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Mocked by President Trump as “a certain kind of three-inch fish” and targeted by endless litigation, the tiny delta smelt has struggled to survive within the heart of a delicate and overtaxed environment. lat.ms/2GpoKgo
Efforts to preserve the smelt have relied on restricting water operations supplying the San Joaquin Valley and Southern California, placing the fish squarely in the center of California’s water wars. 
The prospect of extinction may seem pessimistic, but biologists who track the delta smelt report that its numbers have declined more than 90% over the past five decades.
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@AquariumPacific in Long Beach announced recently that it had acquired 1,200 delta smelt from a UC Davis research hatchery. It would be the first such aquarium exhibit to feature the finger-length, translucent fish.
