The Fish and Wildlife Service proposed designating 91,630 acres as critical habitat Tuesday for California’s longfin smelt, a tiny fish whose extended family has long irritated President-elect Donald Trump and politically wired Golden State farmers.
In a move that might well be reeled back in by the incoming Trump administration, the FWS identified the habitat deemed essential for recovery of the endangered smelt’s San Francisco Bay-Delta distinct population segment.
“The Bay-Delta longfin smelt relies on the San Francisco Bay estuary and the unique suite of environmental conditions it provides for spawning, larval rearing, juvenile growth, and maturation,” the Fish and Wildlife Service noted, adding that “salinity and water temperature are two primary factors” for the health of the species.
The longfin smelt grows to 3.5 to 4.3 inches long and inhabits bays and estuaries from Northern California along the coast through to Alaska. The Bay-Delta distinct population segment occupies the San Francisco Bay estuary and areas of the Pacific Ocean outside the Golden Gate.
