 Delta Smelt in splittail is zero,” said Bill Jennings. “This is December.” a very comprehensive trawl and the results White also said another survey, the Enhanced Delta Smelt Monitoring (EDSM) were a disaster for Delta fisheries.” “Not only is the Delta smelt on the brink survey, caught 13 Delta Smelt during extinction but there are several species lined December. (https://fileshare.fws.gov/?link- up behind it,” said Jennings. “Governor id=KZi4zr6VWWXpAmKqe8kAlLwMp- Brown’s legacy is likely to be several NbkSIFi8YDODS6 ncAGbVD1eD7Lrjg). extinctions of fish that flourished in this While decades of water exports and estuary for millennia. environmental degradation under previous “We know what fish need,” said Jennings. governors and federal administrations have “Fish prosper when they have adequate brought the smelt, once the most abundant flows and quality water. They suffer fish in the Delta, to the edge of extinction, when they don’t. The question is how do Governor Jerry Brown and his adminis- we get them to survive on less water of tration did nothing to reverse the trend, poorer quality than they evolved with for but only helped to worse the endangered thousands of years. The answer appears to fish’s status, according to fishermen and be they can’t.” environmentalists. Dr. Jonathan Rosenfield, the Lead Before this fall, the 2017 abundance Scientist for The Bay Institute, emphasized index (2) was lowest in FMWT history. in a tweet that Delta smelt are “not extinct,” Only 2 Delta smelt were collected at index since other sampling programs still catching stations in the survey during the fall of them. 2017. “Extinction is not imminent (if agencies The Delta smelt is not the only fish not take action),” he noted. “’Flexible”, found during the fall 2018 survey. The ‘adaptive’ implementation of the ESA CDFW didn’t observe any Sacramento splittail, a native minnow species that was formerly listed under the Endangered Species Act until Bush administra- tion delisted the species and the Obama admin- istration agreed with the delisting, in the 2018 fall survey either. The striped bass, a popular gamefish that migrates from the ocean, San Francisco Bay and Delta up into the Sacra- mento and San Joaquin rivers every spring to spawn, also showed an alarming drop in abundance during the survey. Terry 100 Rounds The 2018 abundance Raahauge’s Sporting Clays index (42) for striped Only $35 Memorial Hunt Feb. 23th bass was the lowest in 1000 Rounds FMWT history, slightly Pheasants $25 Ea Sporting Clays Only $320 less than the previous Chukar $15 Ea Company or Corporate shoots low value (43) in 2010. available at reasonable prices! Thirty-one age-0 striped BOOK EARLY! bass were collected at 45 Miles North index stations, noted of Sacramento www.lincraahauges.com • traahauge@yahoo.com Pheasant, Chukar and Sporting Clays At Its Finest • 3 PHEASANTS FOR ...$92 • 8 CHUKARS FOR.......$154 3 Pheasants & • 12 PHEASANTS FOR $336 100 Sporting Clays • 3 PHEASANTS + $125 4 CHUKARS FOR ....$164 17 Station Sporting Clay Course! (530) 724-0552 (Endangered Species Act) has not worked. It’s time to enforce protections.” Scientists don’t By Dan Bacher have any easy answer for the precipitous decline of Delta of 6,470,000 acre-feet set in 2005 under the smelt over the past couple of years, partic- Schwarzenegger administration, according ularly in 2017, a record water year when to DWR data. biologists would have expected a rebound. Found only in the Sacramento-San “The answer is that we really don’t Joaquin River Delta, the Delta smelt mainly know,” said Dr. Peter B Moyle, Distin- inhabits the freshwater-saltwater mixing guished Professor, Emeritus, at the Depart- zone of the estuary, except during its ment of Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation spawning season. That’s when it migrates Biology, Center for Watershed Sciences, upstream to freshwater following winter UC Davis, in December 2017. “The best “first flush” flow events, around March to explanation I can think of is that numbers May. are so low that an increase (or decrease) in The smelt is very susceptible to changes the index would not be detectable with the in the environmental conditions of its FMT sampling.” habitat due to its one-year lifecycle and “Another is that there was so much water relatively low fecundity. Because of last winter (2017) that smelt were more this, the fish is regarded as an “indicator dispersed than usual and had a hard time species” that demonstrates the health of the finding mates; this would keep numbers Delta ecosystem. low. When numbers are as low, as they It is imperative that the Gavin Newson clearly are for smelt, random factors in administration break with the failed water sampling, in distribution, in spawning policies of Brown and his predecessors success etc. can make a big difference to and adopt rational water policies, based on the total population or the index,” said science, that restore Delta smelt, Chinook Moyle. salmon, steelhead and other fish species “Note that Delta smelt are still abundant and the San Francisco Bay Delta while enough in places so that focused sampling providing a reliable and sustainable water can find them. For example, Tien-Chieh supply for all Californians. Hung had no problem collecting a 100 Here is the January 2 memo summa- smelt in one day for his smelt culture rizing the Fall Midwater Trawl results: program,” he noted. https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler. A number of factors have resulted in the ashx?DocumentId=164097&inline decline of Delta smelt and the other pelagic Here is the link to the Fall Midwater species, including increases in toxics and Trawl monthly abundance indices: http:// invasive species, but no factor has helped www.dfg.ca.gov/delta/data/fmwt/indices.asp?f- precipitate the collapse of Delta fish species bclid=IwAR0q2Z0abV8p-J9gKnwvlwQu7vP- more than the export of big quantities of wQOMSibwZADpXfoiZHCkBJKH81vnZRMs water to agribusiness and Southern Cali- fornia water agencies from the state and federal pumping *Trolling facilities in the South Motors Delta over the past 50 *Fishfinders years. *GPS The record total *VHF for water exports, including water Radios diverted by the *Radar Contra Costa Canal *Batteries and North Bay and Aqueduct, was Chargers 6,633,000 acre-feet in 2011 under the Brown ONE DAY SERVICE Largest Service administration. on Installations with appointment Center That was 163,000 in the West! acre-feet more than the previous record Marine Electronics Sales • Service • Installation Sunny’s Electric Marine 3705 22 (916) 487-3868 The KFBK OUTDOOR SHOW 3507 1 Rated with your Outdoor Radio Show host for 26 years! # Bob Simms Fishing • Hunting • Destinations Conservation • History Dedicated to the Northern California Outdoorsman Listen Every Saturday Morning from 5 am to 8am on BOB SIMMS CALIFORNIA’S LONGEST RUNNING OUTDOOR TALK SHOW!