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Tribal monitoring programs spotlight surf‑ and night‑smelt declines and cultural impacts
Summary
Tribal presenters told the California Estuary Monitoring Work Group that surf (day) and night smelt — culturally important forage fish — have declined over the past decade; tribes described local monitoring (gravel‑bed mapping, CPUE, eDNA), likely drivers (urbanization, invasive beach grass, light pollution, changing wave climate), and how monitoring supports cultural practices and co‑management.
Tribal resource staff from northern California briefed the California Estuary Monitoring Work Group on community‑led monitoring of surf (day) and night smelt, describing both methods and cultural stakes. At the June meeting, Tolowa and neighboring Yurok tribal representatives described multi‑year efforts that combine A‑frame net sampling, gravel‑bed mapping, eDNA sampling, and youth stewardship programs to document presence/absence and habitat conditions.
Rudy Lopez, a tribal travel/resource specialist with Tolowa Dee‑ni' Nation, said the surf smelt decline became noticeable “about, give or take, 10, 15 years ago,” prompting the tribe to establish a marine program to track eggs, substrate, and seasonal presence. Lopez described gravel‑bed mapping and seasonal eDNA sampling (begun about 2021) as key tools for locating spawning…
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