Why is the smelt, the tiny fish key to Delta food chain?”
It’s called a chain for a reason. Losing a species of fish like the smelt could have an impact that extends up and down the food chain. At the same time, the article points out that there are some real human concerns that the effort to restore the fish could take farmland out of production and eliminate tax revenue. Read more from the article below: Over the years, Yolo County residents have taken pride in their restored wetlands. The Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area, for example, lines Interstate 80 between Davis and West Sacramento, its reed beds filled with migrating waterfowl. Now, however, Yolo officials see the restoration of other wetlands as a potential threat – and are taking steps to prevent it. They’re worried that powerful water districts from Southern California, which draw water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, will buy up tracts of Yolo open land and flood them to create habitat for the endangered Delta smelt. Yolo County leaders fear the efforts could take farmland out o
A small fish native to the Sacramento Delta is causing water restrictions and driving state water-project officials crazy. The delta smelt is endemic to the Sacramento Delta. The fish, which measures about 3 inches in length, makes its home in the same place from which a large portion of the state draws its water supply, said Dan Masnada, Castaic Lake Water Agency general manager. The smelt lives at the bottom of the food chain in the delta where they wield a lot of influence over water policy in the state, Masnada said. “They are the canary in the coal mine for the delta,” he said. “If that species goes extinct, people question whether it’s the domino that takes down the other species.” Besides being a major food source for other fish, the smelt also provide a measure of the health of the ecosystem, said John Beuttler, Conservation Director for the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance.
