For a small fish only found in the San Francisco Estuary, the delta smelt has caused a lot of controversy over the years.

Followers of California water politics have long known the delta smelt as a key indicator species for the health of a fragile ecosystem. The fish started to become controversial in the 1980s when ...

A headline in Politico read, “Trump’s big vendetta against the tiny delta smelt.” A piece in Vox asked, “Why does Trump hate this tiny fish so much?” ...

The order blames the “catastrophic halt” of water due to protections for the delta smelt, a small endangered creature that Trump recently called an “essentially worthless fish.” ...

Donald Trump has derided the Delta smelt as a "worthless fish," blaming efforts to protect the species for the devastating Los Angeles wildfires on social media, in a press conference, and even a ...

It's an attempt to change the environmental protections of the smelt, a three-inch-long fish once vital to California's ecosystem but now nearly extinct, and criticize the state's efforts while ...

President Donald Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office on January 20, 2025 (main) and a Delta smelt fish (inset). President Donald Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office on ...

Japanese people habitually eat small fish, such as whitebait, Atlantic capelin, Japanese smelt, and small dried sardines. Importantly, it is common practice to consume small fish whole ...

But the Delta smelt -- a small, translucent fish considered a "sentinel" species that indicates the health of its Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta habitat -- is not a culprit. "It was once one of ...