The longfin delta smelt deserves the same level of attention and protection as the gray wolf and other species. This fish is currently the target of dangerous Congressional effort to strip its Endangered Species Act safeguards.
Why We Need to Care About the Longfin Delta Smelt as Much as the Gray Wolf
There’s been a lot of rightful attention on recent Congressional efforts to strip protections from gray wolves. People are outraged — and they should be. The proposed wolf delisting bills are a brazen political attack on the Endangered Species Act (ESA), aimed at appeasing powerful interests. We’re proud to stand with the Team Wolf coalition and the Endangered Species Coalition in fighting those bills.
But there’s another ESA rollback happening right now that has flown under the radar. And it deserves just as much attention.
It’s about a tiny fish: the San Francisco Bay-Delta longfin delta smelt.
This species isn’t big or charismatic. It doesn’t howl like the wolf or roam like the grizzly. But it plays an irreplaceable role in the Bay-Delta ecosystem, supporting migratory birds, salmon, and the health of the estuary as a whole. Its decline is a clear sign of ecosystem collapse — a warning flare we cannot afford to ignore.
Yet Congress is moving to rescind the smelt’s newly granted ESA protections through H.J. Res. 78 — a resolution that doesn’t just end protections for this one species, but sets a dangerous legal precedent for dismantling any future ESA listing using procedural trickery under the Congressional Review Act.
The longfin delta smelt has waited over three decades for the protections it was found to need as far back as 1992. When it was finally listed under the ESA in 2024, the science showed it was in critical danger, with a 50–80% chance of extinction under current conditions.
This tiny fish isn’t dying in a vacuum. It’s dying because the Bay-Delta is being siphoned dry by agribusiness and development. And now, some in Congress are trying to legalize its extinction for short-term political gain.
As advocates, we need to have an honest conversation about which species get our attention and why. When we post about a mammal like a wolf or bear, engagement on our social accounts and website surges. When we post about a fish or bird or insect, it drops. And yet all are vital to the fabric of life, and both are equally deserving of protection.
The longfin delta smelt may not speak to your heart the same way a wolf does. But its extinction would speak volumes about us — about how we prioritize life, science, and justice.
There is no hierarchy in extinction. Every species matters. Let’s prove it by speaking out for the longfin delta smelt.
Tell Congress to vote NO on H.J. Res. 78 and protect the longfin smelt — and the integrity of the Endangered Species Act. Call today: (202) 224-3121.
P.S. And don’t forget to comment by 11:59 p.m. Monday, May 19 to protect habitat for endangered species, too.
