Though I hate to “beat a dead horse” or perhaps more appropriately “put another nail in the coffin,” I’m sad to report that the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s first two fall trawl surveys for 2018 collected no Delta Smelt. This is consistent with this past summer’s townet survey results. Let’s get on with implementing the smelt hatchery program.

Fall mid-water trawl survey catch for September and October 2008-2018. Data source: http://www.dfg.ca.gov/delta/data/fmwt/indices.asp