Smelt Not Endangered

WASHINGTON (CN) - The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plans not to designate the San Francisco Bay-Delta population of the longfin smelt as endangered under the Environmental Species Act because the fish does not qualify as a Distinct Population Segment.

According to USFWS, a recent survey of smelt in the San Francisco Bay revealed several examples of anadromous smelt-fish that spend part of their life in fresh water and part in salt water-indicating that the population in the bay is likely to have contact with other populations and is not sufficiently isolated to qualify as a Distinct Population Segment.

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