Blog: Defending ‘rough fish’
To round out this conversation, here are some cold hard facts on the status of our freshwater fish biodiversity on Earth, and in California. These species are declining rapidly. ~50% of all freshwater fishes on Earth are considered threatened or in decline. In CA, roughly 83% of our native and highly endemic fish fauna are now in some form of decline (Moyle et al. 2011). There’s a good chance that delta smelt will become extinct in the wild this year or next. Winter-run Chinook salmon could be close behind them. Many other native fishes face listing under the ESA in coming years.
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