FILE -In this Friday, Feb. 2, 2018 file photo, an ice fisherman shows smelt caught at Jim Worthing’s
Smelt Camps on the Kennebec River in Randolph, Maine. A lack of ice in cold weather states this year has
made it difficult for scientists to study the rainbow smelt population. The ecologically important fish
was listed as a species of special concern more than 15 years ago due to declines in its population.