The Delta Smelt, once the most abundant fish species in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, is virtually extinct in the wild, due to massive water exports to agribusiness and other factors over the past several decades. Zero smelt have been caught over the past six years in the California Department of Fish and Game’s Fall Midwater Trawl Survey. With the start of the new water year today, representatives of fishing and environmental groups blasted the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) and U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) for cancelling the fall flow protections for the few remaining Delta Smelt.

Related Delta fish articles:

• News release: State and federal agencies cancel action to protect Delta smelt
• AgNet West: $5 Million in Grants for Fish Research Projects
• Local News Matters: Coast Guard says no wildlife harmed after petroleum spill threatens San Joaquin River
• The Stockton Record: Officials ban eating fish caught in Smith Canal after large oil spill in Stockton waterway