This is just one post in the Delta Issues Category

Delta Smelt population plunges, spring trawls only net 25 fish

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on May 22, 2007 at 2:48 pm

Yes, spring trawls aimed at determining the population of the endangered Delta Smelt netted just 25 fish; some trawls did not find any. This represents a dramatic decline in the smelt’s population and only 7% of the amount found in the Delta last year.

Meanwhile, the debate continues as to whether it is pesticides, pumping, or some other factor that is killing the species.

From the San Francisco Chronicle:

Department of Water Resources Deputy Director Jerry Johns said that stopping the pumps is not necessarily the answer and that the pumps have not been killing many fish recently. “We need to take a more holistic approach rather than just focusing on the pumps,” he said.

Chuck Armor, acting regional manager for the Department of Fish and Game’s bay-delta region, agreed. He said water tests on the Sacramento River, where state officials tried to send baby smelt using pulses of fresh water from the south delta, showed that pesticides may have killed many of the fish this year.

Johns said Schwarzenegger is seeking a comprehensive solution through the Delta Vision task force established in October. That group is supposed to come up with a plan for helping the delta by the end of 2008. In the meantime, Johns said, various actions have been taken to help fish, including cutting current pumping levels as much as possible without, for example, affecting supplies to users in the East Bay.

Bill Jennings, executive director of the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, called Johns’ assertions a smoke screen. His group sued the state over pumping operations and the effect on the smelt.

“They’re still in a state of denial,” Jennings said. “Year after year, Jerry and company have been saying the same thing: ‘We’re addressing it.’ And the numbers of fish have spiraled down, and the amount of water pumped has increased.”

Michael Lozeau, an attorney working with Jennings, said the smelt “are absolutely on the brink of extinction” and state bureaucrats want “to sit around for a year basically pushing paper.”