{"id":640,"date":"2016-01-09T18:05:15","date_gmt":"2016-01-10T02:05:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/calsport.org\/fisheriesblog\/?p=640"},"modified":"2016-01-09T18:05:15","modified_gmt":"2016-01-10T02:05:15","slug":"status-of-smelt-at-end-of-2015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/calsport.org\/fisheriesblog\/?p=640","title":{"rendered":"Status of Smelt at end of 2015"},"content":{"rendered":"

Well the final tallies came in for the 2015 Fall Midwater Trawl Survey.\u00a0 Indices for two smelt were again record lows as expected.\u00a0 Not quite zero, but close.\u00a0 The Smelt Working Group continues to track Endangered Species Act incidental take permit limits set in the 2008 federal biological opinion based on South Delta salvage: December – No salvage, no concern, so pump like hell.<\/p>\n

Delta Smelt<\/h1>\n

It hard to tell from Figure 1, but 2015 came in with an index of 7, compared to the record low 9 in 2014. No fanfare this year from CDFW as back when 2011 index came out.\u00a0 No articles in the SacBee.\u00a0 Just another nail in the coffin.<\/p>\n

\"Graph

Figure 1. Delta Smelt Fall Midwater Trawl catch for September-December 1967-2015 (no survey in 74, 79). Yearly index is total catch of four monthly surveys.<\/p><\/div>\n

Longfin Smelt<\/h1>\n

It is even harder to tell from Figure 2 that the index for Longfin Smelt came in at 3 compared to last year\u2019s record low of 16.<\/p>\n

\"Graph

Figure 2. Longfin Smelt Fall Midwater Trawl catch for September-December 1967-2015 (no survey in 74, 79). Yearly index is total catch of four monthly surveys.<\/p><\/div>\n

Smelt Working Group<\/h1>\n

The Smelt Working Group met weekly in December after a 6 month hiatus.1<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0 A couple of the low points:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe WY 2016 adult Delta Smelt incidental take (IT) is 56, as is stated in the Service\u2019s December 23, 2015 memo to the Bureau of Reclamation. The method to calculate the IT is that which is described on p 386 of the 2008 BiOp, with a correction (as discussed in the memo). The alternative approach that the Service presented to the 2015 independent review panel at the Long-term Operation Biological Opinions annual science review will be piloted this year.\u201d\u00a0 <\/em>Thus the Working Group continues to use the old take limits from 2008 and has adopted the new more liberal method of calculation.\u00a0 Given the remnant population level, allowing the take of \u00a056 Delta smelt in salvage is indefensible. \u00a0For every fish taken in salvage, a hundred are lost in Clifton Court Forebay.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Working Group reviewed Delta Smelt distribution and salvage data, and current Delta conditions and provided no recommendation as yet for a change in water operations for either Delta Smelt or Longfin Smelt. However, members of the Working Group did conclude that entrainment risk is increasing and the group will meet again December 30 to further discuss a potential recommendation to the Service.\u201d\u00a0 <\/em>Indeed, Delta Smelt had been detected in the central Delta at Jersey Point and Prisoners Point, and exports had increased from 800 to 6700 cfs. \u00a0Yet the Working Group prescribed no change in water operations.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

The Smelt Working Group planned to meet on December 30.\u00a0 I cannot wait to see their notes from that meeting.<\/p>\n

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  1. \u00a0http:\/\/www.fws.gov\/sfbaydelta\/cvp-swp\/smelt_working_group.cfm<\/a> ↩<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Well the final tallies came in for the 2015 Fall Midwater Trawl Survey.\u00a0 Indices for two smelt were again record lows as expected.\u00a0 Not quite zero, but close.\u00a0 The Smelt Working Group continues to track Endangered Species Act incidental take … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bay-delta","category-smelt"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/calsport.org\/fisheriesblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/640","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/calsport.org\/fisheriesblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/calsport.org\/fisheriesblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calsport.org\/fisheriesblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calsport.org\/fisheriesblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=640"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/calsport.org\/fisheriesblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/640\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":651,"href":"https:\/\/calsport.org\/fisheriesblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/640\/revisions\/651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/calsport.org\/fisheriesblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calsport.org\/fisheriesblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calsport.org\/fisheriesblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}