A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
August 9, 2007
3. Watersheds
DELTA FISHERY ISSUES:
Another smelt in danger, group says; Salmon, bass may be next if longfin goes, some warn - Stockton Record
Environmental groups seek protection for another delta fish - Associated Press
Groups ask agencies to protect delta fish - San Francisco Chronicle
WEDNESDAY MIDDAY NEWS ROUNDUP: Delta Issues - CBS Channel 5 (
DELTA FISHERY ISSUES:
Another smelt in danger, group says; Salmon, bass may be next if longfin goes, some warn
By Alex Breitler, staff writer
The Delta smelt's struggles run in the family.
Environmentalists on Wednesday asked the federal and state governments to list longfin smelt, a cousin of the now-notorious Delta smelt, as an endangered species.
Unlike the Delta smelt, the decline of which brought water export pumps near Tracy to a halt earlier this year, the longfin smelt is found in other estuaries as far north as Alaska.
But here in the Delta, both smelt species have dropped to record lows in recent years, and environmentalists say added protections are warranted. "It's another native species in this estuary that's in big trouble," said Tina Swanson, a biologist with the conservation group The Bay Institute. "This is just another indication that we've got really serious problems in this estuary and that the problems extend beyond the Delta."
Once-abundant longfin smelt have suffered from toxic pollution in the water, alien clams that gobble up their food and water diversions, including those from the pumps that send water to the Bay Area and
The Delta is the southernmost estuary in which longfin smelt are found. They once occupied Humboldt Bay and the
Other more prominent species such as salmon and striped bass could be next if Delta and longfin smelt become extinct, environmentalists warn.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service spokesman Al Donner said the agency has 90 days to decide if there is enough information to consider listing the fish. If the answer is yes, then the agency has 12 months to make a final decision.
A similar petition was filed in 1993, but it was denied, Donner said. "We are heavily involved in a number of efforts to address the Delta," he said, efforts that may help the longfin smelt as well as the Delta smelt. #
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070809/A_NEWS/708090338
Environmental groups seek protection for another delta fish
Associated Press – 8/8/07
The Bay Institute, Center for Biological Diversity and Natural Resources Defense Council filed the requests with state and federal wildlife agencies.
"This was a fish that was once so abundant," said Jeff Miller with the Center for Biological Diversity, based in
"Now, we're looking at the whole estuary unraveling."
The decline of the longfin smelt is just the latest sign of trouble in the largest estuary on the West Coast.
Populations of other species, including the threatened delta smelt, threadfin shad and striped bass, also are in decline. All are considered indicators of the overall ecological health of the delta, which provides water for more than two-thirds of the state's residents.
The population of the longfin smelt is 3 percent of the level measured less than 20 years ago, according to the petition. The silvery fish, which grows to about 5 inches long, is distinguished by its long pectoral fins.
Environmental groups blame excessive water pumping from delta, invasive species, pesticide runoff and destruction of habitat for the plummeting fish populations. They say the decline of other native fish, such as the Chinook salmon and steelhead trout, may not be far behind.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the California Fish and Game Commission have 90 days to act on the environmental groups' petition. If either agency decides to move forward, a one-year study period would be launched before a decision is made, Miller said.
The Fish and Wildlife Service denied protection for the longfin smelt in 1993.
The petition also seeks protection for longfin smelt populations in other
Longfin smelt also have been found from
http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_6574234
Groups ask agencies to protect delta fish
San Francisco Chronicle – 8/9/07
By Michael Cabanatuan, staff writer
Three environmental groups petitioned state and federal agencies Wednesday to grant endangered species protection for the longfin smelt, a fish whose numbers have dropped to record lows in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.
The Bay Institute, Center for Biological Diversity and Natural Resources Defense Council asked the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the California Fish and Game Commission to list the smelt under their respective endangered species laws.
Concern over the declining population of another smelt species, the Delta smelt, prompted the state to dramatically reduce pumping for more than a week in May after biologists found a record low number of the fish during trawls.
The small fish can easily get sucked into the large delta water pumps that send fresh water south to the
"On the heels of the Delta smelt crisis, longfin smelt are telling us that the problems are bigger than the delta," said Tina Swanson, senior scientist with the Bay Institute. "We need to take a serious look to how we are managing the San Francisco Bay-Delta and
The state and federal governments did not immediately respond to the petition. #
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/08/09/BAI2RFB5P.DTL&hw=water&sn=015&sc=418
WEDNESDAY MIDDAY NEWS ROUNDUP: Delta Issues
CBS Channel 5 (
Three environmental organizations announced today that they are seeking state and federal endangered species protection for the longfin smelt - a small silver fish that was once among the most abundant populations in the San Francisco Bay-Delta estuary.
The Bay Institute, Center for Biological Diversity and Natural Resources Defense Council simultaneously asked the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to list the Bay-Delta population under the federal Endangered Species Act and the California Fish and Game Commission to list the species under the California Endangered Species Act.
Recognition under these acts would limit the harm that federal and state governments directly or indirectly do to the fish, according to Tina Swanson of the Bay Institute.
"Anytime federal or state government takes activities that may harm the species, they will have to review the activities and measure impacts,'' Swanson said.
Although the Bay-Delta estuary still hosts the largest self-sustaining population of longfin smelt in southern states, the area has experienced a 97 percent population decrease in just the last 20 years and a consistent drop over the last four years.
The population has declined as a result of water diversions and reduced freshwater inflow, direct and indirect impacts of nonnative species on the food supply and habitat, and both lethal and sub-lethal effects of pesticides and toxic chemicals, according to the Center for Biological Diversity.
The organization argues that substandard environmental management is resulting in the population decline, and that some of the same environmental conditions also caused a collapse of the delta smelt population.
"Poor management of California's largest estuary ecosystem could claim another of our native fish species, this time the longfin smelt, a species formerly so common that it supported a commercial fishery in San Francisco Bay,'' said Jeff Miller, a conservation advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity.
Miller said that both the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the state's Fish and Game Commission have 90 days to respond to the petitions. #
http://cbs5.com/localwire/localfsnews/bcn/2007/08/08/n/HeadlineNews/NEWS-ROUNDUP/resources_bcn_html
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