Despite three straight non-drought winters (2016-2018) the Delta smelt spawning run shows no sign of recovery based on the Kodiak Trawl Survey (Figure 1). The February 2018 survey brought a record low catch of only 4 adults (compared to 125-287 from 2011-2013). The March index was “1”. As in my last post, the prognosis for Delta smelt remains grim. The next check is the spring 20-mm Smelt Survey index to determine if this years spawning run production of juvenile smelt continues the pattern of four years of near record lows (Figure 2).